Rock Art Research

In order to better understand the purpose of parietal art for Palaeolithic groups, its role in society and the different uses it could have, we need to understand which factors impacted the construction of the parietal arrangement, the choice of decorated surfaces and their layout. The first part of this study investigates the nature of the rock support, location, surroundings, accessibility and visibility of 31 panels in the decorated cave of Cussac (Dordogne, France), where a multidisciplinary research program has been developed since 2008. For this purpose, a multidisciplinary criteria database was built to record such data. Then an innovative methodology was implemented combining a statistical study of the database (Factor Analysis for Mixed Data – FAMD) with the study of topographic documents completed on site. Three groups of panels have been brought to light, revealing three ways of using the cave. The first group is characterised by small panels located in narrow passageways, often on layered and irregular limestone, in the cave’s Downstream Branch. They all offer strong potential for visual relationships, although they do not seem to be dedicated to a group of people. The second group also seems to have been dedicated to a restrictive group, but they are visually isolated from each other, they share fewer geologic and topographic criteria, and they are present in both the Upstream and the Downstream Branches. Finally, Group 3 panels are large panels, most of which have numerous motifs engraved on massive and regular limestone. They often share visual relationships with other panels, and they are all located in wide corridors of the Downstream Branch. Their size and location are consistent with the presence and participation of a small group of individuals.

This study yielded interesting results, but above all has highlighted a significant limitation: our modern lighting tools bias our space perception and influence our results and interpretations. In reaction to these biases, the second part of the study, which has just begun, aims to complete the first one using a three-dimensional survey of caves to simulate lighting and sounds as closely as possible to the ones the Palaeolithic people may have known. Two caves were chosen as they are complementary in their geomorphology and field access and the size of their three-dimensional surveys: Cussac and Lascaux caves (Dordogne, France). The primary purpose of this part of the study is to understand how lighting and acoustics influenced the construction of the parietal arrangement. However, before the study can be functional, an important phase calibrating the properties of the materials, sound sources and light sources must be done. As it is an exploratory study, one of our goals is also to determine the current technical and technological possibilities at our disposal.