Bayol Cave
Animal paintings, handprints
Abstract signs, 17,000 BC
CONTENTS
- Summary
- Discovery and Location
- Cave Site
- Parietal Art
- Cave Paintings
- Handprints
- Abstract Signs
- References
Dr Edouard Drouot's Aurignacian drawing of a deer from Bayol cave, as published in 'Paintings of Bayol Cave and the Parietal Art of the Languedoc'. Note that the only part of the picture drawn by the artist, is the outline of the animal's back and tail. The other lines are represented by natural features in the rock surface of the cave wall. Image by Pueblopassingby. (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Summary
The Bayol cave is one of five decorated paleolithic caves in the Gard department of France.
Its cave art is best known for a striking picture of an ibex, as well as a handprint left by a very small child.
Its earliest parietal art has been attributed to the Solutrean period, around 17,000 BC, although the site was first occupied by hunter-gatherers during the Mousterian culture.
The cave has been listed as a historic monument since 1931.
Discovery and Location
Discovered in 1927 by Abbé Jean-Frédéric Bayol (1870-1952), La Grotte Bayol - also known as Colonnes cave - is situated near the village of Collias, in the Occitanie region of the south of France.
It is located about 2 kilometres south-east of the village, at a spot called Les Costelles. Other decorated caves in the Gard department include: Baume-Latrone cave, Chabot cave, Oulen cave and Points cave.
Cave Site
Bayol's entrance overlooks a small stream from an altitude of 120 metres, while the cave itself extends roughly 170 metres into the hillside.
The archaeology of the site is relatively unremarkable. Abbé Bayol discovered a few stone tools in the cave, along with a large quantity of animal bones. Species included (mostly) ibex, reindeer, deer, horse, ox, beaver, bear and several types of feline.
No human fossils have been found, which means we don't know whether the site was occupied by Neanderthals or modern humans, like Cro-Magnons.
True, the earliest tools are attributed to the Mousterian (160,000-40,000 BC), but Cro-Magnons were present in France - at Mandrin Cave - no later than 54,000 BC.
What's more, these migrants arrived by boat via the Rhone Valley, which passes no more than 20 kilometres from Bayol cave.
Parietal Art
There are three types of parietal art in the cave. Cave paintings of animals; some handprints and a variety of abstract signs and symbols.
Cave Paintings
- The cave paintings are drawn in outline only, with no in-fill.
- They are executed more often in red than black, and there are even one or two in yellow.
- The black paintings were made using manganese, while ochre pigments were used on the rest.
- The most famous work is the beautiful ibex which is near the cave entrance. It is drawn in full and its belly has transverse stripes.
- Other subjects include a deer, a goat, horses, felines, bears, fish, and a snake.
- Like the animal art in many other paleolithic caves, the animal pictures at Bayol often exploit the contours and features of the cave walls.
- For example, there is a beautiful depiction of a deer, which uses the natural rock formation to emphasize the forelimbs, head and antlers. While a depiction of a snake uses a small rocky outgrowth for its eye and another natural relief to accentuate the line of its body.
Handprints
- There are five positive handprints, which were left by adults on a single panel.
- They were made by dipping hands into yellow ochre and pressing them onto the wall to leave an imprint.
- In addition, there is a sixth handprint elsewhere in the cave, which belongs to a young child.
Abstract Signs
The cave also contains a variety of abstract signs in red or black pigment. Research shows that these pictographs outnumber animal images by more than 2:1, which implies they were an important feature of Stone Age culture, at least to those who created them. However, modern day experts still haven't a clue as to their meaning or function. All we know is that they communicated some sort of information.
Bayol Cave contains 9 of these signs. They include the following motifs:
- Claviforms
Key-shaped symbol - Cruciforms
Cross-shaped sign - Dot signs
Point, disk, or blob - Flabelliforms
Fan-shaped sign - Lines
Drawn with single stroke - Open-angle signs
Horizontal V-sign - Penniforms
Feather-shaped sign - Quadrangles
Quadrilateral geometric signs - Tectiforms
Roof-shaped sign
References
(1) Édouard Drouot. "The paintings of the Bayol cave in Collias (Gard) and cave art in Mediterranean Languedoc." Bulletin of the French Prehistoric Society (1953) vol 50, nos 7-8, pp. 392-405.
(2) Dr Félix Régnault. "The Bayol Cave, with drawings, near Collias (Gard)." Bulletin of the French Prehistoric Society (1927) t. 24, no 12, p. 474.