My Visit to the lascuax cave

1. My Visit to the lascuax cave By Morgan Varley World History Hour 7

2. Near the beginning of the Axial Gallery, a black stag, facing the entrance, has been painted across the breast of the third bull. At the crossroads of two spaces, the passage of air has affected the support and thus the hindquarters of this cervid. The figure contains practically all of the anatomical elements found in depictions of this species; only the line of the belly is missing, and the forelimbs are only sketches. Morphologically, it is quite similar to the group of small stags on the opposite wall, in particular the yellow stag. A red line crosses the muzzle, an association that can be seen on another stag in the Axial Gallery. A brush was used to create the outline and the fur at the neck. Only a few areas on the back and rump were painted using the spray technique. The Hall of the Bulls

3. At the turn in the wall blocking the end of the Axial Gallery there are two representations of horses – a horse head and the Upside-Down Horse.The partial depiction is limited to the head, mane, neck, breast and the beginning of the back: two dots mark the belly. Like the other horses, the nostrils and mouth are absent.The large-scale Upside-Down Horse, however, is complete. It follows the shape of the wall, an internal pillar of a meander. Its positioning is such that at no point can the horse be seen in its entirety. And yet, if we unfurl the image we can see that the proportions have been maintained. Its uniqueness lies in the depiction of a fall. Certain anatomical details, such as the turned-back ears and the dilated nostrils, strengthen this interpretation. The lack of a foot to the wall, thus suggesting a void, provides an example of how the support can be used to strengthen the expression of a scene. The Axial Gallery

4. The Passageway The singular nature of some of the animal figures in the Passageway comes from their apparent motion or the treatment of certain anatomical segments. We can see this in the Horse with the Turned-Back Hindlimb, which occupies the centre of a composition involving a dozen equids. 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 hindlimbs – 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.

5. The Nave Two additional figures, a horse and a line of dots, can be seen in the antlers of the fourth stag. The eye is not drawn to these modestly-sized figures, but rather to the stags.Only the head, neck and beginning of the horse's back have been depicted. The mane, painted in black, is striated with fine parallel lines incised in the colour field. The back is colouredbrown.A horizontal line of seven regularly-spaced, reddish-brown dots appears beneath the figure of the horse.An analysis of the superposition of the figures reveals that the horse was the first figure to be added, followed by the stags and the line of dots.

6. Chamber of the Feline In the last two-thirds of the Chamber of the Feline, the number of schematic figures, but also of animals, diminishes sharply in comparison with the entryway. Among these later figures, there is an association of two black juxtaposed geometric figures, one a cross and the other consisting of three parallel lines. Taken together, they form the Roman numeral XIII.

7. The Apse Most of the animal figures in the Apse are medium- and large-sized. Nevertheless, there are exceptions, such as this small, isolated horse's head, which is barely 10 cm long. This is one of the smallest figures in the gallery. Miniaturisation, however, does not mean discretion. The heavy line and the black background, which contrasts with the white of the engraving, makes this figure stand out remarkably.

8. The Shaft 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. Behind the silhouette of the creature are six black dots arranged in two rows, similar to another set of dots, red this time, located at the far end of the Chamber of the Felines.

9. http://www.lascaux.com Sources