Return to Chauvet Cave edited by Jean Clottes, Thames & Hudson, 拢45, ISBN 0500511195 Reviewed by Douglas Palmer
A MUST for anyone interested in art, let alone cave art, Return to Chauvet is a large-format, beautifully illustrated celebration and analysis of the remarkable artistic talents of our remote European ancestors. Stunning charcoal and ochre drawings of the animals of southern Europe鈥檚 late Ice Age 鈥済ame park鈥� adorn the walls of this Ard猫che cave system.
Horse, bison, giant deer, bear, mammoth, rhino, big cats and so on are all depicted with the curious sensitivity and wariness of the big-game hunter鈥檚 trained eye. The artists even left their trademark handprints and some Palaeolithic blokeish depictions of female genitalia, but then it all depends on how you interpret the pictures. There is no doubting the authenticity and antiquity of this rock art, but there are rumblings in the archaeological community (快猫短视频, 19 April, p 8) about the security of dating these paintings to 30,000 years ago.
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