Caves, Images, and the Human Hand
Robert Hughes, "Behold the Stone Age" (Time magazine, February 13, 1995)—In December 1994 a newly-found French cave, the "Grotte Chauvet," was entered for the first time in 20,000 years. The discovery made world-wide headlines, including this cover story. Researchers have identified more than 300 images of Ice Age animalsand footprints" of the last human visitors.
Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin, "Stone Age Gallery-By-The-Sea" (Archaeology magazine, volume 46, 1993, pages 37-43)— In 1991 the partly submerged Cosquer cave was discovered on the south coast of France near Marseilles. The cave, whose entrance is 110 feet deep in the Mediterranean, contains painted and engraved images of horses and bisons, human hands, and images of marine creatures never seen before, such as seals and a penguin-like sea bird called an auk.
Andre Leroi-Gourhan, Treasures of Prehistoric Art (Harry N. Abrams, 1967)—An encyclopaedic study of the cave art from France and Spam, written by one of the giants in the field of prehistoric art. According to LeroiGourhan, the caves were "sanctuaries" decorated with images that had profound symbolic significance. The book is richly illustrated and offers a detailed analysis of style and technique in Paleolithic art.
Paul G. Bahn and Jean Vertut, Images of the Ice Age (Windward 1988)—One of the best and most recent surveys of the current state of research in Paleolithic art. The authors take a stimulating and critical approach to the many theories and interpretations of portable or parietal art.
Mario Ruspoli, The Cave of Lascaux: The Final Photographs (Harry N. Abrams, 1987)— Since its discovery in 1940 Lascaux has been the premier Paleohthic cave art site in Europe, even though it was closed to the public in 1963 because the art was rapidly deteriorating. This book is a result of a three year photographic and study mission to record the remaining imagery.
BjÖrn Kurtén, Dance of the Tiger: A Novel of the Ice Age (University of California Press, 1980)—Eminent paleontologist Kurten has put flesh on the bones of prehistory in an informative novel set in northern Europe during the Upper Paleolithic period when Cro-Magnons first encountered Neanderthals.
Kangas
