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Ours magdaléniens. 1 : statuette en grès de la grotte d’Isturitz (cliché MAN. Hauteur 5,5 cm). 2 : ours gravé sur paroi de la grotte des Trois-Frères (relevé H. Breuil. Longueur 0,60 m). 3 : statue d’ours en argile dans la grotte de Montespan (cliché C. Fritz. Longueur 1 m).
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During the 1960s, the prehistorian Léon Pales stressed, like other authors before him, “the proverbial scarcity of predators depicted in Paleolithic art”. Forty years later, the visual representation of predators increased, thanks largely to the discovery of Chauvet-Pont d’Arc (15 bears and and 72 cave lions) – even though there are fewer Carnivore...
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... marqués d'impacts. Aux Trois-Frères, sur l'un des panneaux du sanctuaire des gravures, qui avec plus de 500 figures animales et humaines constitue la plus importante concentration d'art pariétal de la caverne, un ours gravé a le corps couvert de cercles, tandis qu'il baisse la tête tout en crachant ou soufflant, comme s'il était blessé (cf. fig. 5). La répartition géographique du thème est étonnante, car près de 87,4 % des ours pariétaux ou mobiliers se trouvent en France. À ce jour, les 9 exemples espa- gnols (8,1 %) sont tous pariétaux et se répartissent du Gravettien au Magdalénien. Les 4,5 % restant, soit 5 spécimens, se dis- persent de l'Allemagne (n = 2) à la République ...
Citations
... Overall, the Palaeolithic artists rarely depicted large carnivores. All the same, Fritz et al. (2011) record some hundreds of bears and lions, often from the early phases of the Upper Palaeolithic. Wolves are much rarer, and generally later in age. ...
... Analysis of cave art had demonstrated the absence or very discreet development of manes for adult males [31,38,39]. The discovery of Chauvet cave includes 75 cave lions [40], i.e., half of all cave lions Palaeolithic paintings known to date [41]. In these paintings, the heads of adult lions often have a contrasting colour around the eyes, known as a 'drip line' (vertical/oblique descending line, from the eye to the cheek), as well as a dark area at the level of the forehead (behind the eyes to the ears). ...
A preliminary description is presented of the well-preserved frozen mummies of two cubs of the extinct cave lion Panthera spelaea (finds of 2017–2018, Semyuelyakh River, Yakutia, eastern Siberia, Russia). The fossil lion cubs were found in close proximity, but they do not belong to the same litter, since their radiocarbon ages differ: the female (named ‘Sparta’) was dated to 27,962 ± 109 uncal years BP, and the male (named ‘Boris’) was dated to 43,448 ± 389 uncal years BP. The lion cubs have similar individual ages, 1–2 months. The general tone of the colour of the fur coat of Sparta is greyish to light brown, whereas, in Boris, the fur is generally lighter, greyish yellowish. It is, therefore, possible that light colouration prevailed with age in cave lions and was adaptive for northern snow-covered landscapes. The article discusses the results of computed tomography of cubs of the cave lion, the possible reasons for their death, and the peculiarities of their existence in the Siberian Arctic.
... It is quite interesting to note that in the category of the left-oriented figures we find preferentially felines and bears, i.e., two predators (bears do not hunt all the time, being omnivores, but nonetheless they do hunt). Felines in particular represent a peculiar category in Upper Paleolithic visual imaginary, a topic that has been investigated since the beginning of the research on Paleolithic art (for reviews, see Fritz et al. 2011;Rousseau 1967). It is necessary to go back to what I said in the first section, when I quoted some studies suggesting that left profiles might be associated with some sort of negative effect, and right profiles with positive ones. ...
Art traditions reflect beliefs, practices, customs and unconscious factors. If it is relatively easy to study these features in historic art traditions, the same is not true for prehistoric times. Archaeology has to rely on multidisciplinary approaches in order to counterbalance the deficiencies in documentation. In the case of Upper Paleolithic parietal art, the large quantity of images permits a quantitative study of different iconographic features and their change through time. In recent work, I created a statistical database with the program SPSS containing more than 2,000 images of parietal art from the Upper Paleolithic. The study of correlations between different discrete variables provides the possibility of finding specific cultural “markers.” This represents an alternative to the study of stylistic features, a qualitative and valid methodology that is sometimes criticized for its lack of objectivity. In the following, I present the change through time of the preferential profile orientation of figures in order to confirm or cast doubts about the cultural boundaries in Upper Paleolithic Europe.
... It is well known that carnivores (and other potentially aggressive large species) are poorly represented in Palaeolithic art. This is also the case for genus Ursus and genus Panthera, each of them recorded by 100-200 representations dating from 40,000 to 10,000 cal BP, compared to several thousand herbivores (Fritz et al. 2011). The genus Canis which was established in Europe before the Pleistocene is markedly even rarer. ...
... Overall, not just wolves, but all large carnivores, as well as bears, are not numerous in Paleolithic art. Nonetheless, Fritz et al. (2011) reckon 112 bears and 202 lions as part of the repertoire from the Aurignacian onwards. Even if carnivores constitute just 2-3% of a total dominated by herbivores , bears and lions are vastly more frequent than wolves: only 7 wolves are positively identified in a recent review (Lombo Montañés 2016), in good accordance with our own discussion, as we just retain 11 specimens. ...
Canids are extremely rare in the in the artistic re- cord of the Palaeolithic, as Leroi-Gourhan (1992) remarked. Here we describe an engraved wolf on a pebble from Grotta Polesini near Rome, discovered in the middle of last century by A.M. Radmilli, a professional archaeologist of the time. Not only is it an exceptional depiction, but ever since Radmilli (1954, 1957, 1974) described it as an outstanding example of hunting magic, it has been often quoted recurrently as supporting evidence of this magic ac- tivity, and even as a “smoking gun” validating the theory itself. We discuss how this theory arose, some of its critics, and why the engraved wolf in question is not a case of hunting magic.
... The example from Cape York Peninsula demonstrates that, in some cases, this was probably highly significant. Carnivores are little represented in European Palaeolithic Cave Art, but a recent survey associated with the discovery of images of cave lions and cave bears in Chauvet Cave showed that both species continued to have small but consistent symbolic importance on rock surfaces and bone throughout the Upper Palaeolithic of France despite the increasing scarcity of the species as they became extinct (Fritz, Fosse, Tosello, Sauvet, & Azema 2011). Cave bears, in particular, would have been animals causing considerable thought, given that they used the same caves for hibernation, as seen at Chauvet Cave (Fosse & Philippe 2005) and Ekain (Altuna & Mariezkurrena 1984: 226-229). ...
Images of animals are among the most frequent marks people made on rock surfaces. They occur around the world in more than 100 countries, in caves, rock shelters, and in open air. They were made as early as about 40,000 years ago until very recently. Between those dates and across those regions, there is much variation in the way images of animals have come down to us. Determining how to interpret images of animals is complicated by that fact that most ethnographic accounts of attitudes to animals and to making images depend on knowledge of the expressed views of the present-day people. It is hazardous to attempt to infer the meanings from the images alone, at least in part because of variation through time and space. Nevertheless, it seems likely that differences between sets of images imply different worldviews, although similarities do not in themselves necessarily signify similar worldviews.
On the occasion of the review of the portable art of Grotta Romanelli, a decorated stone with a feline figure was object of an interdisciplinary study. The analysis considered different approaches so to: characterise the stratigraphic setting of the finding, the rock support, look into the techniques used to decorate the stone, elaborate a graphic documentation (photographs, 3D models and tracings), relate the symbolic production with the environmental context, and consider the motifs into the wider late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) art production.
The work allows confirming that the represented subject corresponds to a Panthera spelaea, and fixing some issues concerning the variability of the decorating activity, which is in line with the graphic tradition of the European LUP. Style and formal variable features of the figure might have responded to specific social conventions or to single author's skills, tracing new investigation lines about the cultural behaviour and the decorating activity: from the collection of the raw material and the preliminary modelling of the support, to the different artistic techniques (engraving and painting), from the use of the object to the definition of possible local artistic variations and/or inspiration at large scale. Moreover, it questions the thematic aspect in relation to the local fauna and its influence in the symbolic production, highlighting the importance of this stone in the wider debate about the extinction of the cave lions. Indeed, the Romanelli lion may represent the last evidence of this animal in Europe.
This article provides an overview of the most important coin types depicting frontal lions from the Greek Archaic period to the first century BC. The spear-biting lions are not included in this paper as they form the subject of a separate study. Starting from the ancient written tradition, explanations are offered based on the effect of the lion’s gaze, which is repeatedly mentioned in ancient texts. With the addition of the respective reverses and modes of representation, it is possible to identify references to religious cults: Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Hera and Heracles. But rulers also used frontal lion images for specific purposes. To express the solar aspect of Apollo, frontality seemed the most appropriate. A particularly close connection between the lion and Loxías has been demonstrated for Rhegion. The example of Samos shows that an autocrat could choose the emblem of a “frontal lion’s head” – probably also to suggest solar qualities. Under Achaemenid influence however, the lion regularly became the victim of the ruler – albeit a particularly dangerous and fearsome one, which was emphasised through its frontality. The same goes for Lysimachus, whose choice of image is astonishingly close to Pliny’s reflex, which focuses entirely on the lion’s sight. It is also shown that lion masks are often associated with the deeds of Heracles, which also gave rise to other coin images in which the use of frontality brought special nuances of meaning, for example the illustration of special effort or a narrative connection between two coin images. In one case, a frontal lion leaping out of a rectangle was associated with the cult of Athena. Another group of frontal lions may have had an apotropaic-demonic character, mainly conveyed by the eyes fixed on the observer. Here we can see a connection with the Gorgoneion. As for the frequent image of devouring lions, a biblical source suggests that the animals were particularly irritable and dangerous during this process. Finally, it was recommended that lions and leopards should be carefully separated, with leopards being particularly suitable for depicting the ‘man-destroying’ god Dionysus in frontal perspective.
A cave bear skull from the Upper Paleolithic is carefully positioned on a modified block in the Skull Chamber of Chauvet Cave. The Skull Chamber, as the culmination of a speleological parcours, has apparently been strategically modified in order to increase its performative potential — an early architectural attempt to reconfigure a space en route towards a theatre.
Este artículo revisa y analiza las grafías de cánidos, es decir lobos (Canis lupus) y zorros (Vulpes vulpes) del arte paleolítico europeo. Ofre-ce también una nueva recopilación de la temática cánida en base a los modelos anatómicos naturales. A lo largo del texto podrá encontrarse una explicación de cómo hemos seleccionado y organizado los materiales del mencionado corpus. También se examinan los problemas de identificación de los cánidos y se establecen tres niveles de clasificación (positivo, probable y dudoso) que facilitan la discusión de los documentos retenidos. Era necesaria una revisión de los trabajos precedentes sobre cánidos en el arte paleolítico. Principalmente porque los corpus anteriores, o bien son recopilaciones parciales (a veces solo de lobos), o por el contrario, son recopilaciones muy generales (sin una metodología precisa). Por tanto, era necesario evaluar todos los catálogos de cánidos para completar y precisar nuestro corpus actual. Además, el análisis de nuestro repertorio contiene información sobre los materiales (soportes, distribución crono-geográfica) y sus caracte-rísticas gráficas (formatos, técnicas, formas, posiciones, asociaciones). Las grafías de lobos y zorros son escasas, pero con algunos ejemplos de tanto valor naturalista que permiten interpretaciones de carácter etológico. Finalmente, el texto invita a reflexionar acerca de los procesos metodológicos, la simbología y la domesticación del lobo, con el fin de entender mejor las manifestaciones gráficas de las sociedades paleolíticas. LABURPENA Artikulu honek berrikusi eta aztertu egiten ditu Europako arte paleolitikoko kanidoen grafiak; hau da, otsoak (Canis lupus) eta azeriak (Vulpes vulpes). Kanidoen gaiari lotutako bilduma berri bat ere eskaintzen du eredu anatomiko naturaletan oinarrituta. Testuan dago azalduta aipatutako corpus horretako materialak nola hautatu eta antolatu ditugun. Aztertu ditugu, halaber, kanidoak identifikatzeko arazoak eta hiru sailkapen maila ezarri ditugu (positiboa, probablea eta zalantzagarria) atxikitako dokumentuen inguruko eztabaida errazteko. Paleolitikoko artean kanidoei buruz lehendik zeuden lanak berrikustea beharrezkoa zen. Batez ere, aurrez egindako corpusak bilduma partzialak (batzuetan, otsoenak bakarrik) edo oso bilduma orokorrak direlako (metodologia zehatzik gabe). Beraz, kanidoen katalogo guztiak ebaluatu beharra zegoen gure oraingo corpus hau osatzeko eta zehazteko. Gainera, gure errepertorioaren azterketan sartu dugu materialei buruzko informazioa (euskarriak, banaketa krono-geografikoa) eta ezau-garri grafikoei buruzkoa (formatuak, teknikak, formak, posizioak, loturak). Otsoen eta azerien grafiak urriak dira, baina batzuek balio naturalista handia dutenez, interpretazio etologikoak egiteko aukera ematen dute. Azkenik, prozesu metodologikoei, sinbologiari eta otsoa etxekotzeari buruzko gogoeta egitera gonbidatzen du, Paleolitoko gizarteen adie-razpen grafikoak hobeto ulertzeko. ABSTRACT This study focuses on the collection of canine representations, i.e. wolves (Canis lupus) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes), on European Palaeolithic art. The naturalist aspect of most of the zoomorphic motifs, together with the similarity of the quaternary and current animal species, justifies the use of anatomical models and allows us to identify, from a global point of view, the zoological species represented. There are two small collections carried out by BREUIL and based both on the wolf motif of Font de Gaume and the canids from Combarelles. After that, we can then find out a repertoire about Franco-Cantabrian canids studied by NOUGIER and ROBERT (1960) and also a curious compilation, with some errors, published by GRANDE DEL RÍO. By the other hand, NOVEL (1987) also included canids in his classification about underrepresented animals, focusing only on the rock art of Aquitania. Finally, GUTHRIE (2005) includes an overall repertoire of canids in an ethological study. Therefore, until now, there is no a global corpus of wolves and foxes representations integrating all European graphic record. The comparative analysis model proposed in this paper does not provide inscrutable classifications, but three flexible levels for classifying the canids motifs (positive, probable and doubtful). This proposal gives us a better knowledge about the documents in order to discuss and reflect on them. The recounting report, made over a total of 41 Graphic Units analyzed (GU)
