The Dynamic Relationship Between Palaeolithic Cave Art and Depth Psychology

The Decorated Caves of the Upper Palaeolithic

Page 2/5
 
Les Trois Freres
Les Trois Frères
 
Dedicated Temple Caves
 
Whilst no decorated cave of the Upper Palaeolithic is like any other and each has its own individual character, there is yet a striking uniformity between them. Here are just some of the most obvious common features. All the decorated caves depict animals, rather than human beings (though there are a few exceptions to this general rule such as, for example, the stick-figure in the cave of Lascaux thought to be that of a shaman in a trance, or the figure in the cave of Les Trois Freres, a composite being, part man, part beasts, usually referred to as the 'sorcerer'). The paintings of the animals are carried out with the utmost care, displaying as much the artists intimate familiarity with the natural world as their highly developed artistic skills. Of the very many instances illustrating this point only a few can be mentioned here, such as the magnificent 'Hall of Bulls' in Lascaux; the large black stag with spectacular antlers or the frieze of small horses, both in Lascaux. In the relatively recently discovered Chauvet Cave there is a rock-face showing the so-called 'Chagal Horses', astonishingly accurately observed and drawn; also in Chauvet is a panel depicting a pack of cave lions, their bodies and particularly their eyes full of hunger for their prey. Again, there are bison panels in the Salon Noir of the Niaux Cave where the animals' eyes, tapered horns and hooves and their thick woolly manes are rendered with such detail that one imagines that they might step off the wall at any moment.
 
The Lascaux Cave Art Paintings
Lascaux Cave
The Niaux Cave Art Paintings
Niaux Cave
The Chauvet Cave Art Paintings
Chauvet Cave
The Lascaux Cave Art Paintings
Lascaux Cave
 
The image-makers of parietal (cave) art were selective in the type of animals they represented, that is, instead of depicting the animals that provided their daily sustenance, they chose to focus on the animals of the hunt, with horses and bison being the most common. Most animals are given in profile whilst all of them - without exception - are drawn without a background or a solid base-line for support which gives the impression that they are floating in space.
 
Chauvet Cave Art Paintings
Niaux Cave Bison
Sallon Noir
Another common feature is that the embellished chambers of the Palaeolithic caves are never found at or near the entrance but always in the deepest and most hidden parts of the caves, which could only be reached by men willing to risk life and limb to get there. Moreover, the Ice-age artists did not paint just on any rock-face but carefully searched for specifically shaped rocks which with their contours suggested the outline, the head, or the eye of an animal. In the Sallon Noir of Niaux, for example, the painter used a deep, black hole in the rock for the eye-socket of a magnificent bison and then guided by the stone composed the whole animal around it. Elsewhere a craggy gap in the rock inspired the artist to see a deer head emerging from behind the rock - all he had to do to complete the image, was to draw the antlers. In their determination to find the right spot, the rock painters would have had to carefully scan the surfaces, climb up to slippery ledges near the ceiling of the cave, or else, scramble down into narrow recesses. All in all, it would have been a task that required supreme courage and agility. Since the search would have been done by the flickering light of hand-held torches, touch would have played an important role - a point whose significance will become clear shortly.
 
If we add to these common features the fact that the Palaeolithic tradition of decorating the deepest parts of caves continued over a very long period of time, spanning more than twenty thousand years from ca. 34 000 BC to ca. 12 000 BC, the time of the great Ice-age hunt, a central theme or leitmotif begins to emerge. And it is this: these extremely remote decorated chambers could have never served as shelters or dwelling places since they are too far from the entrances and exits, and often in the most extreme places. The question is: what were these places used for? Archaeologists and art historians of this period are almost universally agreed that these inaccessible spaces must have been used as underground temples, as sanctuaries, for carrying out religious, and/or shamanic rituals. Mighty chance creations of nature such as the magnificent caves of Lascaux, Chauvet, Niaux, Les Trois Frères, etc., would probably have been particularly sought out by Palaeolithic man as sacred places full of mana, places where the divine spirits could be evoked for their oracular wisdom, or places where the artist could relive and speculate on the exhilarating and sometimes terrifying experiences of the hunt.
 
 
Further Reading:
Cave Art: An Intuition of Eternity
Dr. Ilse Vickers
 
Bradshaw Foundation Homepage
French Cave Paintings & Rock Art Archive
 
bradshaw foundation donate help
Mailing List

Email Sign-Up
website updates

Email

First Name

Last Name

Country

iShop
bradshaw foundation ishop tshirt
Podcast
bradshaw foundation podcast
DVD
bradshaw foundation ishop dvd
Homepage About the Foundation Contact Us Facebook News Articles Twitter List of Research Papers Professor Stephen Oppenheimer Bibliographic Database Travel Index About the Expeditions Forthcoming Expeditions Bespoke Expeditions Enquire Practical Information History of Exploration Welcome to the iShop Film Downloads DVD's Sculpture Prints Clothing Messenger Bag eBooks INORA Downloads About iLecture Films Shipping & Handling iLectures In Conversation Video Stories Travel Films Read the reviews Privacy Policy Bradshaw Foundation Facebook Friends of the Foundation Archive Index World's Oldest Rock Art Africa Documentary Films South Africa RARI Giraffe Carvings Niger Namibia Western Central Africa Africa Paintings Gallery Tanzania The Tuareg People Tuareg Salt Caravans Gilf Kebir Birnin Kudu Rock Art Center Archive Index San Rock Art Paintings San Bushman San Rock Art Film Origins Centre Johannesburg Archive Index Arizona Baja California Baja California Film Coso Range Talking Stone Film Nevada Oregon Territory Moab, Utah Clovis First Australia Archive Index Introduction Bradshaw Paintings Kimberley Region The Unambal Hugh Brown Leif Thiele Gallery Dan Clark Grahame Walsh Bradshaws / Gwion Gwion Archive Index Introduction Origins of the British Avebury Stonehenge Sounds of Stonehenge The British Museum British Isles Megaliths Gower Peninsula Rock Art Mendip Hills Prehistory Northumberland Rock Art Red Lady of Paviland Stone Age Mammoth Abattoir Archive Index Introduction Peterborough Petroglyphs Western Canadian Rock Art Writing-On-Stone Wuikinuxv Territory Dinosaur Provincial Park Archive Index Huashan Rock Art Yinchuan Museum Rock Art Festival Field Trip Gallery Itinerant Creeds Inner Mongolia & Ningxia Vanishing Civilization Life in Rock Art (PDF) Tibet Tibet Photographs Dazu Rock Carvings Tiger Motif Archive Index Chauvet Cave Lascaux Cave Niaux Cave Cosquer Cave Rouffignac Cave Portable Art Defining Rock Art Tuc d'Audoubert Bison Dr. Jean Clottes Index UNESCO World Heritage Introduction Cave Paintings Gallery Visiting the Chauvet Cave Return to Chauvet Cave Investigating the Cave Venus & Sorcerer Werner Herzog Film Chauvet Publications India Archive Index Rock Art Central India Pachmarhi Hills India Rock Art Gallery Preservation & Education Dr. V. S. Wakankar Articles on India Rock Art Contemporary Art Sri Lanka Archive Index Rock Paintings & Engravings Sri Lanka Rock Art Gallery Middle East Archive Index Middle East Inroduction Rock Art of Iran Rock Art of Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Rock Art Ancient Geometry Middle East Colonisation Scandinavian Rock Art Archive Scandinavian Introduction Alta Rock Art Norway Rock Art in Finland Tanum Rock Art Sweden Thor Heyerdahl Archive Index Introduction America's Oldest Art? Pedra Furada Bolivian Rock Art Campeche Island - Brazil Checta Petroglyphs - Peru Cueva de las Manos Santa Catarina Island - Brazil Rock Art in Britain Campeche Rock Art Petroglyphs El Salvador - Corinto Cave Hand Rock Art Paintings Tibetan Rock Art United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Yinchuan Rock Art Museum Introduction Ice Age Art Gallery Claire Artemyz Jill Cook Interview Cycladic Introduction Cycladic Gallery A Cultural Memory Izzy Wisher Biography Deer-tooth necklace Cave Art Introduction Geometric Signs Chart Research Methodology Geometric Signs in France Sign Types/Countries/Regions Bibliography Ancient Symbols in Rock Art Newsletter Archive Download Issues Introduction Genetic Map Professor Stephen Oppenheimer Further Reading Origins of the British BBC Documentary Origins Index Origins Overview 13 Big Questions Stanley Ambrose Homo Floresiensis Herto Skulls Homo Dmanisi Liujiang Skull Introduction Sentinels in Stone Easter Island Rock Art Birdman Cult / Motif Sea & Marine Creatures Design & Motifs Dr Georgia Lee Easter Island Map Contemporary Art Glossary Conclusion Thor Heyerdahl Introduction When & Who Built It? How Was It Built? The Area Sounds of Stonehenge Meaning of a Pyramid Pyramid Studies Pyramid Superstructure Pyramid Substructure Pyramid Preparations Pyramid Building Saqqara Nabil Swelim Temples of Malta and Gozo Research in the Caucasus The Keselo Foundation Homo Dmanisi Ancient Toolmakers Index Introduction Descent into the Cave The Decorated Caves Shamanistic Experience Spring Initiation Rites Summary Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Professor John P. Miller Motif: Eternal Index Banksy Han Meilin Bruce Radke Christian Tuki Gordon Ellis-Brown Site Map Search the Website Glossary of Terms & Definition Podcast on iTunes Other Websites Contact the Foundation