Return to Chauvet Cave [Hardcover]

Jean Clottes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2003

The discovery of the Chauvet Cave in December 1994 was a remarkable event. The incredible age of the paintings, which dated back 35,000 years, and their exceptionally high quality were the source of both astonishment and admiration, and the images of mammoths, rhinoceroses, lions, bears, horses and bison have since been seen around the world. Several years ago, a team of specialists from many different disciplines, led by Jean Clottes, began the first detailed scientific study of the cave. This collaborative project has been extremely fruitful and the cave has slowly revealed many of secrets of its origins: its dating, the traces left by animals and humans, the artistic techniques that were used, and the themes of the paintings and engravings. New light has also been cast on this unique art by art historians and ethnologists. All these discoveries are published together for the first time, accompanied by numerous colour illustrations, allowing the public to share not only this new knowledge but also the thrill and fascination of looking back thousands of years into an ancient world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jean Clottes is the leader of the Chauvet Cave research team and an internationally recognized specialist on cave paintings and Palaeolithic art. For many years he has worked for the National Heritage Office of the French Ministry of Culture, and now acts as a consultant for UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). His many books include The Cave Beaneath the Sea: Paleolithic Images at Cosquer (with Jean Courtin) and The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves (with David Lewis-Williams).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (March 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500511195
• ISBN-13: 978-0500511190
• Product Dimensions: 13.7 x 10.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,126,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I would give this glorious book 10 stars if I could...., January 19, 2005

By 

R. W. "RW" (Oregon) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Return to Chauvet Cave (Hardcover)

This book is simply magnificent. But first, a word about the price. The British publisher, Thames and Hudson, prices this book at 45 pounds. At this time, 1 pound = $1.8 US. I encourage you to compute the currency exchange and then shop . . . .

Now for the book. Since it's currently impossible to "look inside this book," let me share a few things about this splendid volume.

* It's 13 inches high by 11 inches wide, so it's an over-sized volume.
* 209 illustrations, 208 of which are in color
* the photos are extraordinary in clarity, lighting etc
* some of the photos span 2 pages, some take up 20-25% of a page, and there are 2 foldouts that show the breadth of a panel
* the paper is very high quality
* on average, the text takes up only part of a page. Some pages are strictly photos, sometimes a page has a column of text with photos. A few pages are entirely text. Bottom line, this is primarily a photo book, which is exactly what I was hoping it would be.
* the text is written for the general public. It's mostly descriptive, though there are some passages where interpretations are offered.
* most of the photos I've seen of the Chauvet paintings in other works are close-ups of the paintings. There are close-ups in this book too, but many of them show more of the physical backdrop for the paintings. It makes the paintings even more powerful to see them in their full "architectural" setting
* there are a few photos of the cave formations themselves, which is wonderful since the cave itself is a work of art.

The Table of Contents:
1. How to Study the Cave?
2. The Cave in its Setting
3. The Floors and Incursions into the Cave by Animals and People
4. Drawing in the Cave (covers 13 chambers in the cave)
5. The Techniques of Parietal Art
6. Lots of Animals and Signs (Horses etc)
7. Other Points of View
8. Conclusion

By the way, there is also a website for the Chauvet Cave where you can read reports by researchers etc.

This treasure will become a permanent fixture on my coffee table. My deepest thanks to the editor, Jean Clottes, and Thames and Hudson for doing such a masterful job.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent extraordinary and revealing., January 2, 2005

By 

William G. Chappell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Chauvet Cave (Hardcover)

Extremely well written account of the ongoing excavation of Chauvet Cave. The detail in the authors descriptions of the many artifacts found and the maticulous fragility used in processing, dating, and cataloging. This book goes way beyond cave art. From the animals and humans that had contact with the cave to the environment, geology, and paleo-botony. These are some of the oldest art ever dated and while reading their accounts the reader is transported back into time witnessing specific events that occured more than 32,000 years ago during the IceAge.
I highly recommend this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars yet another cave art book, June 14, 2009

By 

William Mixon (Austin, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Chauvet Cave (Hardcover)

Any significant new discovery of paleolithic cave art can be counted on to produce coffee-table books, both in French and in English translation. This one is preceded by at least "Chauvet Cave: The Discovery of the World's Oldest Paintings," by Jean-Marie Chauvet, et al. The English translations usually have separate publishers in the UK and the US, with different titles, which can be confusing and lead to inadvertent duplicate purchases. The book reviewed here is the same book as the University of Utah Press's "Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times," which is a more accurate reflection of the original French title.