Stepping-Stones: A Journey through the Ice Age Caves of the Dordogne

279 Pages·2010·13.59 MB·English

by  Christine Desdemaines-Hugon

Stepping-Stones
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Stepping-Stones
A Journey Through the Ice Age Caves of the Dordogne
Christine Desdemaines-Hugon
Foreword by Ian Tattersall
New HaveN aNd LoNdoN
Published with assistance from the Library of Congress
foundation established in memory of Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Amasa Stone Mather of the Class of 1907,
Desdemaines-Hugon, Christine, 1946–
Yale College.
Stepping-stones : a journey through the
Copyright © 2010 by Ice Age caves of the Dordogne / Christine
Christine Desdemaines-Hugon. Desdemaines-Hugon ; foreword by Ian
All rights reserved. Tattersall.
This book may not be reproduced, in p. cm.
whole or in part, including illustrations, Includes bibliographical references
in any form (beyond that copying and index.
permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of ISBN 978-0-300-15266-1 (cloth : alk.
the U.S. Copyright Law and except by paper) 1. Art, Prehistoric—France—
reviewers for the public press), without Dordogne. 2. Cave paintings—France—
written permission from the publishers. Dordogne. I. Title. II. Title. A journey
through the Ice Age caves of the Dordogne.
Designed by Mary Valencia.
N5310.5.F7d47 2010
Set in Minion type by Tseng Information
709.01′12094472—dc22
Systems, Inc.
2009039258
Printed in the United States of America.
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of
aNSI/NISo Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my husband, Franck,
our three daughters, Kareen, Maya, and Laura,
and our seven grandchildren,
Léo, Chloée, Jean, Jules, Samuel, Félix, and Jim Roméo
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Foreword by Ian Tattersall xi
Preface xiv
Acknowledgments xviii
1. Freshly Plowed Fields in the Vézère Valley 1
2. Font de Gaume 9
3. Millions of Years Ago 28
4. Neanderthals and Homo sapiens 37
5. Combarelles 51
6. Venus Figures, Blades, Beads, and Bone 71
7. Rouffignac 97
8. Laurel Leaves and Needles 121
9. Cap Blanc 129
10. Art at Its Peak 140
11. Bernifal 173
Afterword 193
Appendix: Sites to Visit 195
Recommended Reading 203
Index 211
Illustrations
Map of the Upper Paleolithic sites discussed in the text xx–xxi
Map of the Vézère Valley and nearby sites discussed in the text xxii
Approximate chronology of the Upper Paleolithic xxiii
Font de Gaume, cave entrance 8
Combarelles, cave entrance 50
Rouffignac, cave entrance 96
Abri du Cap Blanc, view of the site during the 1910 excavations 128
Bernifal, cave entrance 172
Color Plates (following page 70)
1. Font de Gaume. Two bison head to head, with superimposed
mammoth(s)
2. Font de Gaume. Superimposed bison, mammoths, reindeer, and horses
3. Font de Gaume. The “licking reindeer”
4. Font de Gaume. The “black frieze”
5. Font de Gaume. One of the finest polychromatic bison, in the last
gallery
6. Font de Gaume. The “small bison chamber”
7. Rouffignac. Detail of the “ten mammoths” frieze
8. Cap Blanc. The left-hand section of the 12-meter-long sculpted frieze,
including the magnificent life-size central horse
Figures (following page 120)
1. The Mousterian Levallois point found in my fields, around 70,000
years old
viii
Illustrations ix
2. The Mousterian biface that I found in my fields, around 70,000
years old
3. Lascaux. The famous red sandstone lamp
4. Combarelles. A group of three schematic female figures, one behind
the other, and increasingly stylized from right to left
5. Combarelles. Detail of the famous mountain lion
6. Combarelles. The “drinking reindeer”
7. Abri du Facteur. Profile view of the “Vénus de Tursac” statuette
8. Goulet de Cazelle. Profile view of the “Vénus de Sireuil” statuette
9. Brassempouy. “La Dame de Brassempouy”
10. Laussel. On a limestone block, the “Vénus à la Corne”
11. Rouffignac. The left-hand rhinoceros of the “three-rhinoceroses” frieze
12. Rouffignac. Part of the Great Ceiling: a female and a young ibex
13. Rouffignac. Detail of the Great Ceiling: the “baby” mammoth
14. Fourneau-du-Diable. On a huge limestone block, carved aurochs in
perspective
15. Abri Morin. Two reindeer, one behind the other
16. Laugerie-Basse. Les Marseilles, reindeer’s head
17. La Madeleine. The famous “bison licking its flank” on a probable spear
thrower
18. Le Mas d’Azil. The “neighing stallion”
19. Roche de Lalinde. On a 63-by-50-by-13-centimeter limestone block
(detail), female figures in profile view
20. Drawings of portable art, showing deliberate abstraction
21. Drawings of portable art. Spears, chisels, and semicylindrical rods
from La Madeleine
22. Drawings of portable art. Chisels with striae on their bevels from
Rochereil
23. Drawings of portable art. Chisels without striae on their bevels from
Rochereil
24. Drawings of portable art. Chisels with and without striae on their
bevels from Le Morin.
25. Drawings of portable art. “Strange” figures and large-headed animals
typical of the Late Magdalenian
26. Drawings of portable art. Fish representations from La Madeleine