dAf 22
HAMEAU Philippe
Les peintures postglaciaires en Provence
Inventaire ; Étude chronologique, stylistique et iconographique
The author's work constitutes the first synthesis, since Father Glory's work published in 1948, about an unknown aspect of Prehistoric art: postglaciai symbolic paintings. This is an inventory of the Provence painted sites made after systematic surveys which led to rectify interpretation and location mistakes and to put the sites in their archaeological context. This is also an approach to the delicate questions of datation, typology and interpretation. This work appears as a critical study and a documentary corpus necessary to keep in memory these Neolithic art witnesses which disappear more and more every year because of natural agents and vandalism.
Abstract
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Postglacial cave-paintings are found in Provence primarily in the department of Var: ten caves near Ollioules, ten caves at Tourves in the Carami Valley, a rock-shelter at Le Val, a cave .in the middle gorge at Verdon, and a cave in the Estérel massif. The list should also include the "Gias aux Peintures”. at Saint-Dalmas-de-Tende in the Alpes-Maritimes department. The first sites were discovered in 1943 and our study includes those found up until1983. More recent discoveries will not be dealt with here.
Local topography, the extent of current research, and the often poor state of preservation of the paintings, all explain the present distribution of known sites. The typical location was a small cave with slightly ochre-coloured walls and a small fissure somewhere within it. However, the paintings were clearly not intended to be hidden. Although the caves were not used as dwellings, they may have been places of burial and they are never far from a settlement. Given the small dimensions of the paintings, the artist had more freedom in the choosing of locations and could afford avoiding uneven surfaces and working around rough areas. The paintings are generally at eye-Ievel and few in number in any given cave, although a notable exception is the rock-shelter at Eissartènes in the Var with its lavish decoration reminiscent of Iberian painted shelters.
In order to emphasise the underlying theme of the painting, little attention is paid to detail in the portrayal of figures. The pictures were painted using ochre (or haematite), which was probably heated to obtain shades of orange, red or brown. It seems unlikely that bauxite was used, despite the fact that quantities of this substance have been found on some prehistoric sites in Provence. In the case of the Eissartènes shelter, the walls had first been coated with ochre. Figures at the "grotte de l'Eglise" were painted using a preparation made from a red clay extracted from the galleries ; this preparation had been applied using one or several fingers.
The Provençal cave-paintings portray human figures, animals, "idols", signs and objects. By studying the association and distribution of certain images, and by analysing the way in which the abstract signs were arrived at, it is possible to understand the meaning of these pictures.
The artist depicts human figures through a purely symbolic representation of the sexual organ. The man, with his organ hanging between his legs, becomes a simple short line. In the case of the woman, the genitals are overemphasised and she is represented as a simple cross. These signs are invariably associated by the use of a crack in the rock face.
Scenes in which human beings and animals appear are simplified in the same way. Hunting scenes, a frequent theme, are symbolised by a bow.
The "idol", which is found elsewhere in carvings and sculptures, appears in a painted form in Provençal caves. It is portrayed either in full detail or by means of a horse-shoe symbol or a simple accent sign. In the cave at Chuchy this "idol" is found in association with several other symbols ("idol" + dot + cross + short line + sun + axe + hunt). In this group of images one can see not only a portrayal of the duality of power, but also a philosophical cycle centred upon the "idol" : Death - Fertility - Life. .
At times, only one of the "idol's" attributes will be emphasised by the artist. This same cycle can be observed in other contemporary art forms where the "idol" is represented.
The Provençal paintings can be attributed to the Chalcolithic or late-Neolithic period if one considers the fact that the style of objects and decoration found in some painted sites are typically Chassean. The meaning of this art was probably understood by Prehistoric peoples until the middle-Bronze Age. This type of painting was not brought to Provence by the Beaker Civilisation; its origins are to be found in Neolithic art contemporary with the expansion of the megalithic phenomenon. This art-form may occur later, during the Iron Age, as degenerate schematised engravings stating a system of beliefs which is not yet understood.
