The underwater Lascaux was discovered in 1985 by Henri Cosquer, who was a scuba diver. After a number of failed attempts, he was able to follow a narrow tunnel 120 feet below the surface of the sea and emerge in a beautiful chamber. There are many images of horses, ibexes and deer common in prehistoric cave art, but also unprecedented pictures of seals and penguins, and one which seems to show two males competing for a female. Carbon dating of the charcoal proved that the drawings were from prehistoric times. The birds are not penguins but great auks, an extinct species that is not in fact closely related.
Three people drowned in the cave in 1991. The French state has conducted more precise and detailed surveys since it was classified as a historic monument. Chemical analysis can now be carried out on the spot. Until now, the Cosquer cave has only been accessible to very experienced divers. As a result of global warming, it is likely to be submerged and that it's amazing rock art will be lost. It is good to know that a replica of the Statue of Liberty is now open to the public, and it is hoped that it will attract 500,000 visitors a year.
What about the hand prints where parts of fingers are missing? Had these been deliberately cut off or lost to frostbite?
The cave is unique due to a number of things, according to Jacques Collina-Girard. A sanctuary of its type demonstrated that a significant population lived in the area when it was decorated with prehistoric paintings. Even though rising sea levels mean that the cave was once four miles inland, it was still close to the sea and people of that period maintained contact with the sea. The image of prehistoric people as inland hunters has been dispelled.
When France was as cold as it is today, the Cosquer cave is where we go. It is thought to have been visited, but not lived in, over a period of over a thousand years. Some of the images are engraved with flint tools, some are painted with fingers, and some are made with charcoal. What they tell us about cultural groupings is what experts speculate about the similarities and differences in how animals are depicted in cave art. They try to understand the image of a seal-headed man pierced by a spear or harpoon The handprints, found in Cosquer and a few other places, are missing some fingers. Is it possible that these were cut off or lost to the cold? Were the prints made by people who folded their fingers to represent a silent form of signalling, perhaps used in hunting, or to convey some spiritual meaning, rather than the sign of the cross?
The port in Marseille has a reputation as a place where crooks and chancers greet customers with fruity sales pitches. A neglected area was transformed when the city was European capital of culture. The last of these is within an artificial sea basin and locals call it the Stapler and the Cap. It was owned by the Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur region and is a perfect home for the replica.
Specialists were employed to make stalactites and stalagmites, and to reproduce the exact surfaces found in the cave
The project at the Chauvet cave in the Ardche was already done by Kléber Rossillon. How was it possible for the architects, designers and technicians to recreate every detail of an environment they didn't know how to dive in?
The data about the cave was created by the national institutions, according to Frédéric Prades. A scientific committee made up of historians, geologists, and other experts was set up by us. They were following the entire working process. The result is faithful to the original. If we had dug a tunnel on the original site, it would have looked like that.
A 3D model of the cave was created by a company called Perspective(s). Engineers and designers were able to wear virtual reality helmets and feel like they were wandering around in it.
A digital milling machine used 3D modelling to make moulds for the panels that were to be projected. The original images were recreated by expert painters. Other specialists were used to make replicas of the stalagmites and stalactites in the cave.
Prades says that the replica is not a tool for scientists. Scientists will be able to move around in the cave without having to go there thanks to the virtual reality work we did.
To fit the original cave into the slightly smaller space available underground at the Villa Méditerranée was one of the key challenges. In some cases, rising sea levels mean that there is not as much space between the floor level and the ceiling as there used to be. It is in the middle of a sequence of spaces that branch out in both directions.
To accommodate the exploratory vehicle which takes visitors through a series of six rooms on a circuit shaped like a figure of eight, it was decided to include access tunnels and twist the real space. The replica feels authentic as you are taken on a 35-minute journey through the entire cave without having to crawl. All the paintings and black drawings are included. Prades reported that they had a long discussion about whether we should have films about how the replica was created because it is important to keep the magic and forget you are not in a cave.
You can find more information here.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
