The gate of the year

Red ochre painting of a bear in the Chauvet cave (Ardèche, France), attributed to the Aurignacian period (33/30,000 years B.P.). The bear is an animal appearing with frequency in the earlier documents of Prehistory, so that some authors have suggested the presence of a prehistoric bear cult. In some sites, bear skulls and bones have been discovered showing an apparently intentional distribution along the walls and inside niches in the caves. Though Leroi-Gourhan expressed a certain scepticism regarding this interpretation, believing instead that the bears themselves or other animals were responsible for the disposition of the bones, it seems ascertained that prehistoric hunters held in particular respect the remains of the slain animals. On the other hand, the belief in the rebirth of the animal from its own bones is attested among many peoples, and justifies the prohibition of breaking the animal bones which is found in many hunter-gatherer cultures (Eliade 1976: p. 26-27).

[Image: http://www.lauragais-patrimoine.fr/SITES-ARCHEOLOGIQUES/PLO%20DEL%20MAY/PLO01_fichiers/PHOTOPLO08.htm]




Animals

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Red ochre painting of a bear in the Chauvet cave (Ardèche, France), attributed to the Aurignacian period (33/30,000 years B.P.). The bear is an animal appearing with frequency in the earlier documents of Prehistory, so that some authors have suggested the presence of a prehistoric bear cult. In some sites, bear skulls and bones have been discovered showing an apparently intentional distribution along the walls and inside niches in the caves. Though Leroi-Gourhan expressed a certain scepticism regarding this interpretation, believing instead that the bears themselves or other animals were responsible for the disposition of the bones, it seems ascertained that prehistoric hunters held in particular respect the remains of the slain animals. On the other hand, the belief in the rebirth of the animal from its own bones is attested among many peoples, and justifies the prohibition of breaking the animal bones which is found in many hunter-gatherer cultures (Eliade 1976: p. 26-27). [Image: http://www.lauragais-patrimoine.fr/SITES-ARCHEOLOGIQUES/PLO%20DEL%20MAY/PLO01_fichiers/PHOTOPLO08.htm]