Re: LASCAUX -- MOVEMENT, SPACE, AND TIME
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:34 pm
The Hall of the Bulls, Part 1
Taking into account the morphology, the texture of the lithic support and the works of art themselves (mainly paintings and drawings), the walls of the Hall of the Bulls can be subdivided into three superimposed levels. Only the middle section is decorated. This long panel, following a horseshoe-shaped trajectory, circles the entire hall between the ledge at its base and the ridge marking the beginning of the upper panel. Its width increases from 1 metre at the entrance to 4 metres at the back of the hall, and its inclination gradually becomes mote pronounced, reaching an angle of 70° (relative to the vertical) at its most developed. The decorated surface gradually turns into a ceiling formation, although this is difficult to capture in a photograph. When you look at the scene as a whole, however, the animals depicted at this angle are clearly distorted. Only by standing at the base of each figure can you see their true shape. A carbonate crust covers the entire rock surface. The uniformity of this covering is only disturbed at a few points, where scars have been left by flaking and corrosion.
The iconography of the Hall of the Bulls extends from the Unicorn - or, more precisely, from the black head and neck of the equid located on the left wall immediately after the entrance (ill. 45) - to that of the sixth bull on the opposite wall (ill. 46). The decoration is very scanty over the first few metres of the composition, on both sides of the hall, bur becomes denser as you move through the hall, and reaches its maximum towards the middle of the hall.
The Hall of the Bulls contains a total of 130 figurative and geometric images (ill. 47). There are 36 identified representations of animals, which can be divided into four types: 17 horses, 11 bovines, 6 stags and one bear. The identity of the remaining two animals - a quadruped and the Unicorn - has been more difficult to determine with any accuracy. There are some 50 signs in total, most often grouped together, bur they have less of a visual impact. They fall into two classes: dots and linear figures, such as bars and nested or branching forms.
47 Overview of the ensemble of figures in the Hall of the Bulls.
As though forming a prelude to the iconography of both the Hall of the Bulls and the cave as a whole, the Unicorn appears to be pushing all the participants on the left wall towards the back of the gallery (ill. 48). It occupies a relatively elongated rectangle (2.35 metres by 1.08 metres, including its two frontal appendages), and its nature is accentuated by its shape (primarily by the fact that it is somewhat inclined to the front). Its general morphology gives it an undulating appearance, which is reinforced by the double curve of the cervical-dorsal the undulating outline, the square head, very prominent withers, a highly distended belly, ring-like patterns on the flanks, robust feet, and above all the straightness of the lines replacing the horns and their positioning on the forehead - have prompted numerous interpretations, some of which are very fanciful (reindeer). These observations have helped to maintain the dement of confusion that surrounds this figure and its name, fuelling its mythical interpretation.
48 An enigmatic creature, the Unicorn appears to be pushing the horses of the two friezes. One of the friezes is achromatic, underscoring the panel, while the second is composed of polychrome figures.
The two frontal appendages and the body of the Unicorn have not been treated in the same way: a brush was used to paint the former, while the body was created by spraying pigment. This effective break in technique might encourage us to dissociate these two subjects, but image processing confirms that these elements are closely associated. The end of the upper straight line is not interrupted by the forehead, but extends some 15 centimetres into the interior of the outline of the head, forming an arc identical to the curvature of the cranium. This proves that the two lines belong to the outline of the animal silhouette after all. For a long time it was thought that the silhouette might be a feline, but more recently it has been categorized as a fantasy animal.
This cat-like outline would imply that the animal was deliberately depicted in an ambiguous manner, by concealing its true features through the addition of anatomical fragments that have little in common with the subject, and through the omission of others that are characteristic of felines, such as ears. This type of misrepresentation seems to be common in the depiction of carnivores. The bear painted on the facing wall, for example, shows another form of dissimulation: its silhouette is almost totally hidden by the ventral line of a bull to which it is attached. The feline head in the Axial Gallery, which is assembled from four black smears, follows a different pattern: this is the most minimalist figure, and both the most artificial and the most discreet, because leaving aside anyone of these smudges of colour makes its identification impossible. A fourth type of dissimulation locating the figure far from the most easily accessible areas - is more classic and applies to the lions in the Chamber of the Felines.
With the exception of the emblematic figure of the Unicorn, the iconography of the hall is dominated by four great bulls divided between the two walls. They have been drawn facing each other in an asymmetrical fashion, with one very large and incomplete aurochs on the left set against a group of three others to both sides of the entrance to the Axial Gallery. The entrance to the gallery does not interrupt the equilibrium of the frieze, as it unfolds across the mid level of the wall in the pronounced overhang. The composition is completed by heads of bulls, one at each end of this long creation. These, the most monumental masterpieces of Palaeolithic parietal art, occupy the entire width of the facade. The base line, marked by a horizontal abutment of the wall and by a change in the colour of the underlying rock, has been used as an imaginary floor for the majority of the animal figures in the hall. The elements of this composition remain graphically similar, suggesting that they were all executed by the same person. One could say the same about each of the themes at the core of a single composition, whether they be stags or horses.
The first image of a bull -- a head -- is located on a large flake of rock that had fallen to the ground before the cave was discovered. The impression left by it (ill. 49) fits between the Unicorn and a bichrome horse. The large block (116 centimetres by 90 centimetres) has the general shape of a lozenge. As it had become an encumbrance during various alterations to the cave, it was moved. As a result, the flake, bearing two images - that of the bull and the neck of a horse - has become dirty very rapidly, a process that cannot be easily reversed. Today, it is difficult to ascertain anything from these traces: only some unclear black traces can be distinguished, buried in a mixture of sandy clay. The first photographs taken do, however, provide a better insight into these works. Here, one sees the fundamental lines of the two figures, the one created by spraying pigment (the equid), the other by a drawn line. Only the ear and poll from the upper part of the aurochs's head and the muzzle from the lower part still survive on the wall. The photographs show that part of the remaining upper section was painted directly on to the rock, proof that a first phase of exfoliation had taken place before prehistoric humans were present.
49 Photographic repositioning of the head of the first bull. The image of this bull was preserved on a flake of rock that had fallen to the ground.
The virtual repositioning (on a computer) of the block into its original parietal context on the wall allows a more advanced morphological and technological study, even though the quality of the record is not the best and the obtained image of the outline of the animal not entirely free of ambiguity. It was identified as a bovine by Henri Breuil, Annette Laming-Emperaire and Andre Glory, but this was recently contested [21] with the suggestion that it is in fact a horse: the horns and the eyebrow are missing, in contrast to the other representations of bulls in the hall, and the line marking the outline of the mandible seems to resemble that of an equid. At first sight, these arguments appear to be justified. Nevertheless, the absence of a line intended to emphasize the specificity of a theme more clearly, for example that of the horns, is not sufficient proof to reject identification. Moreover, the line depicting the lower jaw, which extends as a steady curve right up to the ear, appears far too developed to be interpreted as a correction. This type of line does not appear on any of the equids.
There are further signs that this is an outline of a bovine. The head is large and can be compared to those of the other five aurochs in the hall, whereas not one of the painted or engraved equid heads at this site measures more than a third of the length of this head. Moreover, the technique used to create the outline - the combination of the outline and internal markings - fits with this thematic group. This can be seen in the depiction of the skin in the jowl area, where a scattering of dots bears a striking resemblance to similar markings on the more intact aurochs. This similarity in the form of these animals suggests the use of the same or at least a similar type of tool.
The analogies of form are equally noteworthy. This is especially true of the quadrangular muzzle, crossed by a line at a right angle to the forehead, which also indicates variations in the hair and the arch of the lines of skin separating the muzzle from the rest of the head. Another detail had so far escaped observation. This is a curved line, underlining the mandible and representing the more or less developed crease of the neck connecting the lower lip and the throat. It is obscured by the mane of the horse immediately underneath, but this graphic feature essentially widens the angle of the face, and has otherwise only been used on aurochs, for example on the first and fourth bulls.
50 The mirror image of its twin, located on the facing wall, the third black bull is painted with a red cow and a young bovine.
The first large figure in the cave is located directly in front of this head. This second representation of an aurochs, facing towards the bottom of the gallery, measures 3.5 metres in length from the far end of the line of the back to the muzzle. The numerous equids and cervids that surround or cover the aurochs can detract from its sheer size. The extremely dense representations of horses around the aurochs meant that many of the animal's rear features were not completed. Indeed, only its forequarters are depicted. The figure uses all the available height, some 3 metres in total. The image was centred as accurately as possible, and all of its extremities, the horns, the line of the back and the hooves, reach the edges of the panel. (...)
Compared with the fragmentary character of the work as a whole, the rendition of the head and the neck of the aurochs is very accomplished. There is a huge amount of detail: the eye, the trapezoidal ear, the very dense poll, the muzzle with a detailed outline and the use of pigment to render the hide. This assemblage of graphic elements occurs repeatedly in this hall and in the second third of the Axial Gallery. (...) The horns, unusually, show an almost symmetrical curvature. The one in the foreground continues uninterrupted, rather than having the 'S'-shaped form of the other figures.
Because of the techniques used to create these aurochs, there are further similarities of shape. For all the aurochs in the hall, Palaeolithic man painted the more accessible areas of the animal by spattering colouring matter, switching to a brush or swab for the upper sections. Between the two methods there is also a mixture of procedures - notably for the muzzle, where pulverized pigment was applied with a stencil to create a smooth surface, in sharp contrast to the mote abrupt depiction of the forehead. The mandible is always shown by a double line and completed with a series of eight small circular dots in a row. The same is true of the right limb, which is marked out by a line of identically sized and clearly distinct dots at each edge. The aurochs are then depicted with a vertical bipartition of techniques.
Whereas the majority of the outlines have a neutral black colour, the two hooves and the dewlap of the second aurochs look slightly more brown. This is down to the choice of pigments used, rather than a lower density of colouring matter or a variation in the method of its application. This figure also stands our from the other aurochs through the use of red to emphasize the withers, the two horns and the poll (i.e. the lines located on the upper part of the body). The colour was applied to the black at a later stage.
The third bull (ill. 50) is, together with the fifth one of this very long frieze (on the facing wall), the most imposing figure of Palaeolithic art. The frame enclosing these animals extends over a surface of 13 square metres for a field of activity of 4.6 metres. The overhang of the wall is at its greatest here, reaching a gradient of almost 70° to the vertical. A group of stags separates the second aurochs from its neighbouring herd of black horses and the third bull. Three figures obscure the latter's ventral line and hindlimbs: the most important is a red bovine; the other two are less conspicuous, representing a head of a calf and a small incomplete silhouette of a horse (partly hidden by the right hind hoof).
The monumental proportions of this work of art certainly influenced the technique used - here restricted to drawing. The bull shares this technique with the ibex, notably those depicted in the panel of the Falling Cow. Effectively only the outlines have been drawn. In the past, the shape of this third bull has been criticized, but the proportions are in fact accurate. The pronounced overhang of the wall makes the images look compressed and somewhat top-heavy, with massive forequarters and weaker hindquarters. Almost all of the anatomical details of the aurochs are present, although the front right hoof is missing, cur off at the pastern. The developed horns protrude from the head in the form of a divided semi-circle. The are fewer dots around the eye compared with the other aurochs. They simulate the curly hair specific to the bulls, while the rest of the body has a smooth coat. The penile sheath is portrayed distinctly.
The signs may have smaller dimensions than this great bull, but they make up for it in their number. Several types of signs are concentrated in the area between the shoulder and the chest and nowhere else. Dots are used both individually and in groups - most notably in the arc of a circle at the proximal end of the limb, which is composed of five dots. There is also a hooked sign of three lines, and a red linear mark, although the latter may just be what remains of a draft of a figurative drawing. Finally, some distance away, above the withers and at the top of the subject, there is a brick-red sign composed of a line and three oblong dots.
The fourth aurochs is located on the wall linking the entrance to the Axial Gallery to that of the Passageway (ill. 46) further down. Here, only the lines of the forequarters are visible, possibly because the artist did not wish to obliterate the fifth bull, which is located directly behind it. This would have given the artist an extremely limited space to work with, insufficient for the depiction of the entire animal. Several other clues support this hypothesis. The ends of the upper and lower lines stop a few centimetres before the aurochs to its right and the pelvic region of the red cow, which overlays the same fifth bull. Furthermore, there is an abnormal elongation of these two lines compared with the shape of the complete aurochs figures. (... ) The anatomical details are consistent with the other depictions of aurochs: the use of pointillism for the hide, extending from the head to the withers, and the double line of the mandible, indicating the folds of skin. There is one unique feature, however: an oblong shape at the base of one of its horns, which may represent the outline of the bull's left ear. It is shorter than it would be in real life, but its position at the base of the horn reflects the bovine anatomy. (... )
There are traces of fine scraping to both sides of the bull's right knee. This is where the artist tried to rub out the black colour of an existing painted horse in order to make the bull's joint stand out from the dark background. This bull differs from the other bovines in the Hall of the Bulls through the abnormal length of its front limbs, particularly the right one. Unlike the body and the head of this animal, which are located on the overhanging wall of the Hall of the Bulls, the two feet stand at the entrance to the Axial Gallery.
An ensemble of sixteen associated depictions includes both figurative and geometric elements. Their spatial distribution is limited to the thoracic region of the fourth bull. They consist of a relatively large number of figures of small dimensions: a group of signs located towards the top of the figure, on the withers, and six animals bordering, indeed fusing with the lower line. The thematic associations recorded here reveal striking similarities with its alter ego, the aurochs located immediately in front, on the facing wall: the presence of the stag, the horse, the cow and a young bovine. Only the bear strikes a different note.
The fifth aurochs boasts exceptional dimensions. Measuring no less than 5.6 metres from the point of the right horn to the tip of the tail, this is the most imposing work of Palaeolithic parietal art discovered to date. It is also noted for the huge number of signs, lines and dots found in its immediate vicinity, particularly around the head, the horns and the ventral line.
51 Head of the fifth bull, constructed on the basis of a sequence of black dots placed close enough together to appear as a line.
All of the anatomical details conventionally associated with and specific to this theme are represented, but some are exceptional, particularly the head. The eye is highlighted by the arc of the orbit, and there is an outline of a second, identically shaped form (ill. 51) just a few centimetres above on the forehead. The detail in the lines of the mandible and the dewlap, or folds of the neck, is also remarkable. The developed horns, with their very ample curvature, nevertheless demand a closer look -- particularly at the bases, where the horns connect to the top of the head. A curving line running parallel to the poll causes some confusion of perspective, making the horn on the right look as if it were attached to the opposite side of the skull. On closer inspection, however, this line does not seem to be linked to the horn, and the impression that it gives of the slightly shorter horn being in the foreground is perhaps accidental. (...)
Spray and brush techniques were used to create the black outline of this fifth aurochs. Pigment was sprayed on to the lower, more accessible part of the body -- more specifically the axis connecting the snout and the ventral line -- but a brush was used on the upper areas. Different methods of application are apparent on the upper body, including the juxtaposition of single dots. The curving line on the forehead has a special character. It is composed of a series of dots sufficiently close to one another to give them a linear appearance and limit their punctuated impact. The diameter of the dots generally ranges from 2 to 3 centimetres, apart from the tracing of the supra-orbital arch, the poll and the horns where it is 1 centimetre. (... )
Slightly apart from the two great bovines on the tight wall, at the extreme right of this panel, there is the large head of an aurochs (ill. 52) facing towards the entrance. The entrance to the Passageway lies at its base. Here, the wall has deteriorated so much that only a few fragments of the original image can be identified - notably the tips of the horns, rounded off by a scatter of very faint dots evoking the initial outline, the forehead, the tip of the nose and the beginning of the mandible. Of the poll, only a small group of dots with a diffuse border survives. Despite the advanced state of deterioration, this figure can be compared to the other aurochs. It was drawn entirely in black, using a brush. A small number of dots and an indeterminate triangular drawing mark the end of the panel.
52 The broken line of the very badly preserved head of the six aurochs was drawn on a surface exposed to processes of corrosion. It is located at the point where the exchange of air from the outside, between the present entrance and that located at the end of the Great Fissure, was at its greatest
Two red female aurochs are also depicted on the panel and accentuate the outlines of the third and fifth bulls respectively. Each is accompanied by a small bovine in its immediate vicinity, one black (for the left cow) and the other red. The first female is 1.1 metres tall and 2 metres long. Its forelimb touches the incomplete shape of a small black horse, whose head disappears behind one of the bull's hooves. Five black dots and a hooked symbol are also clearly visible. The identification of this first red female has been the subject of much debate and wavers between aurochs and bison. There are many convincing arguments to suggest that it is in fact an aurochs. The tail is very long and falls vertically to the floor - a feature that is consistently present in all the representations of cows at Lascaux. The line of the back is sub-horizontal and marked by a depression midway along, before extending to the pronounced base of the tail. The lower half of the flank has not been painted, which softens the animal's outline and exaggerates its anterior-posterior dimorphism. Metrical analysis of the image shows that the relationship between the dimensions of section of their twisted lines, again support this identification. This figure is without any doubt a representation of a female aurochs.
53 The outlines of this red cow, painted over the forelimbs of the fifth aurochs, are partly in contact with the upper line of a male aurochs drawn in black.
As a matter of fact, Henri Breuil had correctly analysed it when he suggested that it was a depiction of an animal collapsing, its muzzle touching the floor. In fact, at this position, the lower line of the head merges with that of the chest, resulting in a somewhat shapeless mass, such as is rarely depicted in Palaeolithic art. The shape of the wall contributes to this. The sharp bend in the rocky ledge is exaggerated by the opening of the Axial Gallery below, producing an image of the floor falling away below the feet.
Above the internal edge of the line of the belly of the third bull there is an incomplete animal. The red cow described above masks the entire painted surface at the level of the withers. Despite these modifications, it is possible to make out the outline of a head and the beginning of the neck of an animal turned towards the left. A stocky head, a convex brow, a deep muzzle - in outline a quarter-circle - and the lower forehead marked by a hollow are all elements characteristic of bovines. Moreover, the apex of the skull is marked by a poll and, some centimetres behind this a leaf-like appendage rises from the line of the neck. This looks like it may be a horn, although its position is not quite right, or an ear. It is clearly a representation of a juvenile bovine, although it is not possible to specify whether it is an aurochs or bison.
The massive red silhouette of a bovine (ill. 53), the second cow in this hall, looms up on the facing wall. Its somewhat male characteristics - including the great depth of the head, which has a similar facial angle to that of the bulls - accentuate its size. However, the delicacy of the horns and the four limbs tell us that it is a female, as does the pelvic region, where the base of the tail is more marked and projecting than in a male. The extremities of the feet and the tail are not depicted and seem to vanish below the imaginary floor line. The red colour applied to the entire silhouette is unusually even.
Taking into account the morphology, the texture of the lithic support and the works of art themselves (mainly paintings and drawings), the walls of the Hall of the Bulls can be subdivided into three superimposed levels. Only the middle section is decorated. This long panel, following a horseshoe-shaped trajectory, circles the entire hall between the ledge at its base and the ridge marking the beginning of the upper panel. Its width increases from 1 metre at the entrance to 4 metres at the back of the hall, and its inclination gradually becomes mote pronounced, reaching an angle of 70° (relative to the vertical) at its most developed. The decorated surface gradually turns into a ceiling formation, although this is difficult to capture in a photograph. When you look at the scene as a whole, however, the animals depicted at this angle are clearly distorted. Only by standing at the base of each figure can you see their true shape. A carbonate crust covers the entire rock surface. The uniformity of this covering is only disturbed at a few points, where scars have been left by flaking and corrosion.
The iconography of the Hall of the Bulls extends from the Unicorn - or, more precisely, from the black head and neck of the equid located on the left wall immediately after the entrance (ill. 45) - to that of the sixth bull on the opposite wall (ill. 46). The decoration is very scanty over the first few metres of the composition, on both sides of the hall, bur becomes denser as you move through the hall, and reaches its maximum towards the middle of the hall.
The Hall of the Bulls contains a total of 130 figurative and geometric images (ill. 47). There are 36 identified representations of animals, which can be divided into four types: 17 horses, 11 bovines, 6 stags and one bear. The identity of the remaining two animals - a quadruped and the Unicorn - has been more difficult to determine with any accuracy. There are some 50 signs in total, most often grouped together, bur they have less of a visual impact. They fall into two classes: dots and linear figures, such as bars and nested or branching forms.
47 Overview of the ensemble of figures in the Hall of the Bulls.
As though forming a prelude to the iconography of both the Hall of the Bulls and the cave as a whole, the Unicorn appears to be pushing all the participants on the left wall towards the back of the gallery (ill. 48). It occupies a relatively elongated rectangle (2.35 metres by 1.08 metres, including its two frontal appendages), and its nature is accentuated by its shape (primarily by the fact that it is somewhat inclined to the front). Its general morphology gives it an undulating appearance, which is reinforced by the double curve of the cervical-dorsal the undulating outline, the square head, very prominent withers, a highly distended belly, ring-like patterns on the flanks, robust feet, and above all the straightness of the lines replacing the horns and their positioning on the forehead - have prompted numerous interpretations, some of which are very fanciful (reindeer). These observations have helped to maintain the dement of confusion that surrounds this figure and its name, fuelling its mythical interpretation.
48 An enigmatic creature, the Unicorn appears to be pushing the horses of the two friezes. One of the friezes is achromatic, underscoring the panel, while the second is composed of polychrome figures.
The two frontal appendages and the body of the Unicorn have not been treated in the same way: a brush was used to paint the former, while the body was created by spraying pigment. This effective break in technique might encourage us to dissociate these two subjects, but image processing confirms that these elements are closely associated. The end of the upper straight line is not interrupted by the forehead, but extends some 15 centimetres into the interior of the outline of the head, forming an arc identical to the curvature of the cranium. This proves that the two lines belong to the outline of the animal silhouette after all. For a long time it was thought that the silhouette might be a feline, but more recently it has been categorized as a fantasy animal.
This cat-like outline would imply that the animal was deliberately depicted in an ambiguous manner, by concealing its true features through the addition of anatomical fragments that have little in common with the subject, and through the omission of others that are characteristic of felines, such as ears. This type of misrepresentation seems to be common in the depiction of carnivores. The bear painted on the facing wall, for example, shows another form of dissimulation: its silhouette is almost totally hidden by the ventral line of a bull to which it is attached. The feline head in the Axial Gallery, which is assembled from four black smears, follows a different pattern: this is the most minimalist figure, and both the most artificial and the most discreet, because leaving aside anyone of these smudges of colour makes its identification impossible. A fourth type of dissimulation locating the figure far from the most easily accessible areas - is more classic and applies to the lions in the Chamber of the Felines.
With the exception of the emblematic figure of the Unicorn, the iconography of the hall is dominated by four great bulls divided between the two walls. They have been drawn facing each other in an asymmetrical fashion, with one very large and incomplete aurochs on the left set against a group of three others to both sides of the entrance to the Axial Gallery. The entrance to the gallery does not interrupt the equilibrium of the frieze, as it unfolds across the mid level of the wall in the pronounced overhang. The composition is completed by heads of bulls, one at each end of this long creation. These, the most monumental masterpieces of Palaeolithic parietal art, occupy the entire width of the facade. The base line, marked by a horizontal abutment of the wall and by a change in the colour of the underlying rock, has been used as an imaginary floor for the majority of the animal figures in the hall. The elements of this composition remain graphically similar, suggesting that they were all executed by the same person. One could say the same about each of the themes at the core of a single composition, whether they be stags or horses.
The first image of a bull -- a head -- is located on a large flake of rock that had fallen to the ground before the cave was discovered. The impression left by it (ill. 49) fits between the Unicorn and a bichrome horse. The large block (116 centimetres by 90 centimetres) has the general shape of a lozenge. As it had become an encumbrance during various alterations to the cave, it was moved. As a result, the flake, bearing two images - that of the bull and the neck of a horse - has become dirty very rapidly, a process that cannot be easily reversed. Today, it is difficult to ascertain anything from these traces: only some unclear black traces can be distinguished, buried in a mixture of sandy clay. The first photographs taken do, however, provide a better insight into these works. Here, one sees the fundamental lines of the two figures, the one created by spraying pigment (the equid), the other by a drawn line. Only the ear and poll from the upper part of the aurochs's head and the muzzle from the lower part still survive on the wall. The photographs show that part of the remaining upper section was painted directly on to the rock, proof that a first phase of exfoliation had taken place before prehistoric humans were present.
49 Photographic repositioning of the head of the first bull. The image of this bull was preserved on a flake of rock that had fallen to the ground.
The virtual repositioning (on a computer) of the block into its original parietal context on the wall allows a more advanced morphological and technological study, even though the quality of the record is not the best and the obtained image of the outline of the animal not entirely free of ambiguity. It was identified as a bovine by Henri Breuil, Annette Laming-Emperaire and Andre Glory, but this was recently contested [21] with the suggestion that it is in fact a horse: the horns and the eyebrow are missing, in contrast to the other representations of bulls in the hall, and the line marking the outline of the mandible seems to resemble that of an equid. At first sight, these arguments appear to be justified. Nevertheless, the absence of a line intended to emphasize the specificity of a theme more clearly, for example that of the horns, is not sufficient proof to reject identification. Moreover, the line depicting the lower jaw, which extends as a steady curve right up to the ear, appears far too developed to be interpreted as a correction. This type of line does not appear on any of the equids.
There are further signs that this is an outline of a bovine. The head is large and can be compared to those of the other five aurochs in the hall, whereas not one of the painted or engraved equid heads at this site measures more than a third of the length of this head. Moreover, the technique used to create the outline - the combination of the outline and internal markings - fits with this thematic group. This can be seen in the depiction of the skin in the jowl area, where a scattering of dots bears a striking resemblance to similar markings on the more intact aurochs. This similarity in the form of these animals suggests the use of the same or at least a similar type of tool.
The analogies of form are equally noteworthy. This is especially true of the quadrangular muzzle, crossed by a line at a right angle to the forehead, which also indicates variations in the hair and the arch of the lines of skin separating the muzzle from the rest of the head. Another detail had so far escaped observation. This is a curved line, underlining the mandible and representing the more or less developed crease of the neck connecting the lower lip and the throat. It is obscured by the mane of the horse immediately underneath, but this graphic feature essentially widens the angle of the face, and has otherwise only been used on aurochs, for example on the first and fourth bulls.
50 The mirror image of its twin, located on the facing wall, the third black bull is painted with a red cow and a young bovine.
The first large figure in the cave is located directly in front of this head. This second representation of an aurochs, facing towards the bottom of the gallery, measures 3.5 metres in length from the far end of the line of the back to the muzzle. The numerous equids and cervids that surround or cover the aurochs can detract from its sheer size. The extremely dense representations of horses around the aurochs meant that many of the animal's rear features were not completed. Indeed, only its forequarters are depicted. The figure uses all the available height, some 3 metres in total. The image was centred as accurately as possible, and all of its extremities, the horns, the line of the back and the hooves, reach the edges of the panel. (...)
Compared with the fragmentary character of the work as a whole, the rendition of the head and the neck of the aurochs is very accomplished. There is a huge amount of detail: the eye, the trapezoidal ear, the very dense poll, the muzzle with a detailed outline and the use of pigment to render the hide. This assemblage of graphic elements occurs repeatedly in this hall and in the second third of the Axial Gallery. (...) The horns, unusually, show an almost symmetrical curvature. The one in the foreground continues uninterrupted, rather than having the 'S'-shaped form of the other figures.
Because of the techniques used to create these aurochs, there are further similarities of shape. For all the aurochs in the hall, Palaeolithic man painted the more accessible areas of the animal by spattering colouring matter, switching to a brush or swab for the upper sections. Between the two methods there is also a mixture of procedures - notably for the muzzle, where pulverized pigment was applied with a stencil to create a smooth surface, in sharp contrast to the mote abrupt depiction of the forehead. The mandible is always shown by a double line and completed with a series of eight small circular dots in a row. The same is true of the right limb, which is marked out by a line of identically sized and clearly distinct dots at each edge. The aurochs are then depicted with a vertical bipartition of techniques.
Whereas the majority of the outlines have a neutral black colour, the two hooves and the dewlap of the second aurochs look slightly more brown. This is down to the choice of pigments used, rather than a lower density of colouring matter or a variation in the method of its application. This figure also stands our from the other aurochs through the use of red to emphasize the withers, the two horns and the poll (i.e. the lines located on the upper part of the body). The colour was applied to the black at a later stage.
The third bull (ill. 50) is, together with the fifth one of this very long frieze (on the facing wall), the most imposing figure of Palaeolithic art. The frame enclosing these animals extends over a surface of 13 square metres for a field of activity of 4.6 metres. The overhang of the wall is at its greatest here, reaching a gradient of almost 70° to the vertical. A group of stags separates the second aurochs from its neighbouring herd of black horses and the third bull. Three figures obscure the latter's ventral line and hindlimbs: the most important is a red bovine; the other two are less conspicuous, representing a head of a calf and a small incomplete silhouette of a horse (partly hidden by the right hind hoof).
The monumental proportions of this work of art certainly influenced the technique used - here restricted to drawing. The bull shares this technique with the ibex, notably those depicted in the panel of the Falling Cow. Effectively only the outlines have been drawn. In the past, the shape of this third bull has been criticized, but the proportions are in fact accurate. The pronounced overhang of the wall makes the images look compressed and somewhat top-heavy, with massive forequarters and weaker hindquarters. Almost all of the anatomical details of the aurochs are present, although the front right hoof is missing, cur off at the pastern. The developed horns protrude from the head in the form of a divided semi-circle. The are fewer dots around the eye compared with the other aurochs. They simulate the curly hair specific to the bulls, while the rest of the body has a smooth coat. The penile sheath is portrayed distinctly.
The signs may have smaller dimensions than this great bull, but they make up for it in their number. Several types of signs are concentrated in the area between the shoulder and the chest and nowhere else. Dots are used both individually and in groups - most notably in the arc of a circle at the proximal end of the limb, which is composed of five dots. There is also a hooked sign of three lines, and a red linear mark, although the latter may just be what remains of a draft of a figurative drawing. Finally, some distance away, above the withers and at the top of the subject, there is a brick-red sign composed of a line and three oblong dots.
The fourth aurochs is located on the wall linking the entrance to the Axial Gallery to that of the Passageway (ill. 46) further down. Here, only the lines of the forequarters are visible, possibly because the artist did not wish to obliterate the fifth bull, which is located directly behind it. This would have given the artist an extremely limited space to work with, insufficient for the depiction of the entire animal. Several other clues support this hypothesis. The ends of the upper and lower lines stop a few centimetres before the aurochs to its right and the pelvic region of the red cow, which overlays the same fifth bull. Furthermore, there is an abnormal elongation of these two lines compared with the shape of the complete aurochs figures. (... ) The anatomical details are consistent with the other depictions of aurochs: the use of pointillism for the hide, extending from the head to the withers, and the double line of the mandible, indicating the folds of skin. There is one unique feature, however: an oblong shape at the base of one of its horns, which may represent the outline of the bull's left ear. It is shorter than it would be in real life, but its position at the base of the horn reflects the bovine anatomy. (... )
There are traces of fine scraping to both sides of the bull's right knee. This is where the artist tried to rub out the black colour of an existing painted horse in order to make the bull's joint stand out from the dark background. This bull differs from the other bovines in the Hall of the Bulls through the abnormal length of its front limbs, particularly the right one. Unlike the body and the head of this animal, which are located on the overhanging wall of the Hall of the Bulls, the two feet stand at the entrance to the Axial Gallery.
An ensemble of sixteen associated depictions includes both figurative and geometric elements. Their spatial distribution is limited to the thoracic region of the fourth bull. They consist of a relatively large number of figures of small dimensions: a group of signs located towards the top of the figure, on the withers, and six animals bordering, indeed fusing with the lower line. The thematic associations recorded here reveal striking similarities with its alter ego, the aurochs located immediately in front, on the facing wall: the presence of the stag, the horse, the cow and a young bovine. Only the bear strikes a different note.
The fifth aurochs boasts exceptional dimensions. Measuring no less than 5.6 metres from the point of the right horn to the tip of the tail, this is the most imposing work of Palaeolithic parietal art discovered to date. It is also noted for the huge number of signs, lines and dots found in its immediate vicinity, particularly around the head, the horns and the ventral line.
51 Head of the fifth bull, constructed on the basis of a sequence of black dots placed close enough together to appear as a line.
All of the anatomical details conventionally associated with and specific to this theme are represented, but some are exceptional, particularly the head. The eye is highlighted by the arc of the orbit, and there is an outline of a second, identically shaped form (ill. 51) just a few centimetres above on the forehead. The detail in the lines of the mandible and the dewlap, or folds of the neck, is also remarkable. The developed horns, with their very ample curvature, nevertheless demand a closer look -- particularly at the bases, where the horns connect to the top of the head. A curving line running parallel to the poll causes some confusion of perspective, making the horn on the right look as if it were attached to the opposite side of the skull. On closer inspection, however, this line does not seem to be linked to the horn, and the impression that it gives of the slightly shorter horn being in the foreground is perhaps accidental. (...)
Spray and brush techniques were used to create the black outline of this fifth aurochs. Pigment was sprayed on to the lower, more accessible part of the body -- more specifically the axis connecting the snout and the ventral line -- but a brush was used on the upper areas. Different methods of application are apparent on the upper body, including the juxtaposition of single dots. The curving line on the forehead has a special character. It is composed of a series of dots sufficiently close to one another to give them a linear appearance and limit their punctuated impact. The diameter of the dots generally ranges from 2 to 3 centimetres, apart from the tracing of the supra-orbital arch, the poll and the horns where it is 1 centimetre. (... )
Slightly apart from the two great bovines on the tight wall, at the extreme right of this panel, there is the large head of an aurochs (ill. 52) facing towards the entrance. The entrance to the Passageway lies at its base. Here, the wall has deteriorated so much that only a few fragments of the original image can be identified - notably the tips of the horns, rounded off by a scatter of very faint dots evoking the initial outline, the forehead, the tip of the nose and the beginning of the mandible. Of the poll, only a small group of dots with a diffuse border survives. Despite the advanced state of deterioration, this figure can be compared to the other aurochs. It was drawn entirely in black, using a brush. A small number of dots and an indeterminate triangular drawing mark the end of the panel.
52 The broken line of the very badly preserved head of the six aurochs was drawn on a surface exposed to processes of corrosion. It is located at the point where the exchange of air from the outside, between the present entrance and that located at the end of the Great Fissure, was at its greatest
Two red female aurochs are also depicted on the panel and accentuate the outlines of the third and fifth bulls respectively. Each is accompanied by a small bovine in its immediate vicinity, one black (for the left cow) and the other red. The first female is 1.1 metres tall and 2 metres long. Its forelimb touches the incomplete shape of a small black horse, whose head disappears behind one of the bull's hooves. Five black dots and a hooked symbol are also clearly visible. The identification of this first red female has been the subject of much debate and wavers between aurochs and bison. There are many convincing arguments to suggest that it is in fact an aurochs. The tail is very long and falls vertically to the floor - a feature that is consistently present in all the representations of cows at Lascaux. The line of the back is sub-horizontal and marked by a depression midway along, before extending to the pronounced base of the tail. The lower half of the flank has not been painted, which softens the animal's outline and exaggerates its anterior-posterior dimorphism. Metrical analysis of the image shows that the relationship between the dimensions of section of their twisted lines, again support this identification. This figure is without any doubt a representation of a female aurochs.
53 The outlines of this red cow, painted over the forelimbs of the fifth aurochs, are partly in contact with the upper line of a male aurochs drawn in black.
As a matter of fact, Henri Breuil had correctly analysed it when he suggested that it was a depiction of an animal collapsing, its muzzle touching the floor. In fact, at this position, the lower line of the head merges with that of the chest, resulting in a somewhat shapeless mass, such as is rarely depicted in Palaeolithic art. The shape of the wall contributes to this. The sharp bend in the rocky ledge is exaggerated by the opening of the Axial Gallery below, producing an image of the floor falling away below the feet.
Above the internal edge of the line of the belly of the third bull there is an incomplete animal. The red cow described above masks the entire painted surface at the level of the withers. Despite these modifications, it is possible to make out the outline of a head and the beginning of the neck of an animal turned towards the left. A stocky head, a convex brow, a deep muzzle - in outline a quarter-circle - and the lower forehead marked by a hollow are all elements characteristic of bovines. Moreover, the apex of the skull is marked by a poll and, some centimetres behind this a leaf-like appendage rises from the line of the neck. This looks like it may be a horn, although its position is not quite right, or an ear. It is clearly a representation of a juvenile bovine, although it is not possible to specify whether it is an aurochs or bison.
The massive red silhouette of a bovine (ill. 53), the second cow in this hall, looms up on the facing wall. Its somewhat male characteristics - including the great depth of the head, which has a similar facial angle to that of the bulls - accentuate its size. However, the delicacy of the horns and the four limbs tell us that it is a female, as does the pelvic region, where the base of the tail is more marked and projecting than in a male. The extremities of the feet and the tail are not depicted and seem to vanish below the imaginary floor line. The red colour applied to the entire silhouette is unusually even.