Introduction to the landscape: Prehistory

Lascaux cave paintings.

‘We have learned nothing in twelve thousand years’

Picasso might have exclaimed this at exiting the Lascaux cave (though it might have been: ‘We have invented nothing …’, or perhaps exiting the Altamira cave in Spain, there is no evidence for any of them). Bahn (2005) reveals Picasso’s limited interest in Ice Age art, he did own a reproduction of the Venus of Lespugue. His insight into the distorted ideas we have about early humans due to the ephemeral seems very valid:

‘Je ne crois pas me tromper en affirmant que les plus beaux objets de l’âge de, “pierre” étaient en peau, en tissu et surtout en bois. L’âge de “pierre” devrait s’appeler l’Age de bois.…’. *

Bison licking its side from the Madeleine shelter on display at the National Museum of prehistory.

The ‘Vézère valley ensemble’ of 147 prehistoric sites and 25 decorated caves, is now (as a landscape) classified UNESCO World Heritage site. The UNESCO states that: ‘The objects and the works of art found in the Vézère Valley are extremely rare witnesses of long extinct civilizations, which are very difficult to understand’. And that ‘by their chronology (from 400.000 to 10.000 years), these sites reflect the diversity of human occupations and artistic productions of prehistoric humankind. The essential of the sites is conserved in the state in which they were discovered, ensuring their authenticity’.

Map of Ice Age Europe, with prehistoric sites.

Much of the ‘outstanding universal value for humankind’ of this ‘dead-end migration route’ lies in the coherence of what was left behind. The landscape guided human and animal migration routes (reindeer and salmon) following rivers and cliffs, providing shelters and caves at a time the global human population was below 5 million. The Ice Age landscape looked very different, lower sea levels meant the continent, the British Isles and possibly on to present day Iceland) were one vast brush tundra supporting herds of bison, aurochs, horses, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and giant deer. Much (most) of the cultural remnants lie at the bottom of the sea, or have rotten away. The entrance to the decorated Cosquer cave was discovered at 36 meter below current water level of the Mediterranean. The sites of the Vézère valley were relatively accessible and relatively undisturbed.

The Cro-Magnon rock shelter with reproduced skeletons.

Undisturbed that was, till 1868 when the construction of the Périgueux-Agen railway line uncovered animal bones, flint tools, and human skulls in the Cro-Magnon rock shelter (abri) at Les Eyzies. French geologist Louis Lartet was called for excavations, and found the partial skeletons of four prehistoric adults and one infant, along with perforated shells used as ornaments, an object made from ivory, and worked reindeer antler. The discovery shocked the common understanding of human history and forced a re-think. 27,500 Years ago, people that shared modern anatomical characteristics, buried their dead carefully and left accompanying ‘offerings’.

Laugerie-Haute (24,000 – 14,000 BC) with its 10.000 year unbroken historic record.

The discovery led to a frenzy of treasure hunting excavations that turned up a series of shelters: Le Moustier, La Micoque, La Ferrassie, Shelter of the Fish, The Cap Blanc Shelter, all pieces of a puzzle that only fell in place with the excavation of the Laugerie-Haute (24,000 – 14,000 BC) with its 10.000 year unbroken record of bone tools, art objects and an abundant series of carved flint. Interestingly a travel industry developed around the pre-historic sites and caves, so conveniently located on the railway. Reading the accounts and advertisement up till the turn of the century leaves you wandering why there is no reference to the paintings? Interestingly enough no one saw them, visitors carved their names right across them at the Font-de-Gaume Cave without noticing.

Entrance to the Font de Gaume, les Combarelles, Abri du Cap-Blanc and Bernifal.

The 1878 third Paris World's Fair displayed Vézère Valley objects that attracted the fascination of a certain Mr. Sautuola. He decided to try his luck in some of the local caves on returning to Spain. Bringing his daughter along to hold the light, she first saw the figures on the ceiling of the cave (he had been scouring the floor for objects). In 1880 Sautuola published ‘his’ find, linking the drawings to the Paleolithic Period. Again shock, disbelieve and skepticism from incredulous prehistorians from evolutionist or creationist perspectives a like. They had to be fake… they were not recognized until 1902, after the discovery of Paleolithic rock art in caves like Combarelles and Font de Gaume had validated the idea.

Mammoth at the entrance to the Rouffignac cave.

By the end of the 19^th century the Vézère valley became known as the 'Valley of Mankind’. The discoveries made through haphazard excavation of prehistoric sites fed the euro-centrist (and ‘scientifically’ racist) world view that creativity and intelligence must have originated in Europe. Discoveries around the word** have since affirmed these qualities to be essentially human and ‘we’ carried them with us from Africa (with the African rift valleys now the ‘cradle of mankind’). The irrelevance was confirmed further when DNA research revealed little continuity between these early and present day Europeans, and now even Cheddar Man’seems to have had dark skin… we have learned little indeed ... still the same small tribal mindset. A more detailed introduction of Cave Art and some of the sites will be the subject of another post.

References:
*) ‘I do not think I am mistaken in saying that the most beautiful objects of the “Stone Age” were made of skin, fabric and especially wood. The "Stone" Age should be called the Wood Age’ …
As quoted in Bahn P., 2005. A Lot of Bull? Pablo Picasso and Ice Age cave art In:Munibe. Antropologia-arkeologia. 2005, Num 57, pp 217-223.  

**) For some recent examples see: Tens of Thousands of 12,000-Year-Old Rock Paintings Found in Colombia and 45,000-Year-OldPig Painting in Indonesia May Be Oldest Known Animal Art