Traces of human beings are less frequent, doubtless because the intrusion of water has erased the majority of them in the individual sectors of the underground chamber. The candle gallery : floor brazier with carbonated deposit on a clayey floor. The walls are strewn with scratchmarks, and covered with prehistoric paintings and engravings.
On the loose ground, one can see remarkably distinct imprinted tread marks. The bears left behind a number of lairs, which are often marked by traces of their talons or fur. Several dozen skulls were likewise found. Some of the skeletons are relatively well preserved, with their spines connected in anatomical accuracy. Their bones are often scattered, sometimes piled up, and were either thus arranged by humans, dispersed by the movements of the bears themselves or else displaced by the encroachment of water. In the Chauvet Cave, traces of cave bears are ubiquitous. Bears and Humans in the Cave Example of cave bear’s footprints on an clayey floor in the deep part of the cave. Consequently, it was resolved that the art in the Chauvet Cave was, without the shadow of a doubt, authentic. Dozens of skulls could be seen, and nothing had been disturbed. It was littered with the bones of cave bears. Finally, the characteristics of the ground made the idea of a fraud implausible. In view of the excellence of their execution, particularly their naturalism, the representations of animals were above suspicion.Ī counterfeiter would have had to synthesize the skill of an accomplished animal painter with expert knowledge both of the features of Paleolithic art, and the physiology of indigenous animals of that particular era. Likewise, after being subjected to the cave’s atmosphere for thousands of years, the inside surfaces of engravings, which are clean, white, and neat when freshly made, were filled with microscopic crystallisations. Cave bear’s skull, in a secondary position on a carbonated floor in the deep part of the cave. Usually, a younger line is less broken, more uniform. It was conducted on 29 December 1994 by Jean Clottes, an expert on Paleolithic art, guided by the discoverers.Įxamination with a magnifying glass revealed that the apparently continuous lines of painted silhouettes actually had a number of tiny missing portions that were worn away by erosion. Almost immediately after the discoverers of the Chauvet Cave announced their find, a “verification visit” was organized. Every discovery of prehistoric art, regardless of its inherent significance, must be authenticated.