Grotte Chauvet 2 -- Making a Replica of the Cave

               Patrick Aventurier, site officiel d’Ardèche Tourisme

You enter the “cave” as any good speleogist would: gingerly, expectantly, curiously, and hopeful that you will discover a former presence, an ancient presence, an extremely ancient presence.

 The first thing you see is a series of reddish palm prints that look like a kind of playful signature on the “rock.” Actually, it is a simple rendition of a bison. The cave discoverers’ first words were: “They were here,” they being early humans who used art to convey their ideas about the meaning of life and their reverence for the Earth and its creatures.

 

You press onward and see a bear skull set on top of a rock only it’s not just a skull, it is a skull deliberately placed on an altar. You begin to realize that you are not in just a “cave,” you are on holy ground, a sacred space.

 

As you penetrate the “cave” you see profile drawings in black charcoal or red ochre of a buffalo, a threesome of bears, a deer, a rhinoceros all leading up to the last panel where a crescendo of figures interact with each other. Some animals are grazing. Some are on the hunt. Some are just “being.” Indeed, “they were here,” too. And now, we are here connecting with them through art in a profound and visceral way on a journey dating back 35,000 years ago. 

 

 

 

Bison

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lions on the hunt

 

 

Cave bear

 

 

 

Woolly Rhino
 

     

 

Hyena

 

 

Horses with small heads, brush-like manes, and small eyes

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auroch

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, we are in a replica of Grotte Chauvet built for the public so that they could experience a representation of the original cave. Grotte Chauvet 2 provides a profoundly mystical experience of imagination, creativity, and spirituality of the Aurignacians, hunter-gatherers who lived during the Ice Age in southwestern Europe between 36,000 to 12,000 years ago. 

Grotte Chauvet 2 stands like a monolith as in the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey like something from the past and something of the present. And in a way, Grotte Chauvet 2 is just that, thanks to modern technology and a devoted team of artists, engineers, and scientists who re-created what the Aurignacian artists did 35,000 years ago. 

 

First of all, the building of Grotte Chauvet 2 was designed to be embedded in Nature rather than to overpower it. The original forest surrounding it has been preserved on its hillside site. The architecture aims to prepare visitors for the darkness, silence, and surprises of the cave. Part of this feeling is conveyed in waiting for one’s scheduled appointment for the tour. And then, bit by bit as you walk in circles and wait your turn to enter, you are greeted by a guide who emerges from inside the structure. 

 

 

Allowing the public to view the cave paintings at Lascaux had inadvertently ruined this ancient underground treasure. Carbon dioxide exiting from visitors’ breaths caused mold to grow on the walls after only 20 years of exposure. To preserve Grotte Chauvet, a team of artists, sculpturers, historians, scientists, and engineers worked together to create a replica complex. It took 8 years from conception to its opening in April 25, 2015, to create “Pont d’Arc cave replica.” It has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

This 5-minute BBC video provides background on the cave and shows how Grotte Chauvet 2 was constructed.

This Euromaxs video also shows how the "cave" was constructed. It provides interviews of visitors and locals.

The objective of Grotte Chauvet 2 was to provide visitors with the cave's sense of wonder and amazement by using cutting edge technology to replicate the paintings, walls, and ceilings as authentically as possible. Through 3D surveys and 6,000 high-definition photos, they recorded all the volumes and complex reliefs in order to imitate the surface walls of the cave. The artists mixed pigments in the same way the Aurignacians did, and they stood, squatted, or sat in the same way the original artists did for each mural. 

This work took thousands of hours and more than 500 people from 35 companies. Planners selected the most interesting and spectacular paintings—22 panels with 142 figures out of 1,000+ paintings found in the cave with a surface space of 32,300 square feet compared to 91,500 square feet in the original cave. 

 

Modern artists reproduced the cave paintings with the colors and materials similar to those of the original artists paying  attention to the variations of black, grey, and red markings of the drawings. They used wood charcoal to “rediscover both the power and the fragility of the curves that formed the animal figures drawn in charcoal or smudged by stump work. 

A team of nine sculptors, painters, and artists from Montignac in the Dordogne region worked on the cave drawings in an atmosphere of “studious contemplation” to reproduce within a millimeter, the decorated walls of the cave. 

Again, accuracy was of paramount concern. Even the fossil shells embedded in the original limestone cave walls as well as bear claw marks were reproduced. Copyists then added color to the “wall” to represent the minerals of the rock.  

 

One team constructed the walls, floors, and ceilings of the cave with concrete and resin. They used a process called "anamorphosis" where they scanned the richest parts of the cave in terms of paleontology and geology and created a 3-D digital map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visual artists in Paris took resin and formed speleothems (secondary mineral deposits formed in caves by flowing, dripping, ponded, or seeping water) in order to create 110 stalagmites, stalactites, gours, large concretions, pendants, and soda straws as shown here. 

               

 

                                                                          

    

 

                stalagmites                                                            gour

 

 

 

 

 columns (left) and pendant (right)

 

 

 

concretions

 

 

soda straw
 

 

       

                                              stalgatites

 

Although the walls, floors, and formations were scientifically studied, recreating them became an interesting process of "transmitting" knowledge and understanding about geology and history from the geologists to the sculptors, said Jean-Jacques Delannoy. For example, the sculptors went with geologists to see real caves and to learn about their geological history. This "transmission process" greatly aided in enhancing the authenticity in the Grotte replica.

 

The sculptors also came to realize that geology wasn't a fixed, stable thing, said Delannoy, but rather a living element that changes over time. Stalagmites, stalagtites, and crystals, for example, grow and agglomerate. Different levels of materials "formulate," that is, they create concretions, develop color, sparkle, change transparency, and respond to light. 

 

Consequently, to make the materials for the "cave", the artists  produced micron casts and built a "speleothem library" that served as a tool for reproducing the various cave formations. Their objective was to remain both scientifically truthful and emotionally charged.

 

Sculptors and polishers gave the "stone" (made of concrete and resin) a finishing touch with their trowels, brushes, and styluses. Not only was this work done by the centimeter, but cracks and crevices were dug into the “rock” and white, red, or black fluids and pigments (representing calcite, iron oxide, and manganese respectively) were added in order to reproduce the original appearance of the rock. An inspector with an iPad compared the image of the wall with the 3-D model—about 3 square meters per day—to assure authenticity to the real cave.

Another team “hung” the cave with from the ceiling of the concrete shell of the building. With thousands of twisted metal rods, the workers matched the digital coordinates of their 3-D model. More than 100 kilometers of metal rods were bent and welded together to produce “cages” for the vaults and walls. Workers then projected two layers of stone-colored mortar onto the “cages.”  About 1,200 tons of steel, resin, cement, and concrete were used.   

 

Scenographers orchestrated the design and construction of the cave and the staging of the space. 

 

“We needed to define what seemed credible, what the cave’s spirit and its soul were,” said Mélanie Claude and Jean-Hugues Manoury. 

 

They reflected on the dynamics and spontaneity of the Aurignacians rather than to just copy their artwork, which they believed might turn out to be “sterile immobility.” They then reflected on the qualities of the cave that made it the place it was: intimate, silent, dark, shadowy, cool, humid. Specialists were called upon to reproduce these effects as well as sound, acoustics, smell, and humidity. Lighting was subtle in order to contrast in rendering color, sparkle, and texture to the rock, according to scenographers Mélanie Claude and Jean-Hugues Manoury.

 

The artwork was executed with precision and sensitivity to convey the emotional quality of the paintings. For example, one artist burned pine branches to reproduce the charcoal the Aurignacians used for outlining their figures. He then applied his learning after long sessions of scientific analysis of the original cave with its layered and complex lines on the walls.

 

Grotte Chauvet 2 is truly a work of art within a work of art and its effect on visitors emits a profound emotional response.  

Jean Clottes, a specialist in cave art, was the first professional to visit the original cave after its discovery in December 1994. He authenticated the drawings and served as director of the scientific team that initially studied the cave for four years. He remarked on Grotte Chauvet 2:

“I have just felt an emotion comparable to the one I experienced twenty years ago before the original and that was among the most intense in my life as a man and as a researcher….This is a great achievement, up to the task of sharing with the public the treasure of humankind that is the painted Chauvet-Pont d’Arc cave.”

 

My own response to Grotte Chauvet 2 was to wonder more deeply about what I was seeing and my profound reaction to it. At one point, I was moved to draw the animal figures of the “cave” and that effect, too, took me to another plane that induced both reverence and awe in the art. (Click here for a blog about the spiritual side of the cave.)

 

Grotte Chauvet was such an awe-inspiring experience, it took me three months to get up the courage to write about it because I knew I was impinging on holy ground, even though it was only a replica. I did more research on Grotte Chauvet and the Paleolithic era in general in order to reflect and understand it better. I have found a new interest!

 

Sources

Claude Pommereau, ed. Grotte Chauvet 2--Ardèche. Beaux Arts and Cie Éditions, Paris.

 

Grotte Chauvet 2

https://en.grottechauvet2ardeche.com/

 

France creates replica Chauvet cave for spectacular prehistoric art--Newsnight  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ycvQ80MdA 

The Bradshaw Foundation

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/chauvet/index.php

 

Photos of the drawings

https://images.app.goo.gl/yseQMhcahpK1CRxU6

 

 

Paleolithic Art

 

Cave Art 101 by National Geographic

 From human hands to now-extinct animals, cave art gives us a glimpse into prehistoric life. Who created cave art, and what was its initial purpose? Explore the paintings of Chauvet-Pont d'Arc and Lascaux Grotto, and learn what prehistoric art can tell us about our world thousands of years ago.

 

What can Stone Age art tell us about extinct animals? by Trey the Explainer

From Lascaux to Chauvet to Australia, in this video I discuss the many illustrations of now extinct prehistoric animals and how they can be significant to paleontologists. Additionally, artwork created by our long dead ancestors can actually tell us a lot about prehistory we wouldn't know otherwise from cultural norms to religious beliefs. So I've taken the time to examine what prehistoric art can tell us. We will talk about everything from Irish Elk to Marsupial Lions so I hope you enjoy! May 2018

 

Why are these 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe by Genevieve von Petzinger

Written language, the hallmark of human civilization, didn't just suddenly appear one day. Thousands of years before the first fully developed writing systems, our ancestors scrawled geometric signs across the walls of the caves they sheltered in. Paleo-anthropologist and rock art researcher Genevieve von Petzinger has studied and codified these ancient markings in caves across Europe. The uniformity of her findings suggest that graphic communication, and the ability to preserve and transmit messages beyond a single moment in time, may be much older than we think.  December 2018

The Roots of Religion by Genevieve Von Petzinger

A PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Victoria, Genevieve Von Petzinger's main area of interest is understanding the geometric imagery of European Ice Age rock art and how we can use this type of behavior to identify cognitive and symbolic evolution in modern humans. Her work was featured on the cover of New Scientist in 2010 and Science Illustrated in 2011, and she has also appeared on the Discovery Channel's popular program Daily Planet.  December 2012
 

 

 

Saint Geneys

 In the area around Le Puy are several small towns with Romanesque churches. These churches were built around the 11th century. This one is in the small town of Saint Geneys, located at a fork in the road on the D-906 highway and about 20 minutes north of Le Puy. It does not seem to be a functioning church--or at least one with the Blessed Sacrament--but the town takes care of it as a relic of its history and welcomes visitors with an open door to explore it and its architecture.

The small farming village of St. Geneys was founded in 1038 and the church was first mentioned in documents in 1164. Two centuries later it was dedicated to St. Barthélemy in 1336. There used to be a fort a short distance from here, built in the Middle Ages, but there is no evidence of its remains.

The church measures only 4200 square feet but it has evolved over the centuries and incorporated different architectural traditions into the same church.

 

 

The oldest part of the church is the north side, which actually dates back to the Romans who left an ossuary there. (The ossuary continued to be used as a depository for funereal bones until the 18th century.) Today, this part of the church stands as a side chapel (left of the altar) that provides more seating and an altar to the Blessed Mother. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the mid-16th century the apse was reconstructed in the Gothic tradition with ribbed vaults (ceiling) and flat-wall pilasters. Four chapels were added (north, south, east, west) as was a new door with an emblazoned pediment on the east side of the church.

   

 

 The bell tower was reconstructed in 1662.

  

 

During the French Revolution when churches were taken over by the state, this church was no exception. Afterward, the parish was re-started in its Catholic tradition. 

Between 1852-58 the curé, Fr. Monteillard, enlarged the small church and by extending the nave on its west side and building a new chapel on its south side. Along the nave are arches with a smoothed surface for paintings although none exist now. The choir in the back of the church is out of line from the nave because its walls were used to support a steeple that was reconstructed in the 17th century. 

 

 

 

 

The windows on the south side employ a more flamboyant Renaissance style. The stained glass window below was installed in 1938 depicting St. Louis XIII (1601-43) making vows. He was king of France 1610-43.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The church was restored again 1981-82 and the sacristy was eliminated. However, a sarcophagus was found buried beneath it. Today it serves as a planter at the entrance of the church. Also discovered was a subterranean hall that had served as a Roman ossuary. 

The priest assigned to this parish was named by the head priest or bishop of the Cathedral in Le Puy as well as the feudal lords in this area. This system of appointments went on until the French Revolution (1789-99).

 

Saint Geneys is just 20 minutes north from LePuy over the area's two-lane country roads and through a dramatic post-volcanic landscape.

 

On the way home from St. Geneys are some astonishing sights. The Polignac fortress rises above the landscape on its "table-top" mount.  

Some beautiful snow-capped mountains appeared in the distance in early December. It snowed in Le Puy a week later but melted after only a day on the ground.

 

Armistice Day 2020 in France

Today is Armistice Day, the end of World War I. It is a very solemn day in France, which commemorates the 1,327,000 soldiers who died and 4,266,000 who were wounded out of a population of 39 million. These losses devastated the economy as there were not enough workers for the farms or factories.

 

In the 1920s the government asked the people to build war memorials in their cities and towns. Below are some examples. On most of the inscriptions it says:

"To the children who fought for France 1914-1918."

 

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I, was around 40 million. There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians.

 

Unfortunately, France fought three more devastating wars: World War II, Vietnam, Algeria. The names of the fallen were added to the war memorials. 

Here are some war memorials in cities and towns I've visited over the past three years.

St. Flour

 
Capdenac-en-Haut

 

Le Puy-en-Velay

 

Marseille

 

 

Yssingeaux 

 

 

Figeac

 

 

Nice

Saugues

St Didieron

National Cheeseburger Day 2020

Two years ago I happened to notice that September 18 was designated as National Cheeseburger Day in the USA. I mentioned it to Eluiza and suggested that we go to McDonald's to celebrate. In truth, I was looking for an excuse to have an American-style burger. Because of her cultural background (Eluiza is Brazilian), she expected that the day would be celebrated as a festival with a parade, balloons, and cheeseburgers. She waited for the news to show what this big celebration was all about but alas was disappointed. I then explained to her that it is just an industry promotional gesture to get people to remember to eat their cheeseburgers. She was shocked and, I think, a little disappointed. This became a joke for us but also an occasion to eat cheeseburgers.  


Since it was my cooking day, I decided we'd spend this year's National Cheeseburger Day by going on a picnic. I grilled the burgers with onions and brought along some Italian potato salad (potatoes, eggs, tomatoes, onions, green beans in wine vinegar with salt, pepper, and oregano), and fruit. Off we went to a park not far from home on the Loire River in Brives-Charensac. My plan was that we would eat our lunch and take a walk along the river. This is a beautiful place and one of my favorites because of the 13th century bridge that has half fallen down in the river. The town is also on the old Roman road leading to Lyon. Unfortunately, the town was too crowded with other lunch-goers, and there was no place to park or sit and eat. 

 

Off we went down the country road and ended up a few miles away in Bouzol, site of an 11th-century fortress that has to be one of the ugliest buildings in France. We visited the chateau in 2019 (see blog). I was skeptical about finding a place for our picnic but eagle-eyed Eluiza not only found a little niche, but 2 picnic tables to boot! They looked as though they had been set-up there recently.

 

Eluiza was rather proud of her find. Here she is pictured with the other picnic table. The chateau is the background.

 

 

Our picnic was quite pleasant. It was located in a valley that had been at one time a heavily-guarded outpost on the Loire River. We walked closer to the chateau (which was closed for the season) and found a couple benches that allowed us to view the valley below. What a beautiful sight! Our alternative plan turned out way better than the original! 

 

 

After we left Bouzol, we trundled along a smooth, two-lane country road called D-535 and arrived in Monastier-sur-Gazeille.

 

 

For a small town, Monastier is pretty busy. It seems to offer its people a lot of amenities, and it takes advantage of a magnificent view of the valley. More recently-built single-family dwellings on the edge of the village makes it even larger. 

 

 

We had planned to find a café and happened upon Pâtisserie La Jonquille. This place is amazing. Not only does it serve coffee and tea, but it offers bread, pastries, chocolates, and ice cream--all made in the shop's kitchens. We had some ice cream and then headed down a steep hill and then upward a steeper hill. 

We discovered a preserved medieval church that no longer serves as a church but has become a public exposition center and concert hall. 

The nave of the church ready for the next exposition or concert

              

 

Above the altar is a sight I have only seen one other time in an old church in Rome: God as a white-bearded old man flanked by a couple angels.

The bulky protruding sides of the church illustrate how builders "propped up" these old Romanesque churches, which emerged in the late 900s. They were popular until the 12th century when the Gothic churches arrived on the scene and "soared" into the heavens.

 

Churches provided gathering places for people in medieval towns. In front of the church is what used to be a public laundry.

 

The church overlooks the valley where the town has provided picnic tables and park benches. What a find! We quickly made plans to return here for another picnic. 

Stone makes for some beautiful village sights. Here is a walkway next to the church.

A pilgrimage route named after Robert Louis Stevenson runs through Monistier. We saw a few pilgrims weighted down with their backpacks. No donkeys, however.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cervennes is an interesting travelogue of Stevenson's pilgrimage in southcentral France.

Our brief but full three-hour adventure had turned out well. We had our cheeseburgers. We had a nice quiet day in the French countryside. And we found some new places close to home that could provide us with a quick get-away to some fun with some gorgeous scenery.

Happy National Cheeseburger Day!