Review: 23 Author(s): E. A. Parkyn Review by: E. A. Parkyn Source: Man, Vol. 13 (1913), pp. 44-47 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2788554 Accessed: 26-06-2016 20:44 UTC

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those who have carefully studied the topography of the , and the situation of the remarkable drawings upon their walls. The volume on Font de Gaume is in some ways complementary to that on Altamira. Whilst the latter contains a detailed ethnographic study and comparison of similar artistic productions among primitive peoples like the American Indians, Bushmen, and Australians, the authors of the former have devoted several chapters (X.-XV.) to a study of the representation of animals in art, both on the walls of caves and in objects found in the floor deposits. The various engravings and paintings of the mammoth rhinoceros, carnivora, reindeer, the great stag, and bison are all subjected to a careful and critical survey, which forms, after the frescoes, the most interesting and useful part of the work. In the Cantabrian volume the study is continued for hornless deer and reindeer, and birds. A description is also given of representation of the elephant on rock surfaces in North and South Africa. The animal most often represented on the walls of Font de Gaume is the bison; one little chamber was styled by the explorers Salle des petits Bisons, for there are no less than a dozen polychromes of this animal on its walls. The figures of extinct animals are in some ways more interesting. There are several of the mammoth, though they are by no means so numerous as in the neighbouring of Com- barelles. The discovery of a complete drawing in broad red line of a rlhinoceros is certainly one of the most striking results of the exploration of this cave. The head only of another, also in red line, occurs in a different part of the cavern. These are the only known prehistoric paintings of this animal. The few enlgravings of it yet discovered-two on stone from Lourdes and the trilobite cave, and another on stalagmite at Gourdan-are much inferior as works of art. The authors compare the paintings and engravings of the rhinoceros by the Bushmen of South Africa with these Font de Gaume drawings. As in so many of the French caves containing mural decoration, the paintings at Font de Gaume do not appear until the cave is penetrated for a considerable distance, about 70 yards. This leads the authors to devote a chapter to a discussion of the reasons for the absence of the drawings in the first part of the cave. They suggest that it was not intentional on the part of the artists to begin their work so far from the entrance, and recall in support of this view the much earlier appearance of mural decoration at Marsoulas, Pair-non-Pair, Hornos de la Penia, and elsewhere. Reasons are given for the belief that the absence of paintings is due to their destruction in the course of time. Frost and vegetation will account for this over only a comparatively short distance from the entrance, say 20 yards. They attribute it to corrosion of the walls through damp favoured by movements of the air due to seasonal changes of temperature. Such movements are naturally much less in the inner recesses of a cave, and at Font de Gaume are reduced to a minimum in the great gallery containing the frescoes owing to the cavern narrowing almost to closure near its entrance, a point picturesquely termed the Rubicon by the explorers. It is somewhat singular the only aniinal whose bones are found in any great quantity, according to M. Harle, to whom the osseous relics were submitted for examination, is the cave bear. In keeping with this, numerous deep strie on the walls are believed to have been produced. by the claws of this animal. The authors give an account, illustrated with photographs, of these markings, pointing out how in some eases they correspond to the row of claws on the bear's foot, and, moreover, at just such a height as the animal's fore paws would reach were he to stand on his hind legs facing the wall. Involuntarily we see before our eyes this quaternary mammal in the cave assuming a position so natural and so often observed in his modern representative ! A detailed description of the frescoes with two plans, thirty-eight coloured plates, [ 45 j

This content downloaded from 129.219.247.33 on Sun, 26 Jun 2016 20:44:06 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms No. 23.) MAN. [1913,

and a large number of photographs by Lasalle of Toulouse enable the reader to, appreciate the extraordinary decoration extending for 60 yards along the whole of the left side of the large gallery, a part of the right side, in a lateral gallery to the right, and in the Salle des Bisons. Among the animals represented are mammoths, bison, reindeer, horses, and the rhinoceros. The patience and care with which the authors have carried out their investigation appear on almost every page. Every engraved line has been carefully and truthfully recorded, and it is clearly shown how often the figures were engraved before colour was applied. The Cantabrian volume is mainly devoted to a description of the cave of Castillo, some miles south-east of Altamira, discovered in 1903 by H. Alcalde del Rio. The clever pencil of M. Breuil is again assisted by a long series of photographs, which show the nature of the surrounding country and those parts of the interior in which the engravings and paintings are situated. The latter are triumphs of photographic art, being sometimes obtained from most difficult and almost inaccessible positions, and reflect the greatest credit on the resource and ability of M. Lasalle. Castillo is a very large cavern more than 300 metres long, and contaiiiing a number of chambers, In one place there are nearly fifty designs of hands stenicilled out on a red ground, forming what the authors designiate the Friese des Mains. These recall the similar designs at Gargas, and, like them, are mostly of the left hand, but they show no sign of mutilation which lhas there attracted so much attention. There are painitings of animals, as the elephant, bison, and stag, outlined in red or yellow, alnd others, as the horse and ibex in black broad bands. Polychromes are very few: they resemble, in execution those at Altamira. There are also many engravings of animals. The authors describe no less than fourteen other caves in this region showing more or less evidence of mural decoration, Of these the following more particularly attract attention. Hornos de la Pefia, not far from Castillo, and discovered in the same year, contains, in addition to numerous engravings of horses, ibex, and bison, and a tailed anthropomorphic figuire with uplifted arms like those at Altamira, meandering lines, and outlines of animals traced out in clay, covering in places the walls. The samne thing is seeln at St. Clotilde d'Isabel, a cave not far from Altamira. These designs, apparently made with the finger, recall the tracings of arabesques and animals executed on the roof at Gargas. At Pindal in Oviedo, a cave, situated in a very inaccessible position close to the sea, contains figures of an elephant, hind, and bison outlined in I)road red bands, and engravings, the most striking of which is a marine fish 18 inches long, the fins and tail being distinctly shown. With the exception of the engravings-supposed to be of trout-on the floor at Niaux, this is the only representation of a fish yet discovered on the wall of a cave. Niaux is also recalled here by the presence of club-shaped or clariform designs. El Pendo is notable for an engraving of a bird, an animal rarely seen among these mural drawings, and by no means common, engraved or carved on objects found in floor deposits. At Santian are broad linear designs suggestive of an arm with the hand; other plain broad red bands have a trident-like termination ; others again are quite plain with no finger-like ends. It is suggested that these designs represent weapons comparable to the and nulla-nulla of the Australian natives. Non-zoomorphic designs occur more or less in all these caves, and include red dots or discs arranged in series of rows. They are most numerous at Castillo, where the design termed tectiform is often found. The authors discuss this design at some length as it is believed to represent a hut, and compare it with similar designs found in other caves as Marsoulas, Altamira, and Font de Gaume. The authors of the Font de Gaume volume also pay considerable attention to this subject, and, in fact, devote a whole chapter to its discussion. They give illustrations of the huts of several primitive peoples for com- parisou. The study of the full description of these designs and the ethnographic [ 46 ]

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comparisons given in these two volumes will go a long way towards removing the scepticism at first not unnaturally felt regarding this interpretation. If correct it is certainly of great interest, for it brings us one step nearer the actual life of paleolithic man, and we may permit our imagination to dwell-on the representation of the simple dwellings in which the very artists themselves dwelt. Since the publication of the Cantabrian volume another cave of exceptional interest has been discovered in the same region. It is that of La Pasiega, near the hamlet of Villanueva, first noticed by M. Obermeier in May 1911 and since explored by him with M. Breuil and Alcalde del Rio, On its walls no less than 226 paintings and 36 engravings have been counted-deer, horses, oxen, bison, stags, ibex and chamois are among the animals represented as as dozens of tectiform and other inanimate designs. Most of the coloured figures are in red, a few only in yellow or black. The explorers remark on the large number of deer with antlers, recalling the remarkable paintings in a rockshelter of great interest recently discovered at Alpera in the south-east of the peninsula. In both volumes the evolution of the mural decoration of the caves is discussed. Wherever the walls of a cave prevent any considerable number of drawings, some will be found superposed on others of an older date. This at once suggests a possible means of discovering the relative age or order of appearance of the different figures. Evidence of the age of the drawings is also sought by comparing them with those on objects found in the floor deposits of known age, and with drawings of similar style in other caves. Opinions on this subject are not unnaturally some- what fluid and undergo modification as knowledge increases. Completely satisfactory conclusions can hardly be said to have yet been reached, though the question has been carefully studied at Font de Gaume, Altamira and Castillo. They must still be regarded as to some extent sub judice, In the Cantabrian volume the authors have treated the subject in a very detailed manner, and draw up quite an elaborate series of stages of evolution. If an attenmpt is made to state what appears to be most clearly established it might be said, first of the paintings. The earliest coloured designs are those of the hand, as seen at Castillo, Gargas, and in a less degree at Altamira anid Font de Gaume. Of the drawings the oldest are those depicted in simple lines of colour-black or red. Then come figures slightly modelled in black, rarely in red. These are followed by broad red-lined forms. Paintings of one uniform tinit are a later stage, and finally polychromes appear. These, at first immnature, showing only slight combination of colours, are followed by beautifully finished productions like the fine polychromes at Altamira and Font de Gaume. Secondly, with regard to the engravings. Here the linear and animal designs traced in clay are exceedilngly interesting because the authors apparently regard them as earlier than any engravitigs on the rocky surface. We may, in fact, regard them as the first efforts in this department of representative art. The oldest of the rock engravings are executed in deep broad lines. Later the lines become shallower, and finially are fine andl delicate, and may be combined to form a scratched or hatched surface. The tectiform designs seem to present a difficulty, for, whilst at Font de Gaume they appear in such a relation to the polychromes as to place them amongst the most recent decorative elenments, the authors of the Cantabrian volume regard them as comparatively early, placing them in the second of the four stages into which they divide their evolu- tionary series. We may hope and expect that further study of this most interesting phase of palheolithic art in other decorated caves will clear up these difficulties, and deinonstrate fully the order in which the drawings were executed, and incidentally throw some light on the fascinating problem of the origins of representative art amorng mankind. E. A. PARKYN.

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