Lascaux Caves

My visit to the Lascaux Caves

Tyler Ballou

October 6, 2010

Third Bull

The third bull takes up part of the ceiling that opens onto the Axial Gallery, and its rear members touch the entrance. Its position provides a link between the start of the Axial Gallery and that of the Passageway further on. The hindquarters are not depicted, perhaps so as not to cover over the fourth bull, which follows it. Scraping was also used to distinguish the joint of the right forelimb from the body of black horse already present. What sets this bull apart is the exaggerated elongation of its forelimbs, an anamorphic technique that was necessary to maintain its dimensions

Cow with the Drooping Horn

The Cow with the Drooping Horn occupies a central position in this composition. It appears between the first two yellow horses. Only the head, neck, chest, withers and the beginning of the back are depicted. The slender throat, the acute facial angle and the small horns tell us that this is a female. The specificity of this figure is its drooping horn. In addition, image processing has revealed a second horn, drawn on the cow's cheek. Black, which has been used for the head, was applied first, using the spray technique and a stencil. The body is in red. The left horn was painted with a brush.

Horse Rolling on the Ground

Another example is the Horse Rolling on the Ground, which, like the Falling Cow in the Axial Gallery, is depicted in motion – a rare event. To make it easier to see, the outline has been enhanced. Although there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the forequarters, the ensemble – hindquarters and hind limbs – are torqued. The origin of this movement is not perhaps a fall, but rather a specific gesture made by certain animals when they roll on the ground or prepare to get to their feet.

The Swimming Stags

This composition contains the only figures on the right-hand wall. We are in the presence of five heads of stags, turned towards the back of the gallery. A horse and a line of dots are discretely blended into the centre of the panel. The traditional name of Swimming Stags comes from the fact that only the heads, antlers and necks have been represented. Beneath them, the color of the rock changes, following along the base of each figure. Depictions of rows of heads such as this are not rare.

The six red dots

The six red dots, arranged in two rows, mark the end of the development of this gallery. Beyond lies only a very narrow, clayish and impenetrable conduit. These are the very last instances of parietal art in this sector. These dots are quite similar to a group of dots in the panel in the Shaft Scene, not only in the distribution of the dots and how they were applied (with a finger), but also in their location, at the far end of the decorated ensembles.

Head of a stag

In a large field of black, which is part of a large image of a cow, the outline of a stag has been engraved. The method used to create it is similar to the scratchboard technique. It is in every aspect comparable to the animals in the Frieze of the Swimming Stags, a few meters away in the Nave. The figure is not limited to the antlers, head and neck – the entire body has been drawn, but more discretely. The eye is shown, like most of the stags in the gallery to the right.

Rhinoceros

The various interpretations given of the Shaft Scene always take the Rhinoceros into account. And yet, the presence of this lone animal stands in contrast to the other animals. A closer look reveals a very different technique. The outlines were made by spraying pigments, compared with the other figures, which were done with a brush. The color black might leads one to believe that the same pigment source was used, but this is not the case. Pigment analyses of the manganese dioxide show that the same source was used for every figure, the horse included, except for the rhinoceros.

Sources

http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/index.php/fichier=00.xml