Chauvet Cave

The cave paintings and rock art of Chauvet

The Chauvet Cave is located near the Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the Ardèche region of southern France. The Cave Paintings of Chauvet date to 30,000 to 32,000 years ago. In the Chauvet Cave hundreds of animal paintings have been found making Chauvet Cave one of the world's most important rock art sites.

Chauvet Cave Through the Mind of a Sculptor

Visit to the Chauvet Cave in 2001 by John Robinson

Allow just enough light

We passed through the large second chamber where there is not a single image on the empty walls although there are many surfaces suitable for drawings. Why are there no drawings? It has been suggested that one possible answer might be that the original entrance that was used by the bears had been wide enough to allow just enough light into this chamber so it was not completely dark. If that is so, does it mean that only the pitch-black chambers were thought to be the sacred abode of the animal spirits.

Allow just enough light

We passed through the large second chamber where there is not a single image on the empty walls although there are many surfaces suitable for drawings. Why are there no drawings? It has been suggested that one possible answer might be that the original entrance that was used by the bears had been wide enough to allow just enough light into this chamber so it was not completely dark. If that is so, does it mean that only the pitch-black chambers were thought to be the sacred abode of the animal spirits. This could be the oldest example in the world of a brush being used. Whether it was a bird’s feather or a bunch of hairs bound to a stick as a brush, is impossible to tell, but I believe the painting must have been done with a loaded brush. It was certainly wonderful to think about.

	Horse pane animation At last we arrived at the Horse panel. So much work has been done on this vast panel that it has been possible to map a precise sequential order for the whole composition. Was this wall chosen because it is at the entrance of the Altar chamber or is there another reason? There is a possibility that this might be the case as the research team have noticed that after very heavy rain a weird gurgling noise comes from a hole at floor level at the base of the panel.

The noise continues for a day or so, then water starts to seep from it and trickles out and runs past the panel and out into the Altar chamber. Did the Chauvet people believe the sound was coming from the Animal Spirit World?

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