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La Grotte Cosquer (Cap Morgiou, Marseille)
No full textABSTRACT In 1991 a huge chamber with numerous paintings and engravings was discovered by a professional deep-sea diver after a long (175 m) passage that sloped up from a narrow (1.30 m high) entrance situated 37 m under present sea-level. The art was preserved because the chamber happened to be high up enough not to have been flooded, but large numbers of paintings and engravings were most probably destroyed in the passage and in the lower part of the chamber. Many other caves along that coast disappeared under the sea after the end of the Pleistocene with the rise of the water, but it is the first time ever that rock art was discovered under such circumstances. The first question to address was that of the art's authenticity. On-the-spot observations and various analyses (pollen, charcoal, 14C dating) leave no room for any doubt. A 18,440 bp date ( ± 440, Ly- 5558) was obtained from charcoal lying on the ground. The 17 samples of charcoal determined belonged to Pinus silvestris and Pinus nigra, whereas the Pine of Alep, the only species now represented in the area, was absent. Two preliminary pollen analyses pointed to a Wiirm landscape, with very few trees, among which Betula. At least half the paintings are covered with patches of bright white calcite, of a type which, according to geologists, takes a very long time in depositing. Most of the engravings are distinctly weathered and patina- ted. However, the art's authenticity was challenged by a few, from the photographs published in the newspapers. Their arguments are discussed in this study. So far, 44 animals (21 engraved, 23 painted) and 26 negative hands, most of them with incomplete fingers, have been found. Horses are dominant (14), followed by bisons and ibex in equal numbers (7), then by chamois (5); there also are 1 red deer, 1 feline, 3 penguins, 2 seals and 2 possible megaceros, as well as 2 indeterminate quadrupeds. Many signs, among which long barbed lines superimposed on various animals, were observed. In addition, the walls of the chamber are covered with innumerable fine engravings and finger tracings that have not so far been studied. The present count of animals, hands and signs is therefore highly provisional. The superimpositions point to two possible periods, the earlier with the negative hands and the finger tracings, the later with the painted and engraved animals and the fine engravings. From the conventions used, the second period is probably contemporary with Ebbou (Ardèche), or the Late Solutrean of Parpalló (Spain), maybe a bit later as some details have their counterpart in Lascaux. This art should be situated within a period estimated between 17,000 and 20,000 bp. Even though the cave art cannot yet be studied as it should and it will be years before it is, the importance of this discovery is obvious: it is located in the Provence where no Paleolithic rock art had ever been found before; the art exhibits various characteristics that may bear witness to outside influences or may be original and have spread from there (Lascaux; Ebbou and other "mediterranean" caves; Gargas for the hands); finally, as is often the case with major art caves, it shows some distinct original features (for example, the sea animals, some signs, etc.).Clottes Jean, Beltrán A., Courtin Jean, Cosquer Henri. La Grotte Cosquer (Cap Morgiou, Marseille). In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 89, n°4, 1992. pp. 98-128
La grotte Cosquer datée
No full textClottes Jean, Courtin Jean, Valladas Hélène, Cachier H., Mercier N., Arnold M. La grotte Cosquer datée. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 89, n°8, 1992. pp. 230-234
A propos de la grotte Cosquer
No full textVialou Denis. A propos de la grotte Cosquer. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 89, n°8, 1992. p. 229
Hands stencils in the Cosquer Cave: men and/or women?
No full text66 hand stencils have been identified in the Cosquer Cave. This number is less than that found at Gargas, where many of the hands are incomplete, but greater than that recorded at El Castillo, making the collection of hand stencils found in the Cosquer Cave one of the largest found in a Palaeolithic cave to date. Hand representations in Cosquer vary in both colour and form: red and black, right and left, complete and partial; some of them have been deliberately scraped, which is a most exceptional occurrence. They can be linked to several animal species and to diverse geometric signs. It was particularly interesting to apply the 'Manning index' to these representations. This index is based on the ratio of the index finger to the ring finger and it allows the hand stencils to be sexed, thus revealing new patterns of distribution for the hands. Previous studies had already begun to point to the importance of sex in the Cosquer images
Hands stencils in the Cosquer Cave: men and/or women?
No full text66 hand stencils have been identified in the Cosquer Cave. This number is less than that found at Gargas, where many of the hands are incomplete, but greater than that recorded at El Castillo, making the collection of hand stencils found in the Cosquer Cave one of the largest found in a Palaeolithic cave to date. Hand representations in Cosquer vary in both colour and form: red and black, right and left, complete and partial; some of them have been deliberately scraped, which is a most exceptional occurrence. They can be linked to several animal species and to diverse geometric signs. It was particularly interesting to apply the 'Manning index' to these representations. This index is based on the ratio of the index finger to the ring finger and it allows the hand stencils to be sexed, thus revealing new patterns of distribution for the hands. Previous studies had already begun to point to the importance of sex in the Cosquer images
Hands stencils in the Cosquer Cave: men and/or women?
No full text66 hand stencils have been identified in the Cosquer Cave. This number is less than that found at Gargas, where many of the hands are incomplete, but greater than that recorded at El Castillo, making the collection of hand stencils found in the Cosquer Cave one of the largest found in a Palaeolithic cave to date. Hand representations in Cosquer vary in both colour and form: red and black, right and left, complete and partial; some of them have been deliberately scraped, which is a most exceptional occurrence. They can be linked to several animal species and to diverse geometric signs. It was particularly interesting to apply the 'Manning index' to these representations. This index is based on the ratio of the index finger to the ring finger and it allows the hand stencils to be sexed, thus revealing new patterns of distribution for the hands. Previous studies had already begun to point to the importance of sex in the Cosquer images
Dans l'art paléolithique : "L'homme tué" de la grotte Cosquer et d'ailleurs, les hommes blessés
No full textABSTRACT Cosquer gave his name to the underwater cave he discovered, and published an album about its palaeolithic wall paintings (Cosquer, 1992). Another, very scientific, book is that of Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin (1994). It also includes discoveries made between the two publications, e.g. "the killed man", a most important subject (p. 155-16 1). An illustrated study is proposed here of human victims in palaeolithic art : first, that of Cosquer cave, then of others elsewhere, wounded by animals or human weapons; finally, the presumed aims of these pictures are examined.RÉSUMÉ Cosquer a donné son nom à la grotte sous-marine qu'il a découverte, et publié un album sur ses peintures pariétales paléolithiques (Cosquer, 1992). Un autre ouvrage, très scientifique, est dû à Jean Clottes et Jean Courtin (1994). Y sont étudiées aussi les découvertes faites entre les deux publications ; dont "L'Homme tué", un thème majeur (p. 155-161). Ici, est proposé un bilan illustré, dans l'art paléolithique, des humains montrés victimes : celui de la Grotte Cosquer puis d'ailleurs, visés par des animaux, des armes humaines. Et sont cherchés les buts de ces images.Rousseau Michel. Dans l'art paléolithique : "L'homme tué" de la grotte Cosquer et d'ailleurs, les hommes blessés. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 93, n°2, 1996. pp. 204-207
News from Cosquer Cave: climatic studies, recording, sampling, dates
No full textInternational audienceFurther work inside the Grotte Cosquer, the Palaeolithic painted cave near Marseilles only accessible by a deep-water dive, improves our knowledge and makes it clear there can be no artificial entrance made to create a dry-land access
New insights into the Cosquer art cave hydrogeological functionning (France)
No full textInternational audienceThe Cosquer cave supports and protects some paleolithic paintings and engravings, dated to more than 31,000 years (Cal BP, Valladas et al. 2016). It’s a coastal cave, located in the Calanques massif, near Marseille in south of France. This area is well-known for its karstic landscape, in the white urgonian limestones (Barremian, early cretaceous). Nowadays, the cave has no water-free entrance. The only way to access to the cave is to dive to a submarine entrance giving access to a karst conduit connected with the non-flooded part of the cave. During paleolithic times, the seawater level was lower (down to 135 m). The access to the cave to the paleolithic men was flooded by the Mediterranean Sea rise around 10,000 years (Cal BP, Lambeck & Bard 2000). This specific location of the cave offered a protected area for the conservation of the rock art: no man entrance during the historical time, climatic and environmental steady conditions. Moreover, the karst also protected the rock art because it limited the sea-level rise within the cave. Indeed, the water level inside the Cosquer cave is lower than the sea-level, although only a tens of meters of limestones separate the cave to the sea. Obviously, the cave is a confined environment and is an interesting case-study to understand the impact of permeability contrasts between open karst features and the surrounding matrix. The aims of this work are: (1) to present a first long pressure time series ever recorded in the Cosquer cave, (2) to show which phenomena control the water level variation inside the cave, in order to answer to the following questions: when, how high and why the water level varies in the cave
Préhistoire et karst littoral : la grotte Cosquer et les Calanques marseillaises (Bouches-du-Rhône, France)
No full textPrehistory and coastal Karst : The Cosquer Cave and the "Massif des Calanques" (Marseille, France ). The Cosquer Cave is a French palaeolithic painted and engraved cave (27 000 / 18 500 BP) which is located under the sea, in the urgonian limestones of Cap Morgiou (" Massif des Calanques", Marseille). The entrance was submerged at the end of the last glacial stage and is presently 37 m under sea level. A synthesis about the Cosquer cave environmental studies is presented here. Structural studies show that cave planimetry is determined by Cap Morgiou fracturations (mainly NW/SE and N/S vertical faults). Through archaeological studies, a concretion breaking period can be dated between 27 000 and 18 000 BP. Geomorphological study of the continental shelf at the foot of the Cosquer cave area shows fossils shorelines at -36 m, -50/55 m, -90 m, -100 m depth. Radiocarbon datings from shells collected in -100m sediments yielded a date of 13 250 ± 200 BP. Direct scubadiving observations and submarine clive profiles sketching show several eustatic stands still levels between -36 m and the sea surface indicating a probable tectonic stability during the last 10 000 years.Cet article présente un bilan des recherches sur l'environnement géologique de la grotte Cosquer (1992-1996). Ces travaux ont concerné l'insertion structurale de l'endokarst du Cap Morgiou dans le Massif des Calanques (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône). La planimétrie de la grotte s'inscrit dans une fracturation subverticale à dominante NW-SE, NE-SW et N-S, générale entre Marseille et Cassis. L'art préhistorique a permis de montrer qu'une phase de réajustements gravitaires accompagnée de bris de concrétions s'est produite, dans la grotte Cosquer, entre 27 000 et 18 000 BP. L'étude morphologique du plateau continental, à l'aplomb de la grotte, a mis en évidence plusieurs lignes d'anciens rivages à -100 m, -90 m, -50/55 m, -36 m. Cette étude s'est poursuivie en plongée permettant ainsi de situer plusieurs replats d'érosion entre -36 m et la surface.Collina-Girard Jacques. Préhistoire et karst littoral : la grotte Cosquer et les Calanques marseillaises (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). In: Karstologia : revue de karstologie et de spéléologie physique, n°27, 1er semestre 1996. La grotte Cosquer et les Calanques marseillaises. pp. 27-40
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