Cosquer Cave

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Cosquer Cave

Around 27,000 years ago it is believed that large glaciers were spread across the Alps. These glaciers were so large and held such a large quantity of water that the sea level of the Mediterranean dropped some 100 meters. When the opening of the cave was revealed, men entered the cave and drew amazing paintings and drawings along the walls. When the earth became warm again the glaciers melted, and the sea level rose. The cave entrance was once again covered up by 37 meters of water. (Time Travellers…)

This cave was hidden for thousands of years until 1985, when scuba diver Henri Cosquer discovered the cave entrance. It is some 110 feet below sea level on Cabo Morgiou, which is near Marseille, in the southern part of France. It led him through a 450 feet long sloping tunnel to a large air-filled chamber.

When Henri returned in 1991 to the dark chamber, he noticed a handprint on the cave wall. Soon he noticed many handprints. When Henri returned with other explorers, they searched and found artwork and many pictograph and petroglyphs. (Dawn of Prehistoric.)

After doing radiocarbon dating, explorers discovered that the first handprint Cosquer found was 27,000 years old. At the time, it was the oldest date for a cave painting known anywhere. With more searching, charcoal was found and dated as being 27,870 to 26,360 years old. The gap in the dating leads explorers to believe that the cave was in disuse during the gap between the dates. (Dawn of Prehistoric…)

Radiocarbon dating done on the paintings and drawings of the animals has lead prehistorians to believe these works are between 18,500 and 19,000 years old.

Of the hundred animal images, horses are nearly one-third of the drawings. Many of the horses only show the heads, while some represent the entire body of the animal. Other animal paintings include ibexes, chamois and some bison. (The Cosquer Cave)

A surprise to many of the explorers were the paintings of sea animals. Although sea level was around 360 feet lower then the cave entrance, and the cave entrance was only a couple kilometers from shore.

Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin, two prehistorians, said: ‘One of the most delightful surprises of the Cosquer cave was its depiction of sea animals. A few paintings and engravings of saltwater fish are known in Upper Paleolithic cave art, but drawings that look like seals had so far only been recorded in two cave, at La Pileta and at Nerja in Andalusia.

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