Customer Reviews

Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's dark in there. Deep in the caverns located in cliffs of the Ardeche River gorge somebody left images of a world unseen. Bears, ibexes, lions and more are depicted in over three hundred complete and and partial imagery along the rock walls. Some have even been "erased" by smudges overlying the originals. In some cases the animals are probably fighting. The rutting season? Others are massed together as if migrating or hunting in packs. To depict these fauna so precisely required immense talent. Yet they could only have been drawn in the flickering light of oil lamps or torches. The very walls must have seemed to flicker with life as the painters went about their craft. Who were they? Why did they put so much effort into these images? What can we learn from them?

Jean Clottes, leading a team of researchers, has been examining the Chauvet caves for over a decade. In this book, the images are catalogued, defined and analysed for age and content. More than anything else, this book is a fantastic depiction of the images, in both panoramic and in close detail. It has been an immense task and the work has barely begun, as Clottes notes. Access to the cave, even when permitted, requires patience, dexterity and allows no tinge of claustrophobia! Yet some of the photographs show the researchers at their work or examining their surroundings. It's a vivid contrast to see but the boots of one crawling through an access tunnel, then standing almost lost in an immense grotto.

A compilation of the work of several authors, Clottes' book offers more than the images of our ancestors' paintings. It's made clear that whatever the painters' drive to convey their views of lions, mammoth or bison, it wasn't an evolving aesthetic sense or the expression of a leisure class. Among the collections of photographs, analysts attempt to derive some meaning from the depictions. To Joelle Robert-Lamblin, the closest approximation to these Palaeolithic artists are the Inuit. In an essay pointing out similarities and differences, attention is given to the role of the cave itself and known shamanic practices. For both societies, the bear is a figure of significance. At Chauvet, paintings are done over cave bear scratchings, and in one place a bear's skull has been carefully positioned. Were the skull and the many paintings of bears an appeal for their power, or an attempt to ward off predation?

Interpretation of these images isn't easy, but Clottes explains some of the patterns and practices involved. Reading his text requires a bit of page flipping, since the cave has so many chambers, all named for some factor or another [although "The Sacristy" at the far end defies explanation]. In the "earlier" part of the cave, the images are rendered mostly in red ochre. In the deeper chambers, the dominant colour is black. Certain animals abound in some grottoes, while others are nearly devoid of images. Many surfaces which almost cry out for use remain blank. Clottes suggests these divisions are based on initiation levels of those allowed within the sacred confines - a practice common in many of today's religions. Further, the mystery of the lack of human figures remains unresolved.

Beyond the glorious photography, Clottes provides maps of the various chambers and a table of dated artefacts. The dating, as he notes, was a shocking revelation. The images were depicted over thirty thousand years ago. And their creation wasn't continuous. A five thousand year stretch, a distance in time equal to that of the Old Kingdom of Egypt to today, separates the two major periods of occupancy. Was the location lost, or simply visited without adding new graphics? The notes and bibliography for this account are thorough, but are limited to the immediate work. Clottes is still working on the images and their meaning. He may produce another book on Chauvet, but it will not truly replace this one. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

The discovery of Chauvet Cave in France's Rhone Valley in 1994 created an international sensation. Its floors were littered with the remains of cave bears, giraffes, auroch, and horses, and its walls displayed fantastic art depicting mammoths, rhinos, and lions-all signs of human occupation dating as far back as the Aurignacian period (37,000-29,000 years BP). No other site exists that is as close in age to the currently accepted date for the appearance of modern humans. Chauvet Cave documents this priceless find. The far-reaching significance of Chauvet Cave has yet to be realized, but the early implications are staggering-it has the earliest known cave paintings, the earliest known footprints from an anatomically modern human, a fossil record of Pleistocene cave bear skeletons. Based on the first three years of formal study at the site, Chauvet Cave, published in France in 2001 and now available for the first time to English-speaking readers, offers the first in-depth research report accessible to the general public. The text is accessible and the stunning photography speaks for itself providing an absorbing introduction to one of the most important archaeological finds of the twentieth century. Since it's discovery, French archaeological authorities have tightly restricted access to Chauvet cave. It is unlikely it will ever be opened to more than a handful of specialists. Fortunately, the full color photographs, maps, and probing text Chauvet Cave will allow the rest of us intimate access to the timeless, beautiful images found inside.

This book is a bit different from many of the others that one can purchase about cave art. This focuses on a relatively newely discovered cave (1994) and documents the fruits of the first years of exploration and investigation. The results of this research are well written in this book and highlight a lot of the excitement of finding paintings that were as old when the Lascaux paintings were made as those Lascaux paintings are now! 30,000 years ago man made sophisiticated and mature pictures and this book does them justice. Parts of the text are quite technical and maybe not of great interest to someone just trying to 'learn a little bit about cave art.' But this book was not realized to be just another overview of cave art in general and does not really take the place of one either. It is as beautiful book as the cover would suggest and is full of luscious photographs not only of the art works themselves, but also of the raw natural beauty of the cave. I highly recommend this book!!!

I purchased this book more as an art lover than an anthropologist and have found it fascinating. The authors have been maticulous in their documentation of their findings. The art and the cave floor photos with inhancements are incredible. History, animal and art lovers will all benefit from this work. My only suggestion to the authors is that the glossary be expanded to aid readers such as myself who have a limited knowledge base of archeology et al. A great addition to anyones library.

Beware. This is the same book as Thames and Hudson's "Return to Chauvet Cave: Excavating the Birthplace of Art--The First Full Report," published in London. The British version seems to be available quite a bit cheaper, perhaps because the Thames and Hudson editions of book like this tend to get remaindered and are easier to find in used-book stores. So on price grounds I can't really recommend the US edition.

It would be easier by far to climb Everest or to plunge into the Marianas Trench than to gain access to Chauvet Cave, which is restricted to a mere half dozen archaeologists by the government of France. There are very good reasons for the restrictions. Human activity in limestone caves is inevitably destructive; both natural features and artifacts are quickly degraded. This is hyper-critical in Chauvet because of its uniqueness and scientific significance. Fortunately, there is this magnificent book of photos of the cave and its art. There is also a spectacular virtual tour of the cave on line, maintained by the French government.

When the cave was discovered by spelunkers in 1994, it had not been entered by humans since roughly 22,000 BCE (or 12,000-14,000 years before the Creation of the Earth, according to Biblical fundamentalists). Yet to the astonishment of archaeologists, some of the art and artifacts in the cave were soon dated reliably as even older, perhaps 15,000 years older, from the Aurignacian era, thus being the earliest known cave paintings as well as the oldest known footprints of an anatomically modern human. Even more astonishing is the sophistication of the paintings, both technically and aesthetically. No words can describe the impact of seeing such skillful representations of horses, mammoths, rhinoceroses, elk, and cave lions, representations that seem as vivid and impressionistic as our own modern iconic images of the Wild. The Chauvet paintings are in no way "primitive" in comparison to the images in the caves at Altamira or Lascaut, yet they are as much as 750 human generations older!

I've personally visited a dozen of the cave-art sites of France and Spain. Some of them are over-toured, yet a few of the best, like Peche-Merle, are solitudinous. Photographs and even moving pictures do little justice to the sensations of seeing the paintings and sculptures in situ. You can't just walk into the gallery and stand on a flat floor and see the stuff on the walls. These are real caves, narrow, cold, full of sharp spikes of rock and jagged corners - head-bangers, crawly holes, slime, and ankle-twisters. Likewise the artists didn't stand and sketch; they crept and crouched, and sometimes hid their images in the weirdest crevices! Whatever they were doing, whatever it meant to them, it was no casual graffiti; it was full of lost intention.

Jean Clottes, the author of this book and one of the chief archaeologists of Chauvet, writes lucidly and modestly about the project he heads, the history and significance of Chauvet, and the whole context of the presence of early modern H. sapiens in Europe. His text is not for specialists only; it's accessible to "armchair" archaeologists like myself, though I can't help regretting that my armchair is as close as I'll ever get to this first known masterpiece of human artistic impulse. Wouldn't a few million euros (or dollars)be more usefully spent on conserving and studying Chauvet than on building another freeway overpass or a fence to keep workers out of a country where work is wanted?

30,000 years ago accomplished artists left amazingly accurate and sophisticated depictions of a world long gone. The Chauvet Cave drawings referred to in this book are far older than those at Lascaux. Whitley attempts to explain the origins of art and religion by citing the latest archaeological evidence and findings of neuroscience. He suggests a new understanding of shamanism, artistic creativity, myth and religion.

Lots of mammals were considered interesting enough to record way back then. Cave bears, ibexes, lions, horses, but no people. Seems odd to us. Wildlife art is still popular, but 'Art Business Today' tells us that it is only number eight out of the top ten best-selling subjects. The top three are landscapes, local views and semi-abstract landscapes. Number four is abstracts, followed by dogs, figure studies and number seven: seascapes, harbor and beach scenes. Next is wildlife, then impressionistic landscapes and finally nudes. Notably absent is religious art.

Why do Whitley and his fellow academics insist that cave drawings must have some religious significance? Religious art today is nothing more than a niche market. It says far more about Whitley's modern mind set and world view than it does about the cave artists themselves.

The last ice age ended about twelve thousand years ago. Prior to that it was cold and winter lasted a long time. Since archaeologist have not found enough burnt wood to prove long term occupation they tell us the caves were used only for ceremonial events. Therefore, the cave drawings had to have been religiously motivated. Does that make sense? Caves would have offered by far the best chance to make it through the winters unless they went south. Bear in mind that around the world people still live very comfortably in caves all year.

Here in north Idaho we heat with wood. It's common knowledge that the best way to start a fire is to use the burnt wood from the previous fire. In a thousand years when they dig up our fireplace and date the charcoal will they conclude we only used it briefly and therefore it was ceremonial?

Notice how they took advantage of the suggestive defects in the rock. We have all seen animals in clouds, natural rock and elsewhere. The cow jumping over the moon is a well known example. Don't we love to point out pareidolia to others? My suspicion is that those long ago artists were a lot like artist today. They did artwork for their own amusement and to amaze others. Cave paintings appear to be embellished pareidolia. A pleasant, interesting way to pass the long winters. A nice change from telling stories around the camp fire. www.buildart.com/blog.

I have always be fascinated by this type of art work. Lately I have bought a half dozen books on the subject, This book is by far the best for photographs and illustrations. It gives real insight to the art and way it was created. The wealth of photographs is amazing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in cave art.

This is an amazing book! I don't think I've ever lingered over a book as much as I have this one. The incredibly detailed descriptions of the artwork draw you to repeatedly examine each photograph. I find this book even more fascinating because it includes a study of the cave's floor as well as the parietal art.
This book is a fascinating journey into the past depicted by the most extraordinary photographs!
I highly recommend this book for your personal collection.

I haven't read much yet. I've been too busy browsing through the pictures. Beautifully detailed. Amazing how this art was created by people that we think of as primitive. There has always been a need of humans to express themselves through art.