The
painters of Lascaux were astronomers! Cro-Magnon men painted
a zodiac on the walls of the cave, which showed the formation
of the sky in the Magdalenian era, 17,000 years ago. This
discovery of ancient astronomy, if confirmed, could change
our understanding of pre-historic art and also of the
people who painted the pictures. Research conducted and
revealed in this article by independent prehistoric-astronomer,
Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez could revolutionize presently
held concepts of prehistoric man's knowledge of astronomy.
At the center of the controversy is Lascaux cave. A natural
rock formation in the Dordogne region of southwest France
that existed for 17,000 years before four teenage boys
accidentally discovered it in l940. Since that time the
paintings found in the majestic Hall of Bulls in the cave
are considered to be one of the highest achievements of
humanity and have astounded and mystified both art historians
and prehistoric archeologists.
THE
FIRST ZODIAC?
In November 2000 Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez presented a
paper at the International Symposium of Prehistoric Art
in Italy. The paper was entitled, Lascaux, the Magdalenians
View of the Sky. In it, paleo-astronomer, Jegues-Wolkiewiez,
states that the cave paintings were records of the zodiac
constellations, fixed stars and the solstice points. She
confirmed her thesis by showing that all the constellations
of the zodiac except Aquarius and part of Pisces are represented
by the animals in their natural state of that time. The
precision
of the respective orientations as well as the presence
of the figure of the setting Sun demonstrates that Cro-Magnon
men were remarkable observers of the sky.
This
announcement that Paleolithic men were great astronomers
as well as extraordinary artists was revolutionary. The
idea that they marked the zodiac belt as a band of sky
that holds twelve constellations dancing in an eternal
circle following the path of the Sun and that they painted
these calculations on rock puts our understanding of the
history of astronomy in a radically new light. In effect
this says that in far-off time men represented the actual
constellations by drawing/tracing them on the pictures
of certain animals particularly the bull. If this is true
then they preceded the Babylonian astronomers by 10,000
years. These were surprising statements...
HOW
DID THEY DO IT?
In order to represent the constellations in the cave,
the ancient painters/astronomers had to find a way to
mark the lines between the stars, similar to amateur astronomers
today who know how to make angles by using their fingers
to measure distances between the different stars. Perhaps
these Cro-Magnon men used sticks as rulers to mark and
measure the height of certain stars in the sky. When they
returned to the cave the painters traced the drawing of
the sky from their observation. According to Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez,
these first astronomer/painters were already capable of
using the stars as heavenly guides to find the position
of the stars that were not visible above the horizon.
But
how did Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez arrive at this conclusion?
In 1999 she joined with Jean-Michel Geneste, a member
of the team who studied the Grotto at Chauvert in Ardeche.
The idea that certain paintings at Lascaux represent stars
or constellations was not new. But it was never verified
by serious scientific studies based on astronomical measurements.
This is exactly what Jean-Michel Geneste proposed that
he and Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez should do.
From
the first contact with the cave and the immense and poignant
Hall of Bulls the two scientists followed scientific procedures,
which was different from past research. A constant humidity
and temperature was maintained in the interior of the
cave and Jegues- Wolkiewiez scientifically demonstrated
that the Lascaux paintings were 17,000 years old by using
the Carbon l4 dating technique.
The
paleo-astronomers made constructions of the sky in the
Magdalenian period, which was different from our sky today,
using astronomical software (unfonunately not named).
They made models of the western map of each constellation.
Then they made measurements of the orientation of all
the paintings according to an astronomical compass, which
is precise to half of azimuth (an arc of the heavens extending
from the zenith to the horizon, which it cuts at right
angles). Finally through further measurement they compared
the outlines of the paintings in the Hall of Bulls with
the sky in Magdalenian times.
Then
from measurements taken on site the scientists established
that the entrance to Lascaux cave faces west and slopes
downward at a 12 degree angle. This was the plan that
the paleo-astronomers presented: to prove that the NW
entrance to the cave was identical to the one perceived
by the prehistoric artists and that the l2 degree angle
of the entrance led to the paintings in the Hall of the
Bulls. From this Jegues-Wolkiewiez conjectured that the
rays of the setting Sun at the Summer Solstice penetrated
into the cave and touched certain paintings. (see Map)
|
