Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times

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Summary: Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times
Review: I purchased this book more as an art lover than an anthropologist and have found it fascinating. The authors have been maticulous in their documentation of their findings. The art and the cave floor photos with inhancements are incredible. History, animal and art lovers will all benefit from this work. My only suggestion to the authors is that the glossary be expanded to aid readers such as myself who have a limited knowledge base of archeology et al. A great addition to anyones library.

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Summary: In a class by itself among works on rock art
Review: The discovery of Chauvet Cave in France's Rhone Valley in 1994 created an international sensation. Its floors were littered with the remains of cave bears, giraffes, auroch, and horses, and its walls displayed fantastic art depicting mammoths, rhinos, and lions-all signs of human occupation dating as far back as the Aurignacian period (37,000-29,000 years BP). No other site exists that is as close in age to the currently accepted date for the appearance of modern humans. Chauvet Cave documents this priceless find. The far-reaching significance of Chauvet Cave has yet to be realized, but the early implications are staggering-it has the earliest known cave paintings, the earliest known footprints from an anatomically modern human, a fossil record of Pleistocene cave bear skeletons. Based on the first three years of formal study at the site, Chauvet Cave, published in France in 2001 and now available for the first time to English-speaking readers, offers the first in-depth research report accessible to the general public. The text is accessible and the stunning photography speaks for itself providing an absorbing introduction to one of the most important archaeological finds of the twentieth century. Since it's discovery, French archaeological authorities have tightly restricted access to Chauvet cave. It is unlikely it will ever be opened to more than a handful of specialists. Fortunately, the full color photographs, maps, and probing text Chauvet Cave will allow the rest of us intimate access to the timeless, beautiful images found inside.

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Summary: 30,000 years old
Review: This book is a bit different from many of the others that one can purchase about cave art. This focuses on a relatively newely discovered cave (1994) and documents the fruits of the first years of exploration and investigation. The results of this research are well written in this book and highlight a lot of the excitement of finding paintings that were as old when the Lascaux paintings were made as those Lascaux paintings are now! 30,000 years ago man made sophisiticated and mature pictures and this book does them justice. Parts of the text are quite technical and maybe not of great interest to someone just trying to 'learn a little bit about cave art.' But this book was not realized to be just another overview of cave art in general and does not really take the place of one either. It is as beautiful book as the cover would suggest and is full of luscious photographs not only of the art works themselves, but also of the raw natural beauty of the cave. I highly recommend this book!!!