The Lascaux cave : a Prehistoric sky-map...

17,000 years ago, the Lascaux painters offered the world a peerless work of art. However, according to a new theory, some of the paintings could also be therepresentations of the constellations as seen in the sky by our ancestors from theMagdalenian era. Such a hypothesis, confirmed in many others Paleolithic Caves,radically transforms our conception concerning prehistoric Rock Art...

Photos by Stephane Begoin-Pascal Goetgheluck/LightMediation Text by Pedro Lima

2039-01: Lascaux Cave. Cave painting in the hall of Bulls and paleolithic sky.

Contact - Thierry Tinacci - LightMediation Photo Agency +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 email: thierry@lightmediation.com

2039-01: Lascaux Cave. Cave painting in the hall of Bulls and paleolithic sky. 2039-02: Lascaux cave. Unicorn and Capricorn constellation scaled up according to ChantalJégues-Wolkiewiez's works

2039-03: Lascaux cave. Auroch set in comparison with the constellation of the Lion according to ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-04: Lascaux cave. Auroch drawn over the constellation of the Bull according to ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-14: The sun shone into the cave of Lascaux on the evening of the summer solstice. This astronomical event might have been what made the inside of the cave sacred. Reconstitution.

2039-05: Lascaux cave. Horse set in comparison with the constellation of the Archer according to ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-06: Lascaux cave. Auroch set in comparison with the constellation of the Scorpion according toChantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-07: Lascaux cave. Auroch set in comparison with the constellation of the Bull according to ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-08: Lascaux cave. 17.000 years ago, at the summer solstice, the sunrays reached the depths of theHall of Bulls.

2039-28: Lascaux cave. Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez uses Astronomical software to prove her hypothesis.

2039-09: Lascaux cave. Auroch drawn over the constellation of the Bull according to ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-10: Lascaux Cave. Cave paintings in the hall of Bulls and paleolithic sky.

2039-11: Lascaux Cave. Cave paintings in the hall of Bulls and paleolithic sky. 2039-12: The sun shone into the cave of Lascaux on the evening of the summer solstice. Thisastronomical event might have been what made the inside of the cave sacred. Reconstitution.

2039-05: Lascaux cave. Horse set in comparison with the constellation of the Archer according to Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez's studies.

2039-17: Rock shelters used by prehistoric humans as living-places, near the Vézère River, Dordogne,France.

2039-18: Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez uses Astronomical software to prove her hypothesis.

2039-19: French independant ethno-astronomer Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez. 2039-20: Rock shelter from « Abri du Poisson », Dordogne, France

2039-24: The small bone from "Abri Blanchard", in the French Dordogne, with 69 engraved incisions made 32,000 years ago. A lunar calendar.

2039-13: The sun shone into the cave of Lascaux on the evening of the summer solstice. Thisastronomical event might have been what made the inside of the cave sacred. Reconstitution.

2039-14: The sun shone into the cave of Lascaux on the evening of the summer solstice. Thisastronomical event might have been what made the inside of the cave sacred. Reconstitution.

2039-15: French independant ethno-astronomer Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez in Lascaux. 2039-16: Rock shelters used by prehistoric humans as living-places, near the Vézère River, Dordogne,France.

2039-26: Cro-Magnon, the first astronomer.

2039-21: Panel in Lascaux depicts two bison standing back to back. 2039-22: Panel in Lascaux depicts two bison standing back to back. According to ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez theory, the eye of the bison on the right indicates 124° (position of the rising winter

2039-23: The "Venus of Laussel", a paleolithical statue from Dordogne, France, a lunar symbol? 2039-24: The small bone from "Abri Blanchard", in the French Dordogne, with 69 engraved incisions made32,000 years ago. A lunar calendar.

2039-33: Paleolithical rock art in Lascaux, 17.000 years ago, the Unicorn.

2039-25: This chart shows, day by day, the point on the horizon where the moon set on the Paleolithicalperiod. This coordinates match the tiny cupules, or cup marks, carved on the bone from "Abri Blanchard",

2039-26: Cro-Magnon, the first astronomer.

2039-27: Early Man was may be capable of making measurements of positions of stars, and to reproducethe exact positions of the constellations in the depths of the cave.

2039-28: Lascaux cave. Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez uses Astronomical software to prove her hypothesis.

2039-11: Lascaux Cave. Cave paintings in the hall of Bulls and paleolithic sky.

2039-29: Paiting in Lascaux representing a dying man. According to the theory of ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez, it is a paleolithical sky map.

2039-30: Paleolithical rock art in Lascaux, 17.000 years ago.

2039-31: Paleolithical rock art in Lascaux, 17.000 years ago. 2039-32: Paleolithical rock art in Lascaux, 17.000 years ago.

2039-18: Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez uses Astronomical software to prove her hypothesis.

2039-33: Paleolithical rock art in Lascaux, 17.000 years ago, the Unicorn. 2039-34: Winter landscape in the french Dordogne.

2039-35: Without measuring instruments, Palaeolithic man had observed position of the sun at solsticesand equinoxes.

2039-36: Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez in the "Valley of Wonders", south of France. A 3700 years oldbronze-age site where she also demonstrate the importance of astronomical orientations in the realisation

2039-22: Panel in Lascaux depicts two bison standing back to back. According to Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez theory, the eye of the bison on the right indicates 124° (position of the rising winter sun), the eye of the bisonon the left is oriented at 56° (position of the rising summer sun). The two tails cross at 90° (rising spring and autumn suns).

2039-37: "Valley of Wonders", south of France. A 3700 years old bronze-age site where Chantal alsodemonstrate the importance of astronomical orientations in the realisation of engravings.

2039-38: In the "Valley of Wonders", south of France, a 3700 years old bronze-age site, ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez also demonstrate the importance of astronomical orientations in the realisation of

2039-39: Engraved dagger, In the "Valley of Wonders", south of France, a 3700 years old bronze-agesite, where Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez also demonstrate the importance of astronomical orientations in

2039-40: Engraving In the "Valley of Wonders", south of France, a 3700 years old bronze-age site,Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez also demonstrate the importance of astronomical orientations in the

The Lascauxcave : aprehistoricsky-map...

In the depths of an obscure cave, in whatis now south of France, a group of mentoiled, kneeling on earth in the faint light ofoil lamps. With an extreme care, theyprepared the mineral pigments they hadjust collected in the neighbouring area andsmoothed their brushes made of hairs.Then, one of them rose and, with just afew precise strokes of the brush, gavebirth to a magnificient brown-hairedhorse... 35,000 years ago, in Europe, tribes of hunter-gatherers invented afascinating art form. An art populated withanimals emerging from the depths of theearth : bulls, horses, deers... 17,000 yearsago, in the heart of the Perigord region inFrance, they created their most fabulousmasterpiece: Lascaux. When in the early1940's, the world first set its eyes on thehundreds of Lascaux paintings, all thespecialists gazed in wonder at what cameto be considered as a "prehistoric SistineChapel". Prehistorians have offered allsorts of explanations for this Rock Art. Andtheories abound concerning its purpose:"hunting magic", totemism, shamanism.According to the shamanic theory, thepaintings were the work of shamanswhose responsibility it was to heal theclan, capture game and win the goodgraces of animal spirits.

Prehistoric Constellations

But according to a new and revolutionarytheory, the genius painters of Lascauxmust have been expert watchers of theheavens, as is suggested by the fact thatseveral animals painted on the cave'swalls actually correspond to existingconstellations! This breathtaking discoverywas first made public by ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez, a French independentethno-astronomer. Looking at thenumerous aurochs, horses and stags inthe Great Hall of Bulls of Lascaux, i.e. thefirst room just after crossing the variousdoors protecting the cave from the outsideweather conditions, she was able torecognize the zodiacal constellations ofthe paleolithical sky, that is to say thoselocated in that part of the sky which fromthe earth, appears to be perpetuallycrossed by the sun. "One can recognizeon the cave walls the stars forming theCapricorn, the Taurus and the Scorpioconstellations" she declares. CouldLascaux be in fact a map of the sky? It ishard to believe as the first ascertainedevidence of a genuine astronomicalscience is thought to date back to theBabylonian Era, that is to say about 5,000years ago. A further fact seems to bedebunking this astronomical theory; amyriad of similar more or less eccentictheories have already been proposedwithout ever being based on real evidenceor genuine scientifical treatment. Yet thistime, it has a much more serious flavour.

The Sunlight inside the Cave

Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez, who in thepast wrote a University thesis on thecarvings of the "Valley of Wonders" nearNice, in the south of France, was allowedto carry out numerous orientationmeasurements of many paintings so as toverify the validity of her theory. For such a

task, she was assisted by Jean-MichelGeneste, one of the best Frencharchaelogists and also the curator of theLascaux cave. "In the first months of theyear 99, recalls ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez, I asked him the rightto check on the spot a crucial fact that Ihad been mulling over after thoroughexamination of the cave's orientatedmaps. Could it be true that, at the time ofthe summer solstice, the rays of thesetting sun would enter the cave andshine on the paintings in the Great Roomof Bulls..." First measuring the orientationof the cave's entrance, which has notchanged much since the Magdaleniandays, then directly witnessing on June 19that the cave's entrance was perfectlyaligned on the course of the setting sun,Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez brought up acompletely new way of understanding thissite. The cave cannot have been chosenat random, quite the contrary in fact. Theypaintings were made so that, everysummer a extraordinary illumination showwould be performed when the sun cameand shone on the walls of the main room.Starting from this observation, ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez attempted to verify hertheory. If the paintings in this room, whichhas such a striking circular vault shapewere designed according to thisexceptionnal event, they could also andlogically be linked to the structure of thesky over Lascaux, on this very summernight as the first stars appeared in the sky.

A Map of the Prehistoric Sky

First of all, to prove her point, she had touse a high-tech astronomical computerprogramme to reconstituate the map ofthe Magdalenian sky, that is to say a mapshowing what the sky looked like 17,000years ago, the ascertained date of theLascaux paintings through carbon 14

analysis. Then, by means of ahigh-precision compass, she performednumerous orientation measurements ofthe dots and lines representing thepainted beasts. She was eventually ableto compare the archaelogical data to theastronomical data, a tedious and complexstudy which now permits her to state forexample, that the strange animal paintedon the the left side of the cave wall of theGreat Room, nicknamed the "Unicorn" bythe specialists, is none other than therepresentation of today's constellation ofthe Capricorn, pointing as it perfectly doesto its then position in Magdalenian times.Another striking example is that of themassive bull with a spreckled breast, afew metres away, corresponding totoday's Scorpio, right in the middle of theMilky Way which could actually berepresented by the many little dots on thebull's breast. "On the right-hand side of thecave's wall, facing due south, one canalso recognize the Taurus constellation,complete with the stars clusters known asthe Hyads and the Pleiads, in the shape ofa bull (taurus in latin) and facing towardsit",explains Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiezbefore adding that several astronomers,especially American ones, have alreadysuggested the idea that this particularconstellation was very early linked to andcalled after the animal. ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez concludes, "theLascaux painters had obviously observedthe Zodiacal strip in the sky, that is to saythe part of the sky which is perpetuallycrossed by the sun, and they linked thebeasts they lived with and lived on, to thegroups of stars they watched in the sky.Their paintings provide a clear evidencethat they were expert watchers of the skyand that they were able to gather up theseobservations and inscribe them in thecave."

More evidences

Various specialists, like Jean MichelGeneste, curator of the Lascaux Cave,and Jean Clottes, French Director ofPrehistoric Antiquities and one of the bestworld specialists on Rock Art, askedChantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez to researchwhether similar phenomena occurred inother caves similar to Lascaux. Indeed,she discovered more evidences forsupporting her theory. First, she provedthat the sunlight played the same role in137 other painted caves as it did inLascaux. Taking measurements in eachcave, like Combarelles, Font-de-Gaume orBernifal, she shown that these caves werealigned with the sunrise or sunset on keydays of the year : solstices or equinoxes.Could Palaeolithic man have determinedthese points without measuringinstruments? Absolutely. They could haveused natural landmarks and observed thesun sliding along the horizon as themonths went by, so keeping track of thechanging seasons. At « Abri du Poisson »rock shelter, Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiezhypothesises that there was a relationshipbetween the way in which the animals aredepicted and the time of year when thesun lit up the shelter. This salmon isrepresented with a curved lower jaw, acharacteristic of a kelt or post-spawnedfish. And spawning only occurs in thewinter... A scene in the Lascaux caveconfirm this hypothesis. Located deepinside the cave, this panel depicts twobison standing back to back. The tails ofthe two bison are crossed. According toexperts, the fur colour of the bison on theleft is a sign that it is moulting while theerection of the bison on the right indicates

it is rutting. Standing directly opposite thetwo animals, Chantal measures theorientation of their eyes. The eye of thebison on the right indicates 124° and theeye of the bison on the left is oriented at56°. As for the two tails, they cross at 90°.

A lunar calendar

More recently, in 2007, ChantalJègues-Wolkiewiez also worked on asmall bone, who was discovered in theAbri Blanchard, in the French Dordogne,with 69 engraved incisions made 32,000years ago. This bone was studied in the1970s, by an American anthropologist,Alexander Marshack, who proposed theidea that the artefact could be an lunarcalendar. Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiezconfirms and demonstrated thishypothesis : Using calculations of themoon's position in the Palaeolithic sky,and comparing this coordinates with theposition of incisions, she discovered thatthe general outline of the two figures wasstrikingly similar : the 69 incisionscorresponded to the trajectory of the moonover a 69-day period. This bone wasprobably the first lunar calendar in thehistory of Man. And its sculptor, anastronomer before his time? A revelation :it indicates astronomical knowledge invery ancient periods. It was hithertothought that the origins of astronomy wereto be found in Babylonian culture, 6000years ago.

The First Work Of Its Kind

What are the reaction of researchers inthe field of Prehistory ? Jean-MichelGeneste, curator of Lascaux, means that : "this research work constitutes a worldfirst at Lascaux and in other caves as it isbased on systematic measurements, not

simply on more or less unverifiableintimations. It helped to show that therewas indeed the representation of a skystructure painted on the cave's walls ».Jean Clottes thinks that « Palaeolithic manwas very similar and yet very different tous. Remember, we are Westerners wholive in the complex world of the 21stcentury. Ours is an industrial society. Weare removed from nature. Our thinking isdominated by practical concerns, not at allby spiritual ones. You have to look at howthese hunter-gatherers thought. It isevident that they observed the changingseasons, the stars... It isn't at allimpossible that they translated this intoart. That is why Chantal's work interestsme. I believe she is onto something. Theresults she has shown me, for example,the light entering the caves, the fact caveswere chosen in relation to their exposureto the sun or the moon... Given that she isdealing with a rather large number ofcaves, I have the feeling she has put herfinger on something extremely interesting.» Some othre researchers are verysceptical. Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiezdoes not evade criticism, suggesting thather theory does not exlude all the othertheories (see box) and going as far asconfessing that many questions remainunanswered. For example, one canwonder how the Magdalenian menmanaged to remember the orientation ofthe stars in the sky once they were deepinside the cave. "It all shows that moreresearch work is absolutely necessary,and if possible in a non-parochialmannner", she says. Obviously, moreresearch will have to confirm all this.Archaelogy has to open up toastronomical knowledge for it is sure tohave played an important part in the livesof men at any period of time. They neededto know when the weather changesoccurred and when the seasons changed

because this brought about the migrationsof the large mammals herds thepaleolithical men hunted. According toJean-Michel Geneste, « to discover thatthere was a highly developed body ofknowledge, which was passed on fromgeneration to generation, and that theseastronomic observations were repeated,not for years on end, but several timesover periods of ten or twenty years, andthen recorded, radically transforms ourconception of this world, and indeed ofhow early man actually saw it ». Far moreresearch is necessary to confirm theexistence of such astronomical knowledgein Stone Age. But at the end of thisexploration lies the understanding of anentire chapter of our history. A history thathas travelled to us, down through themillennia, and which still fascinates ustoday.

Boxes

A Hundred Years Old Quest For MeaningWhat could have been the force whichpushed our ancestors, over a period ofmore than 10,000 years to paint thefigures of beasts in the depths of theircaves... Since the early 20th Century,specialists thought that the prehistorichunters represented their preys in order togain power over them and capture themmore easily. But other searchers, led byAndré Leroi-Gourhan came to reject thistheory and suggested that the cave was astructured and organized space where theearly men expressed their myths andbeliefs in the shape of beasts. Later on,Jean Clottes, a French archaelogist andhis South African co-worker DavidLewis-Williams brought forth anothertheory based on shamanism. The cavepaintings could in fact be therepresentations of the spirits encountered

by the prehistoric sorcerers during their trances. The cave was the borderbetween two worlds, the world of men and the world of spirits.

Heavenly Rituals of the PastThe first ascertained evidence of any astronomical science dates back tothe Babylonian Era, about 5,500 years ago. Since then, many othercivilizations endowed the skies with a paramount importance.Ethno-astronomy is a science which particularly focuses on the relationshipsbetween the sky and the myths and beliefs of the peoples of the past. Themost famous occurrence of a prehistoric site orientated on the sky is to befound in England, with Stonehenge, a megalithic site consisting of rocks laidin a perfect circle and regarded by the specialists as the sanctuary of a solarcult. In South America, numerous pre-columbian sites are the witnesses of aperiod of time when religion and astronomy were together as one. Indeed,the sun pyramid of Teothihuacan in Mexico is perfectly aligned on the sun.Equally, in ancient Egypt and Greece, the sky was considered as the realmof the Gods.