Hollande steps 36,000 years back in US$58m cave replica
Print Edition
FRENCH President Francois Hollande yesterday stepped 36,000 years back in time into a darkened, cool cave to admire the earliest known figurative paintings of hands, bears, rhinos and panthers.
But he was actually above ground, inaugurating a giant, millimeter-by-millimeter exact replica of the closely guarded Grotte Chauvet in southern France, unearthed by chance in 1994 by a group of speleologists who found hundreds of paintings by our prehistoric ancestors.
Nestled deep in a limestone cliff that hangs over the meandering Ardeche River, the cave is closed to the public so scientists and artists toiled for years to build the 55-million-euro (US$58 million) replica down to cloning even the stalactites and stalagmites that pepper the real cavern.
The giant cave reproduction, which from the sky is shaped like a bear’s paw, stands on a lush hill close to the small town of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, just 1 kilometer from the real deal, which last year became a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The visitor walks down a long ramp to get into the building housing the replica, entering a darkened, cool and humid place that mirrors conditions in the grotto.
Then just like in the real cave, people stick to a walkway that takes them past replica bones and the skull of an Alpine ibex, a species of wild goat.
The drawings reveal themselves as the visitors walk into the fake cave, a total of 1,000 paintings including 425 animals, including bears, rhinos, big cats and owls.
These have been reproduced using charcoal, just like our Aurignacian ancestors did some 36,000 years ago.
The paintings are more than twice as old as those in the famed Lascaux caves also in southern France and more discoveries could be found in remote parts of the cave as yet unexplored.
Using ultra-modern techniques such as 3D imaging, engineers, sculptors, painters and visual artists faithfully reproduced the paintings.
Ten people in Paris also worked for four years to reproduce stalactites, stalagmites and other formations present in the Grotte Chauvet itself.
Authorities hope that the giant replica will attract some 350,000 visitors a year.
“The path through the replica is exactly the same as in the original cave, for the very reason that the original cave is laid out with a sort of progression,” archeologist Jean-Michel Geneste said.
“The visitor to the replica gets the same impressions and in the same order.”
In June, UNESCO awarded the cave its prestigious World Heritage Status.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
