The well-known and controversial scene painted on the wall of Lascaux cave (Dordogne, France), showing a wounded bison beside a human figure apparently laying on his back. The scene has generally been interpreted as a hunting episode. Since the 1950s it has been suggested to see in it a shamanic representation: the man on the ground could be in a trance condition, while his soul travels in the other world to obtain information about the game. Such an interpretation could be validated from the presence, beside the man, of a pole surmounted by a bird, a frequent motif in the shamanic art of Siberia. The head of the lying man seems to take on the appearance of a bird, perhaps an allusion to the relationship between the shaman and his spirit helper (Eliade 1976: p. 29-30; Clottes, Lewis-Williams 1996). The dating is attributable to about 20,000 years B.P.

[Image: http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/fr/00.xml]