LASCAUX -- MOVEMENT, SPACE, AND TIME |
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CHAPTER 6: The Construction of the Images
The drawing of an animal or a sign and, beyond that, the project of decorating a cave in its entirety necessitated the pooling of multiple abilities. The natural constituents of the site, such as space, the underlying rock, indeed the conditions of access, are going to influence, and are closely bound up with, the execution of works of art. This approach implies a true synergy between man and the cave itself. It entails genuine organization. which assumes the continuous anticipation of events and leaves only limited room for improvisation. First it is necessary to select tools for engraving and painting and collect the raw materials for colouration. This requires a comprehensive knowledge of the potential offered by the natural surroundings, from both a geographical and a geological point of view. The execution of the different panels in situ necessitates an optimal knowledge of graphical technology, a great mastery of gesture and the unfailing ability to adapt to the specific morphology of the walls. It will sometimes be necessary to modify less accessible areas, which is impossible without specialized equipment. Finally, the different symbolic and mythological aspects of converting a site into a sanctuary demand a shared idea or thought process, subject to a precise ritual.
145 The 'blazons', painted at the base of the panel of the Great Black Cow (Nave), reproduce almost completely the palette of colours used on the walls of the site. The use of mauve on two of the six elements that make up the sign is remarkable as it is rarely encountered. The palette of colours used by Palaeolithic people, essentially composed of elements of mineral origin, is relatively limited. It combines black with a range of warm colours, from dark brown to straw yellow, passing through all the shades of red. Colours that diverge from this, such as the mauve sections on the 'blazon' (ill. 145) below the Great Black Cow of the Nave, now under study, are exceptional. Current methods of pigment analysis require only tiny amounts of material. It was therefore possible to remove perfectly innocuous samples from the parietal works of art, thus allowing multiple sampling, a more precise identification of the pigments and a possible interpretation of the techniques employed. These studies showed that all the painted and drawn figures were essentially made using powdered metallic oxides derived from iron and manganese. Iron oxides, such as haematite or goethite, are common and widely distributed across more or less the entire region. Our frequent prospecting has led us to the higher regions of the plateaux in particular, where there are numerous sites capable of providing these pigments, which are essentially minerals derived from surface formations and collapsed karst cavities. They ate distributed over a huge area between the Vezere and the Dordogne and they are also present, in a more scattered fashion, in the north-west of the studied region. These ferruginous deposits, formerly scattered, temporally diverse, are located at the summit of the Cretaceous formations. Studying the materials sampled from the cave paintings showed that the black shades were essentially manganese- based. [31] Carbon (wood, bone charcoal or natural) has rarely been identified to date. [32] This makes it impossible to determine the age of the works by radiocarbon analysis - the method used to date other sites in France, such as Niaux [33] (Ariege), Cosquer [34] (Bouches-du-Rhone), Chauvet [35] (Ardeche) or the caves of the Lot. [36] Similar older analyses carried out at other ornamented caves in the Dordogne-Rouffignac and Villars - confirm the exclusive presence of manganese. The systematic usage of this mineral in the Perigord prompted me to prospect the perimeter of the drainage basin of the lower Vezere, and part of that of the Dordogne. I also examined documentation [37] regarding the exploitation of mines in the region, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It turned out that the region was one of the most important centres in France for the exploitation of manganese. Known as 'savon des verriers' ('glassmakers' soap'), this material was used in the purification of glass. It was used above all in the nineteenth century in the smelting of iron, and also in the manufacture of chlorine and antiseptic products. In its calcined form, it changes colour from black to mauve - a property exploited for the decoration of enamels and ceramics. During the second half of the nineteenth century, numerous mining concessions were allocated, particularly in the northern part of the Department and between the Vezere and the Dordogne. Well before the production was increased, it had been used for several centuries in a more limited range of applications. The 1778 edition of the Encyclopedie of Diderot and d'Alembert [38] declares, under the rubric Perigueux: ' ... name of a black mineral substance, heavy and dense, difficult to pulverize. It is found in Perigord, Gascony and Dauphine; one also calls it Perigord or Perigord stone .... There is reason to believe that this substance is none other than better-known magnesium or manganese'. In 1578, Blaise de Vigenere [39] used the term pierigot to designate this same mineral in his work Tableaux de platte peinture des deux Philostrate. There thus exists a long tradition of the production of this material. These studies largely explain the exclusive use of manganese as a black colouring agent by Palaeolithic people. They had it in large quantities and within easy reach. One of the closest manganese sources is only 2.5 kilometres west of the Lascaux hill, on the right bank of the Vezere. Owing to recent exploitation, only a few square metres remain. At other sites, its formation may be quite different. In the northern region of the Department manganese is found in a stratified position, closely associated with deposits of clay. It occurs in an extremely hard form and was, until the beginning of the last century, mined extensively. The great thickness of the covering clay forced the excavation of large and deep trenches down on to the mineral layer. This took place over very large areas. It is improbable that this variety was used in prehistoric painting, as it is too difficult to grind and access to it is not easy. In the south of the Department, the formation is very different. On the other hand, the majority of the sites here are of karst origin (ill. 146). The manganese partially -- and in some cases completely -- fills certain cavities. These concentrations often stretch over several hundred cubic metres. The manganese trapped in these formations is found in a less hardened form and is easily extracted and altered. It is often found associated with calcite, however, which would have made it unsuitable as a pigment in the Palaeolithic, given Palaeolithic man's limited means. More rarely, it has been found in the bed of the Vezere, in the form of small, moderately indurated pebbles. Manganese was clearly not in short supply in the Palaeolithic, but it nevertheless presupposed a certain knowledge, both of the physical environment and of its natural resources. Preliminary studies to determine the pigments sampled at Lascaux show the absence of any intentional ground mineral extender. Studies at Niaux have shown that this type of preparation, [40] through the addition of constituents other than the pigments, was used 'to obtain good qualities of adhesion to and covering of the painting...and possibly also [to] save, in some cases, the precious pigment'. [41] We agree with the latter interpretation, which might signify a certain deficiency of this colouring agent in the Ariege, as opposed to the Perigord. The profusion of colouring material explains the absence of an extender and its use in pure form in the Lascaux paintings in particular, and in those of the other decorated caves of the Department.
146 The majority of the localities where manganese is found are of karstic origin. Trapped in these formations, the material partially (and in some cases completely) fills the cavities, often representing several hundred cubic metres. The artists had to draw their figurative works from memory. The gap in time between the observation of an animal and its representation, in addition to the huge difference between the exterior landscape and the interior of the cave, must have played a part in the way the figures at Lascaux were depicted. Only the essential elements of the model are registered and reproduced, sometimes at the expense of graphical reality. Two forms of graphic expression dominate Palaeolithic parietal art: drawing and engraving. Nevertheless, it is a far less widespread technique that takes on monumental dimensions at Lascaux: painting. In France, comparable examples of these painted figures are rare and are generally isolated - at Labastide (Hautes-Pyrenees), Portel (Ariege) or Cosquer (Bouches-du-Rh6ne), for example. At Lascaux, painting is found in all sections of the cave, whatever the nature of the underlying surface. The method used for the creation of panels of colour - the spraying of pulverized pigments adapts to all the conditions dictated by the natural environment.
147 Sign associated with the black stag in the Axial Gallery. The linear trace is replaced by an alignment of dotted elements. Note the heart-shaped imprint of the impacts, produced by spraying.
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