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CHRONOLOGY divided into three general phases Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) c40,000-8,000 BCE Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) c8,000-7,000 BCE Neolithic (New Stone Age) c7,000-2,300 BCE
on September 12, 1940, five boys and their dog went rabbit hunting. They were hiking around when all of a sudden the dog fell in a hole. The hole was the result of a large tree being uprooted. The boys were worried because they thought that their dog was hurt or dead. The boys decided that they would go after the dog. They got a long piece of rope and tied it around a tree. Then they started to climb down the hole, which ended twenty-five feet below the surface of the earth. When the boys got to the bottom they discovered that they were in some sort of tunnel surrounded by hundreds of paintings. For a couple of days the boys kept the tunnel a secret, then they decided to mention their discovery to their old art teacher whose specialty was prehistoric art. The teacher traveled down the hole and soon realized that this was not an ordinary discovery. They explored a bit more and came to the conclusion that this was in fact a cave that had been covered by the earth for thousands and thousands of years. He told the French government what the boys had found and convinced them to close the hole to the general public (Daniel 82-84). Soon thereafter began decades of work studying and recording everything that lay in this underground cave. It was given the name Lascaux
The deterioration of the walls as a result of corrosion, a phenomenon which predates the discovery of the cave, has made it much more difficult to interpret the works and greatly altered their initial impact...
mostly horses
BIRD MAN
Les Troi Freres Cave in France Contains painting of a shaman-- Joseph Campbell named it "God of the Cave." He's two feet tall, and well out of reach, fourteen feet up. He presides over a swarm of bison, ibex, bear, deer, and mammoth incised on the stone slabs below him. The god of the cave is instinct and intellect and spirit in one. The full animal inheritance, and the human dance, some inquisitiveness and concern, with a nurturing hunch to his shoulders.
Engraving Gallery
Engraving Gallery
The work carried out at Lascaux shortly after the Second World War made access to the cave easier. At that time, the entrance was considerably enlarged and the floors lowered to enable the constant flow of tourists (almost 1,200 people per day) to circulate more easily.
In March 1980, the Dordogne Department tourism authority was given responsibility for the work. They decided to reproduce the two most representative sections of the site, the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery.
"Nobody paid much attention to it," said Dr Rappenglueck. "But, it is obviously a drawing of the constellation we call the Northern Crown. It is remarkable."
Altamira Cave
Bear pit
Fertility rituals
Woman of Brassempouy
Neolithic Man
Comparison
Elements of Architecture
Skara Brae
House Interior
Megaliths
Menhirs
Stages of Stonehenge
Stonehenge
POST AND LINTEL
Ceramic-ware
Sympathetic hunting magic. Some evidence supports the idea that the images of animals pierced by spears or arrows were used as a voodoo-like magic practice to ensure a successful hunt. Some images show signs of actually having been struck by spears or stones.
Fertility rituals. The paintings may have been used as part of rituals intended to increase the fertility either of the herds hunted by the prehistoric people or of the hunters.
Initiation rites/social ceremony. Many experts have argued that these images were used in ceremonies that strengthened the bonds between clans, or perhaps were part of the initiation rites of young clan members upon reaching maturity. The overlaying of images through subsequent generations lends credence to these theories.