The Cave Paintings of Chauvet
	Visit to the Chauvet Cave in 1999 by John Robinson

David was waiting and I had to back out, but first Jean leant in and took a photograph. Still in shock I followed Jean back along the strip, and we passed into the second chamber. This is huge and yet there is not a single painting on the Chauvet Cave wall, only calcite encrusted bones and skulls of Bear, the odd enormous tooth, and the skeleton of one tiny bird or bat. Everywhere there are Bear nests, which they have dug out for hibernation. We arrived at the end of the chamber and came to a rock wall that had a womb like hollow in it. At the right hand end of the five feet long and two feet high womb are about 20 red fingertip dots. On the left hand end is a rock crack with a small piece of bone pushed into it.

	This find is very significant as it is the earliest example of this behaviour yet found, and means that there was possibly a much greater continuity of action over the centuries than previously thought.The same thing applies to another place in the cave where one Claviform symbol has been found. Nobody has any idea as to what this Symbol means, although it does have a very “phallic come pregnant” look about it. The important thing is that one is present here in the cave, that is dated between 32,000 and 27,000 years old, while until now the Claviform symbol has only been found in Magdalenian caves dating around 15,000 ago. Does this one tiny sign mean that the Chauvet Cave was visited in Magdalenian times, or are these symbols older than they are at present thought to be?

We crossed over to the far wall of what is really the entrance to a smaller passage chamber. Here Jean introduced me to the Cheetah and the Hyena. Discovering these two paintings was a unique event, as these animals have never been depicted in any other cave.

Of course that makes them exciting, but for me the real thrill was to see the artistry. The Hyena is just as mean looking as his descendants are today, with their run away backsides, and the Cheetah just as slinky, with its drooping shoulders. The Hyena is just as mean looking as his descendants are today, with their run away backsides, and the Cheetah just as slinky, with its drooping shoulders. Across the chamber to the right is a wonderful large red Rhinoceros, a possible Insect 18 inches high, and a positive red Hand with a wonderful arch of 20 or so red fingertip dots beside it.

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