Cave-Paintings, Lescaux
Owing to the fog of War, and because I live abroad, I did not hear about the discovery in the Dordogne (September 1940) of Lescaux—a hitherto unknown painted cave of the utmost interest—until after my article ‘Palaeolithic Paintings-Magdalenian Period’ was in type (see ANTIQUITY, June 1942). Had I k...
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1942
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00016185 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003598X00016185 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0003598x00016185 2024-03-03T08:49:14+00:00 Cave-Paintings, Lescaux Riddell, W. H. 1942 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00016185 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003598X00016185 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antiquity volume 16, issue 64, page 359-360 ISSN 0003-598X 1745-1744 General Arts and Humanities Archeology journal-article 1942 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00016185 2024-02-08T08:27:03Z Owing to the fog of War, and because I live abroad, I did not hear about the discovery in the Dordogne (September 1940) of Lescaux—a hitherto unknown painted cave of the utmost interest—until after my article ‘Palaeolithic Paintings-Magdalenian Period’ was in type (see ANTIQUITY, June 1942). Had I known of it, some modification in the treatment of my thesis would have been necessary. This new material, however, does not stultify the general trend of my argument; it tends rather to support it, if the scarcity of information I have is correct. No comprehensive survey of this new treasure-house of Palaeolithic art is yet available, but an article written by the L'Abbéenri Breuil for L'Academie des Belles Lettres leaves no doubt as to its outstanding importance. He says of it: ' Si l'Altamira est le Capitale de l'Art pariél, Lescaux est le Versailles '. I understand also that the L'Abbéwhose judgment in these matters is hors concours , inclines to the view that the Lescaux paintings, though of the highest quality, are late Aurignacian in date. They belong therefore to the period of climatic amelioration known as the Achen retreat , which separates the two final glacial advances Wiirm I and Würm II. This dating is borne out by the fact that the animals depicted belong much more to a ‘steppe and forest’ fauna than they do to a colder ‘tundra’ one. There are for example no mammoths and no reindeer, but there are many horses, a Considerable quantity of cattle (Aurochs ?) bisons, and a Saïga antelope—the head only, attached to a strange composite animal. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Cambridge University Press Antiquity 16 64 359 360 |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Arts and Humanities Archeology |
spellingShingle |
General Arts and Humanities Archeology Riddell, W. H. Cave-Paintings, Lescaux |
topic_facet |
General Arts and Humanities Archeology |
description |
Owing to the fog of War, and because I live abroad, I did not hear about the discovery in the Dordogne (September 1940) of Lescaux—a hitherto unknown painted cave of the utmost interest—until after my article ‘Palaeolithic Paintings-Magdalenian Period’ was in type (see ANTIQUITY, June 1942). Had I known of it, some modification in the treatment of my thesis would have been necessary. This new material, however, does not stultify the general trend of my argument; it tends rather to support it, if the scarcity of information I have is correct. No comprehensive survey of this new treasure-house of Palaeolithic art is yet available, but an article written by the L'Abbéenri Breuil for L'Academie des Belles Lettres leaves no doubt as to its outstanding importance. He says of it: ' Si l'Altamira est le Capitale de l'Art pariél, Lescaux est le Versailles '. I understand also that the L'Abbéwhose judgment in these matters is hors concours , inclines to the view that the Lescaux paintings, though of the highest quality, are late Aurignacian in date. They belong therefore to the period of climatic amelioration known as the Achen retreat , which separates the two final glacial advances Wiirm I and Würm II. This dating is borne out by the fact that the animals depicted belong much more to a ‘steppe and forest’ fauna than they do to a colder ‘tundra’ one. There are for example no mammoths and no reindeer, but there are many horses, a Considerable quantity of cattle (Aurochs ?) bisons, and a Saïga antelope—the head only, attached to a strange composite animal. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Riddell, W. H. |
author_facet |
Riddell, W. H. |
author_sort |
Riddell, W. H. |
title |
Cave-Paintings, Lescaux |
title_short |
Cave-Paintings, Lescaux |
title_full |
Cave-Paintings, Lescaux |
title_fullStr |
Cave-Paintings, Lescaux |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cave-Paintings, Lescaux |
title_sort |
cave-paintings, lescaux |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1942 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00016185 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003598X00016185 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Antiquity volume 16, issue 64, page 359-360 ISSN 0003-598X 1745-1744 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00016185 |
container_title |
Antiquity |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
64 |
container_start_page |
359 |
op_container_end_page |
360 |
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1792506421694169088 |