![]() In the absence of any texts, which might give us a clear impression of the artists’ visual culture, belief system and relationship with the natural world, it is difficult to say anything about how the Lascaux cave paintings were meant to be understood, let alone why horses played such an important role in them. To answer this question, we first have to ask what purpose Palaeolithic cave paintings were meant to serve. So why were the Lascaux painters so obsessed with them? The cave before the horse ![]() Horses, by contrast, seem to have been rarely on the menu. On the basis of bones found in the caves, it appears that reindeer were by far the most important source of food. After all, horses were not domesticated until at least 10,000 years afterwards and, though earlier cultures are known to have relied on them for both meat and hides, the same cannot be said for the communities which inhabited Lascaux. The frequency with which they appear is puzzling, though. More often than not, they are galloping – racing across the grasslands of prehistoric France, or fleeing an unseen foe. Though they are shown in a variety of different shades and patterns, most appear in their ‘mating’ coats, with dun-coloured hair and occasionally a pale or dappled underside. With their stocky build, short legs and spiky mane, they look similar to Przewalski’s horse, still found in Mongolia today. What is most striking about these horses is the intimate, even affectionate, familiarity with which they are portrayed. By one estimate, they account for no less than 60 per cent of all identifiable animals in the Lascaux complex. Unlike other creatures, which tend to be concentrated in certain places, horses are everywhere – and in huge numbers. Some of the paintings are so high that they can only have been reached using a specially built scaffold while to produce others, the artists would have had to clamber down into a ‘well’.Ī number of different animals are depicted, including stags, ibex, bison, aurochs (an extinct species of wild cattle), felines, a bear, a bird and even a rhinoceros. These were mixed with a binding agent, such as animal fat, clay, or water, to produce a rudimentary paint, or ground into a powder and ‘spat’ or blown onto the wall through a reindeer bone. A range of pigments was used, including red hematite, yellow goethite, and black manganese. Though painted by several different social groups, they are remarkable for the technical sophistication with which they were rendered. Now dated to c.15000 BC they comprise a dazzling assortment of images, including some 6,000 representations of animals. The Lascaux cave paintings, as they would soon be known, proved to be one of the most extensive and complete examples of Palaeolithic art in Europe, if not the world. To their amazement, ranged along the length of the cavern was a vast cavalcade of animals, painted in the most vivid colours. ![]() All of a sudden, one of them gave a cry and pointed at the wall. At first, they struggled to see much by the pale light of their oil lamp. Squeezing through the narrow opening, they gingerly worked their way down a 15m shaft, until they found themselves standing in an enormous cave. Four days later, he came back to explore with three friends. Legend had it that a secret tunnel leading to a nearby chateau was hidden somewhere around there – and he felt sure this was it. When Marcel jumped down to rescue the frightened dog, however, he noticed a small, very deep hole. After a hasty search, Marcel found him at the bottom of a shallow pit. ![]() ![]() On 8 September 1940, Marcel Ravidat was walking through the woods near his home in Montignac when his dog, Robot, suddenly disappeared. ![]()
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