This is a very important and ground breaking paper by Mme Nicole Pailhaugue which summarises the fauna and seasons of occupation of the important site of La Grotte de la Vache, in the French Pyrenees. It deserves a much wider audience.
Entrance to Grotte de la Vache. The name, Cave of the Cow, is due to a natural sculpture near the entrance to the cave which looks something like a cow.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
As seen here in a photo taken from Grotte de la Vache, Grotte de Niaux is just across the Vicdessos valley, about 500 metres away.
The Niaux cave entrance is behind the brown sculpture visible in the middle of the cliff face, in line with the approach road.
The paintings of Grotte de Niaux were almost certainly done by the people who made Grotte de la Vache their winter home. There is no evidence of occupation of Grotte de Niaux, which would have been comparatively cold and drafty and dark compared with Grotte de la Vache.
Photo: http://www.prehistoirepassion.com/grotte%20la%20vache.htm
The sun rises and sets in summer with azimuths of 56° and 304° - this means that the sun rises at NE by E in summer, and sets at NW by W.
The sun rises and sets in winter with azimuths of 122° and 238° - this means that the sun rises at SE by E in winter, and sets at SW by W.
Photo: http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/BoxingtheCompas.html
Looking north, down the Vicdessos valley to the lowlands beyond. Note in particular the broad and relatively flat area upstream of Grotte de la Vache which would have provided excellent grazing for Ibex during the winter months, when the herbage in the mountains to the south was covered in snow.
Photo: Google Earth
Looking south, up the Vicdessos valley to the Pyrenees beyond. This view shows clearly the favoured position of Grotte de la Vache with good grazing for Ibex in winter, with north facing slopes in the mountains nearby, which would not have lost their snow even in summer, 13 000 years ago. The snow line at that time was at 1300 metres.
The toe of the Vicdessos glacier was certainly no more than three kilometres away during the Magdalenian, and may have been closer to Grotte de la Vache and Grotte de Niaux than that.
The two caves are approximately 500 metres apart, on opposite sides of the valley.
Photo: Google Earth
Plan of the Grotte de la Vache.
Plan by the caving club of Haut-Sabarthez, revised and completed by R. Gailli.
Photo: Gailli (2008)
Salle Triangulaire
The guide took us first to the Salle triangulaire. This is almost at the end of the cave, which is not a huge place. The name is apt because of the very flat and steeply angled left wall as you approach, which combined with the sloping though uneven right wall gives the impression of an old fashioned tent, or an attic, with a triangular roof section. The apex of the roof is about five or six metres above the floor of the cave, and the Salle triangulaire is about twenty or so metres long.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Recently discovered on the left, sloping flat side of the Salle Triangulaire, at 2.4 metres above the floor, are these digital sketches which it is believed are prehistoric. A large boulder was used to allow access to the wall.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Text: Translated and adapted from Gailli (2008) by Don Hitchcock
This panel is about 60 cm square, with classic but almost straight "macaroni" type marks, using four fingers of one hand, in a curving pattern downwards and to the right. On the right and above these, one finger has traced a multiple spiral, reminiscent of the head of a figure, but not interpretable as such.
It was only after electrification of the cave, with a spot light at an oblique angle, that these marks were discovered. They are invisible if one shines a light such as a hand held flashlight at the wall, which is why they were undiscovered for so long.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Text: Translated and adapted from Gailli (2008) by Don Hitchcock
Another area in the Salle Triangulaire, shown here, with markings of a similar nature is much less obvious, and it is not known what the marks signify.
Further, there is no way of discovering how old these traces are. They may be very old, or they may be relatively recent.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Text: Translated and adapted from Gailli (2008) by Don Hitchcock
At the end of the Salle triangulaire, beyond the pillars we can see the Galerie à Reptation, the Winding or Creeping Gallery.
So far as I am aware, this gallery is a sterile area with no wall markings. It is not accessible to the public, since the ceiling is so low. It gives access to some much smaller passages where one must crawl to proceed, but none of the passages goes very far into the rest of the hill.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
This is one of those passages, which ends in a blank wall. The whole floor of the cave is remarkably flat. There is an intermittent rain of fine particles from the ceiling of the cave, and when the cave occasionally gets water covering the floor, the clay and limestone particles settle out in a flat layer.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Table of the sediments in Grotte de la Vache.
In the Magdalenian, 13 000 years ago, this area was very cold indeed.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
A simplified indication of the depth, type, and ages of sediments previously in the Salle Monique, before they were excavated by Romain Robert, after its discovery by his young daughter, Monique, in 1952.
Salle Monique. There are many hearths here with their stone surrounds still in place.
I could not help imagining the laughter, song and feasting that must have taken place during the time of its occupation. This would have been a magic place, secure from the howling, icy wind outside, where outer clothing could be removed, and long stories of bravery and treachery could be told around the campfires.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
This is a flint tool from the time of the occupation of the Grotte de la Vache. Good quality flint like this was sometimes carried hundreds of kilometres from the quarry where it was unearthed.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
This is a recent small dig in one corner of the Salle Monique near the entrance, which has turned up some interesting finds.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Many bones are easily identifiable, even in this photo. Some have been cracked open to extract the fat-rich marrow.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
These horns of a Bouquetin, or Ibex, were from a hunted and gutted animal, brought back to the cave otherwise entire. The faunal remains indicate (Pailhaugue,1998) that this was the normal procedure for the deposits analysed at La Salle Monique.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Ibex, border area Switzerland-Austria-Liechtenstein, 11th August 2008.
Photo: Wikimedia
Author: Nudelbraut
Plan of Salle Monique, showing the distribution of objects carrying traces of colouring agents such as iron oxide and manganese dioxide. All such colouring agents were associated with biotite, a black or dark green mineral of the mica group, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. The biotite was added because it gave the paint more opacity, since it is one of the micas, and the tiny flakes reflect light back to the viewer.
Broyeur - pestle
Meule - mortar
Décor - decorated object
Photo: Pinçon et al (1989)
In the case of this "ellipse", or arc, above, the colour affects the entire surface of the piece, and is found in the incisions, as well as the cells of the spongiosa, the centre of the bone. The oxides in the incisions can be seen in the closeup (left).
(It appears to be a scraper or stretcher or burnisher used in the preparation of hides. Note the left hand end which has been very carefully shaped, and is highly polished from much use. This was obviously a highly valued tool of great sentimental value, evidenced from the care and skill of its shaping and decoration - Don)
Photo and text translated and adapted from: Pinçon et al (1989)
Pebble showing much evidence of usage, notably those characteristic of pestles or grinders of oxide colouring agents such as iron and manganese oxides.
Photo and translated text adapted from: Pinçon et al (1989)
This is a beautiful piece of work, with the Aurochs and the hunters done in bas relief, a most unusual technique.
An artist's impression of the hunters is at the left.
The hole in the piece indicates that this is a spear straightener, or bâton percé.
Photo: Delporte (1993)
A file of Ibex. This is a very sophisticated work. Grotte de la Vache was home to some fine artists.
Photo: Delporte (1993)
Two ibex facing each other. Again, a beautifully realised piece of art.
Photo: Delporte (1993)
Two reindeer in line. The artist has captured the animals with the eye of a hunter who has observed nature closely.
Photo: Delporte (1993)
Cave lions.
Photo: http://paleobox.forumactif.com/ou-voir-des-originaux-f12/musee-d-aurignac-et-sites-dans-les-pyrenees-et-ariege-t836.htm
Engraved bird bone
"La scène d'initiation"
Cat 455
Origin : La Vache cave, Ariège
Photo: © photo - Loïc Hamon, Musée des Antiquités nationales, Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Photo Source: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/app/eng/inits.htm
Baguettes demi-rondes from the Grotte de la Vache.
Note the carved decorations on the convex side, and the oblique grooves on the planar or slightly concave side.
The baguette demi-ronde on the right has what appears to be a stylised Ibex head carved into it.
Photo: Breuil et Robert (1951)
Baguettes demi-rondes from the Grotte de la Vache.
Photo: Breuil et Robert (1951)
Baguettes demi-rondes from the Grotte de la Vache.
Photo: Breuil et Robert (1951)
Based on the compiled information, a new hafting method for Clovis points is put forth that links the attributes of bi-beveled rods to a specific role within this system. This new hypothesis suggests that bi-beveled rods were tied facing each other around a Clovis point and a main shaft as part of composite clothes pin-like foreshafts.
Dr Clark, Dr Sahly, Miss Boyl, Abbé Breuil, Romain Robert and F. Denjean at the entrance to the Grotte de la Vache (11th August 1958). Livre Préhistoire Ariégeoise 1985.
Photo and text translated from: http://www2.ac-toulouse.fr/eco-primaire-pradelet-tarascon/spip.php?article558
L’Abbé Breuil, undated photograph in the book Livre Préhistoire Ariégeoise (1985).
Photo: http://www2.ac-toulouse.fr/eco-primaire-pradelet-tarascon/spip.php?article558
| Composition of colouring agents used at Grotte de la Vache | ||
| Compound | Formula | Morphology |
| Calcite | CaCO3 | varnish or glaze, some micrometres |
| Black pigment | MnO2 | needle-like grains, five to twenty micrometres |
| Red pigment | Fe2O3 | grains and plates or scales, about five micrometres |
| Quartz | SiO2 | irregular grains, some micrometres |
| Biotite | Black mica, a ferro-magnesium compound | flakes |
| Colouring agents in various Paleolithic Caves | ||
| Cave | Red | Black |
| Niaux | wood charcoal | |
| Lascaux | Hematite, Goethite | Oxides of Manganese, wood charcoal |
| Altamira | Iron Oxides | Oxides of Manganese, wood charcoal |
| Quercy | Oxides of Manganese and Barium, wood charcoal | |
| La Vache | Oxides of iron, and biotite | Oxides of Manganese, and biotite |
| Percentages at Grotte de la Vache of various species in remains of animals eaten and as decorations | ||
| Species | Food | Figures |
| Reindeer | 3.85% | |
| Deer and other Cervids | 4.96% | 11.54% |
| Bovids | 0.24% | 16.67% |
| Chamois | 4.99% | |
| Ibex | 88.25% | 17.95% |
| Saiga Antelope | 2.56% | |
| Horse | 0.01% | 25.64% |
| Bear | 8.97% | |
| Wolf | 5.13% | |
| Lion | 6.41% | |
| Seal? | 1.28% | |
| Hare | 0.96% | |
This image shows Palaeolithic Europe 18 000 years ago in the grip of the last ice age. Glacial ice 2km thick covers much of Northern Europe and the Alps. Sea levels are approx. 125m lower than today and the coastline differs slightly from the present day. For example, Britain and Ireland would have been connected to continental Europe (not shown on map).
The air would have been on average 10-12 degrees cooler and much more arid. In between the ice and the tree line, drought-tolerant grasses and loess dunes would have dominated the landscape.
The Neanderthals would have died out around 14 000 years ago leaving the nomadic hunter-gatherer Cro-Magnon (modern man) to pursue the animals of the time. Due to the cold and the need for food, the populations of the day waited the ice age out in the three locations shown on the map. These were the Iberian Peninsula, the Balkans and the Ukraine.
These people were skilled in flint-knapping techniques and various tools such as end-scrapers for animal skins and burins for working wood and engraving were common. Cave painting using charcoal had been around for a couple of thousand years although at this time they were now more subtle than mere outline drawings. These artistic expressions are significant as it shows that people are able to obtain some leisure time. Whether this is ‘art for art’s sake’ or objects of ritual is not known.
Photo and text: http://www.dnaheritage.com/masterclass2.asp
If we fast forward to 12 000 years ago as shown here, the ice has retreated and the land has become much more supportive to life. Many animal species have returned to inhabit the land, although the snake, harvest mouse and mole never made it as far as Ireland before the land bridges re-flooded (ever wondered why there are no snakes in Ireland?).
This map shows the spread of Haplogroups R1b, I and R1a (12nbsp;000 years ago).
Photo and text: http://www.dnaheritage.com/masterclass2.asp
These three major haplogroups account for approx 80% of Europe's present-day population.
(Readers who wish to follow this topic further, may be interested in http://www.roperld.com/HomoSapienEvents.htm -Don)
Text: http://www.dnaheritage.com/masterclass2.asp
Climate Seminar, Gothenburg 2nd May 2006
Continental Ice Sheet
Extent of the continental ice
sheet that covered northern
Europe 20 000 years ago, and
summer sea-surface
temperatures.
Central Europe had a climate
comparable to northern
Siberia, and southern Europe was forested.
About 10 000 years ago the ice
melted and the Holocene, a
period of pleasant climate,
began.
Photo and text adapted from: http://www.kolumbus.fi/boris.winterhalter/LEOprize/ClimateTalkOH.pdf
Climate Seminar, Gothenburg 2nd May 2006
This is a very useful graph for determining relative temperatures over the last 50 000 years, using ice core data as a proxy for global temperatures.
Photo: http://www.kolumbus.fi/boris.winterhalter/LEOprize/ClimateTalkOH.pdf
When I arrived, I found that there was a considerable wait before the next tour, so I occupied my time by investigating some side walks I had seen on the way in. These were very interesting.
In particular, I was fascinated by the fortified cave known as "Spoulga d'Alliat", about one hundred metres from the grotte de la Vache. It served as a refuge during the war of the Albigenses.
The fortification can now be accessed only by rope. At the time it was in use, it would have had rope ladders or light wooden ladders which could be pulled up after everyone was safe in the fortification. They would have needed a lot of food, water and other supplies if there had been an extended occupation of the area by enemy forces, and the safety of the occupants would have depended on their location being secret. An occupying army could have soon breached the defences of this little place of refuge, if only by seige.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209–1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar heresy in Languedoc. Pope Innocent III declared a crusade against Languedoc, offering the lands of the schismatics to any French nobleman willing to take up arms. The violence led to France's acquisition of lands with closer cultural and linguistic ties to Catalonia. An estimated 200 000 to 1 000 000 people were massacred during the crusade.
Sign pointing to Grottes des Fées (Fairies Cave)
Grottes des Fées (Fairies Cave)
The European wall lizard, Podarcis muralis, is a small lizard whose scales are highly variable in colour and pattern.
This one moved around very quickly, and was difficult to photograph. It is a little bit unusual in that it has a pronounced blue/green colour, whereas most are shades of brown.
They are common in France, and grow to about 15 cm to 20 cm long, of which more than half is tail.
They can live for seven years, and eat insects and other invertebrates, and are themselves hunted by snakes.
Grottes des Fées (Fairies Cave)
Niaux Cave, or la Grotte de Niaux is one of the most famous prehistoric caves in Europe. It lies in the northern foothills of the Pyrenees, and is located in Ariège, in the valley of Vicdessos, across the valley from the smaller Grotte de la Vache, in an area rich with prehistoric sites. The huge cave entrance, 55 metres high and 50 metres wide, is at 678 metres above sea level. There are more than two kilometres of galleries, with a hundred or more superb paintings from Magdalenian times, most of which are in the famous 'Salon Noir', 800 metres from the entrance. Many of the paintings are done in the classic style of the Magdalenian, outlined in black or red pigment, mostly haematite or manganese dioxide respectively.