The sacristy of the Chauvet Cave and its access corridor
Yanik Le Guillou
 
Summary of an article that appeared in the Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française Ariège-Pyrénées, Volume LVI, 2001.


 
Plan de la grotte
Plan of the Cave and situation of the sacristy
  

Location of chambers in the cave

These are two contiguous galleries located at the far north end of the cave, beyond the End Chamber, and more than 200 meters from the presumed Paleolithic entrance. At the back of the Panel of Bison (the rightmost panel in the End Chamber's composition), the drawing of a horse seems to come out of a vestibule -- this is the corridor to the Sacristy.
Only a part of these galleries is currently known. In order to preserve the floors, it has not been possible to deeply penetrate them and closely observe the decorated walls. Indirect photography was used for prospecting. These galleries are not hidden; they were perfectly accessible to Paleolithic visitors who did not share our preservation concerns.


Description of the chambers
The corridor is actually a gallery that runs parallel to the End Chamber, separated from it by a large rocky overhang sealed to the floor by clay infilling. Four meters further along, it opens onto the Sacristy - the floor continues level, and it is possible to walk upright the whole way. The floors of the two galleries are clay and, with the exception of an axial channel that acted as a drain, one can see prints of bears, ibexes and wolves. Charcoal and bones litter the ground. The activity of bears seems to have been intense, judging by the traces left on the walls and the displaced bones. Humans have also left their imprint on the walls with torch marks and traces of fingers, which are either marks of support or perhaps complements to the decoration.
     
 
Plan of the sacristy   Coupe de la sacristie
     
 

Wall decoration
Corridor:
In these two galleries, fourteen graphic units have been selected. Other tracings are present but much less readable.
The access corridor is decorated with three figures: a handsome black horse on the left wall facing the End Chamber. This is the most carefully drawn figure, very close to those in the Panel of Horses. On the left wall a rhinoceros and a mammoth can be seen. The figure of the rhinoceros is really just a sketch, limited to the horn, forehead, ears and withers. One meter further along there is a painted and engraved mammoth, facing left and slightly under 80 cm long. The drawing was originally done in charcoal, but the tusks were enhanced by engraving, making them bigger, longer and more visible. These two figures were done after the bear claw marks.


Left wall of the Sacristy

Left wall of the Sacristy
The first drawing is the forepart of a horse facing left; it is not very visible and has been redone by tracing a finger covered in ocher-colored clay. The main animal in the panel is another, smaller cat, also done in charcoal but facing the other direction. Just above is the forepart of a megaceros. Somewhat to the right, the last drawing is also the most detailed: a large bison, more than 1.7 meters long, done in both incisions and scrapings. Only the head and the line of the back are visible.

 
Right wall of the Sacristy
The first part of the wall is covered by a flow of calcite, after this there is a black horse facing left. Above and to the left another horse is depicted in a very dynamic position. The central figure in this panel is a large cat nearly 1.8 meters long; its very freely drawn line could be interpreted as the representation of a bear.

Right wall of the Sacristy

  

Chronology of the drawings
Several creation phases for these drawings have been proposed. The oldest could be the black horse and the two cats on the left wall of the Sacristy, as well as the feline and the two horses on the right wall. They are characterized by the use of a very thick, black pigment.
All of the scrapings were carried out in a second phase, in particular the bison.
In a third phase, the megaceros was drawn and perhaps also the mammoth, given the similarity of the tool employed.
The bear claw marks seem to have come between the phases two and three.
Different states of preservation may create relative chronologies for the various drawings, but there is currently no argument that offers a frame of reference.

Relation to the rest of the cave
The bestiary shown is similar to the decoration of the rest of the cave. The most relevant thematic association, perhaps the only one, is the cat / horse couple on the two facing walls. This same association is only seen in one other place, at the back of the Alcove of the Lions. Finally, the Sacrisity is closely related to the End Chamber by the first/last horse that can be seen from the chamber and that seems to leave the sacristy to guide the viewer to the outside. The Sacristy's wall art and its access corridor indicate the placement of a strongly autonomous sequential wall arrangement linked to the End Chamber.