Editing Lascaux (section)

==Images==
[[File:Lascaux, Megaloceros.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Irish elk]] (''Megaloceros giganteus'') with line of dots]]
The cave contains nearly 6,000 figures, which can be grouped into three main categories: animals, human figures, and abstract signs. The paintings contain no images of the surrounding landscape or the vegetation of the time.<ref name=nechvatal/> Most of the major images have been painted onto the walls using red, yellow, and black colours from a complex multiplicity of mineral pigments<ref name=Dickson>{{cite book |first=D. Bruce |last=Dickson |title=The Dawn of Belief: Religion in the Upper Paleolithic of Southwestern Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNr5YIygjMMC&pg=PA110 |isbn=0-8165-1336-8 |year=1992 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-date=1 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601073721/https://books.google.com/books?id=DNr5YIygjMMC&pg=PA110#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|110}}<ref name=Chalmin>Chalmin E, Farges F, Vignaud C, ''et al''. ''[http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12224.pdf Discovery of Unusual Minerals in Paleolithic Black Pigments from Lascaux (France) and Ekain (Spain)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601073747/http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12224.pdf |date=1 June 2024 }}''.</ref> including iron compounds such as iron oxide ([[ochre]]),<ref name=Rapp>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmKvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|title=Archaeomineralogy|year=2013|first=George R.|last=Rapp|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-662-05005-7|access-date=25 September 2020|archive-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601073724/https://books.google.com/books?id=cmKvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA208#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|204}} [[hematite]], and [[goethite]],<ref name=Chalmin/><ref name=ESAA>{{cite web|url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/lascaux-cave-paintings.htm|title=Lascaux Cave Paintings: Layout, Meaning, Photographs|work=visual-arts-cork.com|access-date=24 January 2016|archive-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230024000/http://visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/lascaux-cave-paintings.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as manganese-containing pigments.<ref name=Chalmin/><ref name=Rapp/>{{rp|208}} Charcoal may also have been used<ref name=Rapp/>{{rp|199}} but seemingly to a sparing extent.<ref name=Dickson/> On some of the cave walls, the colour may have been applied as a [[Suspension (chemistry)|suspension]] of pigment in either animal fat or calcium-rich cave [[groundwater]] or [[clay]], making [[paint]],<ref name=Dickson/> that was swabbed or blotted on, rather than applied by brush.<ref name=ESAA/> In other areas, the colour was applied by spraying the pigments by blowing the mixture through a tube.<ref name=ESAA/> Where the rock surface is softer, some designs have been incised into the stone. Many images are too faint to discern, and others have deteriorated entirely.

Over 900 can be identified as animals, and 605 of these have been precisely identified. Out of these images, there are 364 paintings of [[Equus (genus)|equines]] as well as 90 paintings of [[Deer|stags]]. Also represented are cattle and bison, each representing 4 to 5% of the images. A smattering of other images includes seven felines, a bird, a bear, a rhinoceros. In the deepest reaches of the cave, at the bottom of a 9m-deep well, the only human figure of the cave was depicted, in a strikingly different style. There are no images of reindeer, even though that was the principal source of food for the artists, and no image of fish either.<ref name=curtis>{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Gregory|title=The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists|year=2006|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=1-4000-4348-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cavepaintersprob00curt/page/96 96–97, 102]|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/cavepaintersprob00curt/page/96}}</ref> Geometric images have also been found on the walls.

The most famous section of the cave is The Hall of the Bulls where bulls, equines, [[aurochs]], stags, and the only bear in the cave are depicted. The four black bulls, or aurochs, are the dominant figures among the 36 animals represented here. One of the bulls is {{convert|5.2|m|ftin}} long, the largest animal discovered so far in cave art. Additionally, the bulls appear to be in motion.<ref name=curtis/>

A painting referred to as "The Crossed Bison", found in the chamber called the Nave, is often submitted as an example of the skill of the Paleolithic cave painters. The crossed hind legs create the illusion that one leg is closer to the viewer than the other. This visual depth in the scene, enhanced by the three dimensional structure of the painted rock, demonstrates a highly sophisticated form of perspective which disappeared with the Magdalenian culture and would not re-emerge until the Italian Renaissance.<ref>[https://www.vulture.com/2015/01/most-powerful-artwork-i-have-ever-seen.html Vulture]</ref> As famously quoted by Picasso upon encountering paleolithic art: "we have learned nothing in twelve thousand years".

===Parietal representation===

The Hall of the Bulls presents the most spectacular composition of Lascaux. Its calcite walls are not suitable for engraving, so it is only decorated with paintings, often of impressive dimensions: some are up to five metres long.

Two rows of aurochs face each other, two on one side and three on the other. The two aurochs on the north side are accompanied by about ten [[horse]]s and a large enigmatic animal, with two straight lines on its forehead that earned it the nickname "unicorn". On the south side, three large aurochs are next to three smaller ones, painted red, as well as six small deer and the only bear in the cave, superimposed on the belly of an aurochs and difficult to read.

The Axial Diverticulum is also decorated with cattle and horses accompanied by deer and [[ibex]]. A drawing of a fleeing horse was brushed with manganese pencil 2.50 metres above the ground. Some animals are painted on the ceiling and seem to roll from one wall to the other. These representations, which required the use of scaffolding, are intertwined with many signs (sticks, dots, and rectangular signs).

The Passage has a highly degraded decoration, notably through air circulation.

The Nave has four groups of figures: the Empreinte panel, the Black Cow panel, the Deer swimming panel, and the Crossed Buffalo panel. These works are accompanied by many enigmatic geometric signs, including coloured checkers that H. Breuil called "coats of arms".

The Feline Diverticulum owes its name to a group of felines, one of which seems to urinate to mark its territory. Very difficult to access, one can see there engravings of wild animals of a rather naive style. There are also other animals associated with signs, including a representation of a horse seen from the front, exceptional in Paleolithic art where animals are generally represented in profiles or from a "twisted perspective".

The Apse contains more than a thousand engravings, some of which are superimposed on paintings, corresponding to animals and signs. There is the only reindeer represented in Lascaux.

The Well presents the most enigmatic scene of Lascaux: an [[ithyphallic]] man with a bird's head seems to lie on the ground, perhaps knocked down by a buffalo gutted by a spear; at his side is represented an elongated object surmounted by a bird, on the left a rhinoceros moves away. Various interpretations of what is represented have been offered.<ref>Eshleman, Clayton, ''Juniper Fuse: Upper Paleolithic Imagination & the Construction of the Underworld'', pp. 35–36, 2003, Wesleyan University Press, {{ISBN|0-8195-6605-5}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XqYBYmq-esIC&pg=PA36 google books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419204941/https://books.google.com/books?id=XqYBYmq-esIC&pg=PA36 |date=19 April 2024 }}</ref>  A horse is also present on the opposite wall. Two groups of signs are to be noted in this composition:
* between man and rhinos, three pairs of digitized punctuation marks found at the bottom of the Cat Diverticulum, in the most remote part of the cave;
* under man and bison, a complex barbed sign that can be found almost identically on other walls of the cave, and also on paddle points and on the sandstone lamp found nearby.

===Interpretation===
The interpretation of [[Art of the Upper Paleolithic|Palaeolithic Art]] is problematic, as it can be influenced by our own prejudices and beliefs. Some anthropologists and art historians theorize the paintings could be an account of past hunting success, or could represent a mystical ritual in order to improve future hunting endeavors. The latter theory is supported by the overlapping images of one group of animals in the same cave location as another group of animals, suggesting that one area of the cave was more successful for predicting a plentiful hunting excursion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.karstworlds.com/2010/12/lascaux-cave-history.html|title=Lascaux cave: History|website=www.karstworlds.com|language=en|access-date=26 November 2018|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127064613/http://www.karstworlds.com/2010/12/lascaux-cave-history.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Applying the iconographic method of analysis to the Lascaux paintings (studying position, direction and size of the figures; organization of the composition; painting technique; distribution of the color planes; research of the image center), Thérèse Guiot-Houdart attempted to comprehend the symbolic function of the animals, to identify the theme of each image and finally to reconstitute the canvas of the myth illustrated on the rock walls.<ref>{{cite book|first=Thérèse|last=Guiot-Houdart|title=Lascaux et les mythes|location=Périgueux|year=2004|publisher=Pilote 24|language=fr|isbn=2-912347-39-4}}</ref>{{explain|reason=her conclusions?|date=December 2012}}
[[Image:Lascaux2.jpg|thumb|left|Cave painting of a [[Dun gene|dun]] horse (''[[Equus ferus]]'') at Lascaux]]
Julien d'Huy and Jean-Loïc Le Quellec showed that certain angular or barbed signs of Lascaux may be analysed as "weapon" or "wounds". These signs affect dangerous animals{{snd}}big cats, aurochs, and bison{{snd}}more than others and may be explained by a fear of the animation of the image.<ref>Julien d'Huy et Jean-Loïc Le Quellec (2010). [https://independent.academia.edu/JuliendHuy/Papers/980367/Les_animaux_fleches_a_Lascaux_nouvelle_proposition_dinterpretation._-_Prehistoire_du_Sud-Ouest_18_2_2010_161-170 "Les animaux 'fléchés' à Lascaux:  nouvelle proposition d’interprétation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201233039/http://independent.academia.edu/JuliendHuy/Papers/980367/Les_animaux_fleches_a_Lascaux_nouvelle_proposition_dinterpretation._-_Prehistoire_du_Sud-Ouest_18_2_2010_161-170 |date=1 February 2012 }} ''Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest'' 18(2): 161–170</ref> Another finding supports the hypothesis of half-alive images. At Lascaux, bison, aurochs, and ibex are not represented side by side. Conversely, one can note a bison-horses-lions system and an aurochs-horses-deer-bears system, these animals being frequently associated.<ref>Denis Tauxe (2007)."L’organisation symbolique du dispositif pariétal de la grotte de Lascaux", ''Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest'', 15: 177–266</ref> Such a distribution may show the relationship between the species pictured and their environmental conditions. Aurochs and bison fight one against the other, and horses and deer are very social with other animals. Bison and lions live in open plains areas; aurochs, deer and bears are associated with forests and marshes; ibex habitat is rocky areas, and horses are highly adaptive for all these areas. The Lascaux paintings' disposition may be explained by a belief in the real life of the pictured species, wherein the artists tried to respect their real environmental conditions.<ref>Julien d'Huy (2011). "[https://independent.academia.edu/JuliendHuy/Papers/1304532/La_distribution_des_animaux_a_Lascaux_refleterait_leur_distribution_naturelle._-_Bulletin_de_la_Societe_Historique_et_Archeologique_du_Perigord_CXXXVIII_4_2011_493-502 La distribution des animaux à Lascaux reflèterait leur distribution naturelle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201220513/http://independent.academia.edu/JuliendHuy/Papers/1304532/La_distribution_des_animaux_a_Lascaux_refleterait_leur_distribution_naturelle._-_Bulletin_de_la_Societe_Historique_et_Archeologique_du_Perigord_CXXXVIII_4_2011_493-502 |date=1 February 2012 }}", ''Bulletin de la Société Historique et Archéologique du Périgord'' CXXXVIII, 493–502</ref>

Less known is the image area called the ''Abside'' (Apse), a roundish, semi-spherical chamber similar to an [[apse]] in a Romanesque basilica. It is approximately 4.5 metres in diameter (about 5 yards) and covered on every wall surface (including the ceiling) with thousands of entangled, overlapping, engraved drawings.<ref>Leroi-Gourhan, André. ''The Art of Prehistoric Man in Western Europe''. London: Thames and Hudson. 1968. p. 315</ref> The ceiling of the Apse, which ranges from 1.6 to 2.7 metres high (about 5.2 to 8.9 feet) as measured from the original floor height, is so completely decorated with such engravings that it indicates that the prehistoric people who executed them first constructed a scaffold to do so.<ref name=nechvatal/><ref>Mario Ruspoli, ''The Cave of Lascaux: The Final Photographic Record'' (New York: Abrams, 1983) pp. 146–147</ref>
[[File:Lascaux 01.jpg| thumb|The famous shaft scene of Lascaux: a man with a bird head and a bison]]

According to [[David Lewis-Williams]] and [[Jean Clottes]] who both studied presumably similar art of the [[San people]] of Southern Africa, this type of art is spiritual in nature relating to visions experienced during ritualistic [[trance|trance-dancing]]. These trance visions are a function of the human imagination and so are independent of geographical location.<ref name="Mallgrave2013">{{cite book|author=Harry Francis Mallgrave|title=Architecture and Embodiment: The Implications of the New Sciences and Humanities for Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4tU8mmwh8cC&pg=PA190|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-09424-9|pages=190–}}</ref> [[Nigel Spivey]], a professor of classical art and archeology at the University of Cambridge, has further postulated in his series, ''[[How Art Made the World]]'', that dot and lattice patterns overlapping the representational images of animals are very similar to hallucinations provoked by sensory-deprivation. He further postulates that the connections between culturally important animals and these hallucinations led to the invention of image-making, or the art of drawing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=5404&context=theses|title=The cartographic paradigm in contemporary Australian landscape painting|year=2014|author=Gray, S.W.|access-date=25 May 2020|archive-date=12 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912114442/https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=5404&context=theses|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[André Leroi-Gourhan]] studied the cave from the 1960s; his observation of the associations of animals and the distribution of species within the cave led him to develop a [[Structuralism|Structuralist]] theory that posited the existence of a genuine organization of the graphic space in Palaeolithic sanctuaries. This model is based on a masculine/feminine duality – which can be particularly observed in the bison/horse and aurochs/horse pairs – identifiable in both the signs and the animal representations. He also defined an ongoing evolution through four consecutive styles, from the Aurignacian to the Late Magdalenian. Leroi-Gourhan did not publish a detailed analysis of the cave's figures. In his work Préhistoire de l'art occidental, published in 1965, he nonetheless put forward an analysis of certain signs and applied his explanatory model to the understanding of other decorated caves.