MTU Cork Library Catalogue

Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

The cave beneath the sea : Paleolithic images at Cosquer / Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin ; translated from the French by Marilyn Garner.

By: Clottes, Jean.
Contributor(s): Courtin, Jean.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New York : Harry N. Abrams, 1996Description: 200 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 31 cm.ISBN: 0810940337.Other title: Paleolithic images at Cosquer.Subject(s): Paleolithic period -- France -- Bouches-du-Rhône | Cave paintings -- France -- Bouches-du-Rhône | Petroglyphs -- France -- Bouches-du-Rhône | Art, Prehistoric -- France | Cosquer Cave (France) | Bouches-du-Rhône (France) -- AntiquitiesDDC classification: 709.0112
Contents:
The natural setting: the countryside, the animals, and the people in the days of the Cosquer Cave -- Description of the cave -- The finger tracings and the hands -- The land animals -- The sea animals -- The signs -- The killed man -- Chronology and meaning -- The singularity, significance, and future of the cave.
Summary: In 1991, a professional diver named Henri Cosquer discovered a wealth of prehistoric art in a cave near Marseilles, France. The opening to the cave, once several miles inland from the Mediterranean, became submerged when the sea began to rise at the end of the last ice age, about 12,000 years ago. Since that time, no human had entered this deep cavern or seen the paintings and engravings of animals, human hands, and signs that cover the walls and ceilings until Cosquer swam cautiously up the flooded entrance passage. News of Cosquer's extraordinary find flashed around the world. The French Ministry of Culture immediately sent two eminent archaeologists, Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin, to study the cave. Assisted by teams of specialists, they carried out two diving missions to the site, in 1991 and 1992. This book describes what they found and provides the first complete photographic documentation of this incredible site, one of the major decorated caves of Europe.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
General Lending MTU National Maritime College of Ireland Library Lending 709.0112 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00109899
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A fine publication which tells the story of the discovery and subsequent investigation of Grotte Cosquer, one of the most stunning - and chronologically accountable - examples of paleolithic cave art yet to be found. With high-quality colour photographs the 18,500 year-old representations of horses, ibex, chamois, aurochs, megaloceros, and sea creatures such as seals and great auks are shown in all their glory. A remarkable account of a very unusual find.

Bibliography: p. 192-196.

The natural setting: the countryside, the animals, and the people in the days of the Cosquer Cave -- Description of the cave -- The finger tracings and the hands -- The land animals -- The sea animals -- The signs -- The killed man -- Chronology and meaning -- The singularity, significance, and future of the cave.

In 1991, a professional diver named Henri Cosquer discovered a wealth of prehistoric art in a cave near Marseilles, France. The opening to the cave, once several miles inland from the Mediterranean, became submerged when the sea began to rise at the end of the last ice age, about 12,000 years ago. Since that time, no human had entered this deep cavern or seen the paintings and engravings of animals, human hands, and signs that cover the walls and ceilings until Cosquer swam cautiously up the flooded entrance passage. News of Cosquer's extraordinary find flashed around the world. The French Ministry of Culture immediately sent two eminent archaeologists, Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin, to study the cave. Assisted by teams of specialists, they carried out two diving missions to the site, in 1991 and 1992. This book describes what they found and provides the first complete photographic documentation of this incredible site, one of the major decorated caves of Europe.

Translation of: La grotte Cosquer.

Cian Ó Sé collection.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Marking 1991 as a landmark year of discovery in archaeology was the the recovery of the Iceman of Tirol (a desiccated Bronze Age body from the Alps) and the discovery of stunning Paleolithic underwater cave paintings in France. The prehistoric paintings of Cosquer invoke awe, fascination, and a strong human connection to the past while providing scientific insight into the culture and psychology of earlier humans. Though not as artistically spectacular as Lascaux, the Cosquer cave has several unique characteristics: firm dates established by chemical methods, unique animal images, an underwater location, and a particular danger associated with the discovery and exploration of such a location. The authors, principal investigators of the site, expertly describe the context, meaning, and significance of the paintings and draw comparisons with similar sites. The quality of the production is excellent, and the book teems with color images. The main detraction is the lack of an index, though a helpful glossary and an extensive bibliography are included. This book is a treat for lay and undergraduate readers alike.‘Joyce L. Ogburn, Yale Univ. Lib., New Haven, Ct. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In 1991, French deep-sea diver Henri Cosquer discovered an underwater cave 120 feet below sea level near Marseilles containing Paleolithic paintings and engravings of animals, complex geometric signs, stenciled human hands and innumerable finger tracings. Once several miles inland, the cave's mouth became submerged when seas rose at the end of the last Ice Age some 12,000 years ago. French archeologists Clottes and Courtin took part in expeditions to the submerged cavern. Using radiocarbon tests, they dated some of the artwork to 27,000 years ago-9500 years earlier than the celebrated paintings of the Lascaux cave. Although the Cosquer cave's animal paintings do not seem nearly as powerful as those of Lascaux, the art and artifacts left behind by adventurous Homo sapiens hunters add up to an extraordinary find, as documented in this attractive album. Among the prehistoric artworks are pictures of plains horses, ibex, bison and the extinct deer called megaloceros; rare images of marine animals such as seals, auks and a fish; and an engraving of a killed man, his skull crushed by a spearhead-an image that suggests to the authors a murder or execution. Natural Science Book Club main selection. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Powered by Koha