1 00:01:31,187 --> 00:01:32,749 This is the Ardèche River 2 00:01:32,852 --> 00:01:34,742 in southern France. 3 00:01:34,839 --> 00:01:37,176 Less than a quarter of a mile from here, 4 00:01:37,273 --> 00:01:39,218 three explorers set out 5 00:01:39,323 --> 00:01:44,894 a few days before Christmas in 1994. 6 00:01:44,993 --> 00:01:47,811 They came along this way. 7 00:01:47,909 --> 00:01:52,070 They were seeking drafts of air emanating from the ground, 8 00:01:52,169 --> 00:01:56,232 which would point to the presence of caves. 9 00:01:56,334 --> 00:01:59,206 Eventually, they sensed a subtle airflow 10 00:01:59,313 --> 00:02:01,519 and began clearing away rocks, 11 00:02:01,619 --> 00:02:05,999 revealing a narrow shaft into the cliff. 12 00:02:06,104 --> 00:02:07,382 It was so narrow 13 00:02:07,482 --> 00:02:11,513 that a person could barely squeeze through it. 14 00:02:11,614 --> 00:02:15,066 They descended into the unknown. 15 00:02:15,170 --> 00:02:18,523 They were about to make one of the greatest discoveries 16 00:02:18,630 --> 00:02:22,528 in the history of human culture. 17 00:02:29,297 --> 00:02:31,755 At first, the cave did not appear 18 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:34,034 to contain anything special, 19 00:02:34,135 --> 00:02:37,816 aside from being particularly beautiful. 20 00:02:43,585 --> 00:02:48,347 But then deep inside, they found this. 21 00:03:00,275 --> 00:03:04,338 It would turn out that this cave was pristine. 22 00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:10,523 It had been perfectly sealed for tens of thousands of years. 23 00:03:10,621 --> 00:03:13,941 It contained by far the oldest cave paintings, 24 00:03:14,050 --> 00:03:17,829 dating back some 32,000 years. 25 00:03:17,926 --> 00:03:21,923 In fact, they are the oldest paintings ever discovered, 26 00:03:22,026 --> 00:03:25,608 more than twice as old as any other. 27 00:04:02,902 --> 00:04:06,681 In honor of its leading discoverer, Jean-Marie Chauvet, 28 00:04:06,778 --> 00:04:11,901 the cave now bears the name Chauvet Cave. 29 00:04:15,107 --> 00:04:17,313 This is the road in the Ardèche Gorge 30 00:04:17,414 --> 00:04:20,067 leading to the cave. 31 00:04:20,168 --> 00:04:23,041 It is early spring. 32 00:04:23,147 --> 00:04:25,965 We have been given an unprecedented endorsement 33 00:04:26,063 --> 00:04:28,204 by the French Ministry of Culture 34 00:04:28,305 --> 00:04:32,106 to film inside the cave. 35 00:04:32,213 --> 00:04:34,387 From the first day of its discovery, 36 00:04:34,488 --> 00:04:38,037 the importance of the cave was immediately recognized, 37 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:42,651 and access was shut off categorically. 38 00:04:42,753 --> 00:04:47,614 Only a small group of scientists is allowed to enter. 39 00:04:47,718 --> 00:04:50,755 They are archaeologists, art historians, 40 00:04:50,858 --> 00:04:56,199 paleontologists, and geologists, among others. 41 00:04:56,303 --> 00:04:59,209 They are here to perform their studies together 42 00:04:59,314 --> 00:05:02,000 during a few short weeks at the end of March 43 00:05:02,101 --> 00:05:04,471 and the beginning of April. 44 00:05:04,569 --> 00:05:06,163 This is one of the rare times 45 00:05:06,266 --> 00:05:09,236 anyone, with the exception of two guards, 46 00:05:09,341 --> 00:05:13,087 is allowed inside the cave. 47 00:05:23,308 --> 00:05:29,031 The cave is like a frozen flash of a moment in time. 48 00:05:29,139 --> 00:05:31,530 The reason for its pristine condition 49 00:05:31,637 --> 00:05:34,127 is this rock face. 50 00:05:34,232 --> 00:05:37,880 Some 20,000 years ago, it came tumbling down 51 00:05:37,980 --> 00:05:39,607 in a massive rock slide, 52 00:05:39,710 --> 00:05:42,681 sealing off the original entrance to the cave 53 00:05:42,785 --> 00:05:46,105 and creating a perfect time capsule. 54 00:06:04,408 --> 00:06:09,083 A wooden walkway leads to the entrance of Chauvet Cave. 55 00:06:12,385 --> 00:06:15,869 The narrow tunnel through which the discoverers crawled 56 00:06:15,973 --> 00:06:17,152 has been widened 57 00:06:17,254 --> 00:06:19,591 and locked with a massive steel door 58 00:06:19,689 --> 00:06:21,698 like a bank vault. 59 00:06:24,975 --> 00:06:29,289 Once we pass through this door, it will be locked behind us 60 00:06:29,395 --> 00:06:33,327 so as not to compromise the delicate climate inside. 61 00:06:37,051 --> 00:06:40,371 For this, our first exploration into the cave, 62 00:06:40,479 --> 00:06:44,411 we are using a tiny, nonprofessional camera rig. 63 00:06:47,944 --> 00:06:50,368 In this first narrow holding room, 64 00:06:50,474 --> 00:06:51,850 we are fitted with sterile boots 65 00:06:51,948 --> 00:06:55,880 and given safety instructions. 66 00:06:59,059 --> 00:07:00,588 We have this, okay. 67 00:07:00,693 --> 00:07:02,637 Once you've set this on the rope, 68 00:07:02,743 --> 00:07:03,889 you don't touch it. 69 00:07:03,992 --> 00:07:05,849 Jean Clottes was the first scientist 70 00:07:05,947 --> 00:07:10,392 to inspect the cave a few days after its discovery. 71 00:07:10,496 --> 00:07:13,149 For five years, until his retirement, 72 00:07:13,250 --> 00:07:16,515 he served as head of the scientific team. 73 00:07:24,782 --> 00:07:28,299 Our guide leads us down a first sloping tunnel, 74 00:07:28,403 --> 00:07:32,685 which ends in a vertical drop to the cave floor. 75 00:08:51,340 --> 00:08:53,447 Since our film crew has been limited 76 00:08:53,550 --> 00:08:55,078 to a maximum of four, 77 00:08:55,184 --> 00:08:58,766 we must all perform technical tasks. 78 00:08:58,868 --> 00:09:01,871 In addition, our time in the cave 79 00:09:01,975 --> 00:09:04,182 has been severely restricted. 80 00:09:04,282 --> 00:09:06,520 And I will take one light as well. 81 00:09:06,620 --> 00:09:09,209 So it's five past 3:00. 82 00:09:09,311 --> 00:09:11,769 We have one hour. 83 00:09:19,114 --> 00:09:21,025 Apart from time constrictions, 84 00:09:21,132 --> 00:09:24,102 we are not allowed to touch anything in the cave 85 00:09:24,207 --> 00:09:28,172 or ever step off the two-foot-wide walkway. 86 00:09:32,376 --> 00:09:35,576 We can use only three flat cold light panels 87 00:09:35,676 --> 00:09:39,903 powered by battery belts. 88 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,206 - You see how, when they made the passageways, 89 00:09:42,307 --> 00:09:45,726 they protected the stalagmites. 90 00:09:48,937 --> 00:09:50,947 It's a nice touch. 91 00:09:51,052 --> 00:09:54,733 Inevitably, moving along in single file, 92 00:09:54,832 --> 00:09:57,388 the film crew will have no hiding places 93 00:09:57,491 --> 00:10:00,461 to get out of the shot. 94 00:10:04,731 --> 00:10:07,155 The first large chamber we come to 95 00:10:07,261 --> 00:10:10,363 is the original entrance to the cave. 96 00:10:10,465 --> 00:10:13,502 In prehistoric times, before the rock slide, 97 00:10:13,605 --> 00:10:16,542 daylight must have illuminated this. 98 00:10:16,648 --> 00:10:19,815 - So on the left when we arrived inside the cave, 99 00:10:19,915 --> 00:10:21,859 you can see the entrance, 100 00:10:21,965 --> 00:10:24,968 and that was the archaeological entrance. 101 00:10:25,073 --> 00:10:27,049 People came into the cave level, 102 00:10:27,155 --> 00:10:28,815 not like us, down a ladder. 103 00:10:28,917 --> 00:10:30,642 And then the cliff collapsed. 104 00:10:30,743 --> 00:10:34,522 And then we've got the rubble from the cliff. 105 00:10:34,619 --> 00:10:36,344 From outside, you cannot see it. 106 00:10:36,445 --> 00:10:37,788 From inside, you can. 107 00:10:40,737 --> 00:10:42,779 Over there, you've got the dots, 108 00:10:42,884 --> 00:10:45,636 the red dots. 109 00:10:45,735 --> 00:10:48,127 Those are the red dots which I saw first 110 00:10:48,233 --> 00:10:50,757 when I came into the cave, 111 00:10:50,860 --> 00:10:54,574 big dots made with the palm of the hand. 112 00:10:57,364 --> 00:11:02,585 Well, here we have... - we have a big cave bear skull, right? 113 00:11:02,681 --> 00:11:04,144 Male, probably. 114 00:11:04,250 --> 00:11:09,821 And you'll see many others. 115 00:11:13,573 --> 00:11:17,221 You see, in this big chamber, which is a really huge... - 116 00:11:17,321 --> 00:11:18,751 it's the biggest in the cave... - 117 00:11:18,859 --> 00:11:22,343 there are no paintings except right at the end. 118 00:11:22,447 --> 00:11:23,975 So this is probably relevant, 119 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,045 because when the entrance was still open, 120 00:11:28,149 --> 00:11:30,191 there must have been some light here. 121 00:11:30,295 --> 00:11:34,161 So they put the paintings, really, in the complete dark. 122 00:11:37,695 --> 00:11:39,933 See here. 123 00:11:43,493 --> 00:11:46,693 This is a cave bear painted in black. 124 00:11:46,792 --> 00:11:48,649 The paintings looked so fresh 125 00:11:48,747 --> 00:11:51,882 that there were initial doubts about their authenticity, 126 00:11:51,982 --> 00:11:53,675 but this picture has a layer 127 00:11:53,776 --> 00:11:56,047 of calcite and concretions over it 128 00:11:56,146 --> 00:11:59,827 that take thousands of years to grow. 129 00:11:59,927 --> 00:12:04,853 This was the first proof that it was not a forgery. 130 00:12:04,956 --> 00:12:07,609 - A beautiful horse here, 131 00:12:07,711 --> 00:12:10,714 one of the most beautiful in the cave. 132 00:12:10,818 --> 00:12:12,827 And what is touching 133 00:12:12,933 --> 00:12:18,056 is that it looks as if it had been done yesterday. 134 00:12:18,154 --> 00:12:23,310 Look how fresh it looks with that technique. 135 00:12:26,644 --> 00:12:29,068 And here we have, behind the horse, 136 00:12:29,174 --> 00:12:33,237 there are two mammoths, big mammoths. 137 00:12:33,338 --> 00:12:36,408 And here you can see cave bear scratches, 138 00:12:36,510 --> 00:12:39,131 and the cave bear scratches are not the same color. 139 00:12:39,233 --> 00:12:41,057 They look like they might have been made 140 00:12:41,155 --> 00:12:44,421 5,000, 10,000 years earlier. 141 00:12:49,228 --> 00:12:52,395 We are coming here to one of the great spots of the cave, 142 00:12:52,495 --> 00:12:56,656 which is the famous panel of the horses. 143 00:12:56,756 --> 00:13:00,502 It is of the... - one of the size of a small recess. 144 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,358 And this small hole there 145 00:13:02,457 --> 00:13:05,559 is where water comes out, gurgling, 146 00:13:05,661 --> 00:13:09,113 after there's been something like a week of rain. 147 00:13:09,217 --> 00:13:11,970 And that probably explains 148 00:13:12,068 --> 00:13:18,239 why all those animals were painted around that hole. 149 00:13:18,347 --> 00:13:24,365 It's one of the great works of art in the world. 150 00:13:26,740 --> 00:13:29,612 For these Paleolithic painters, 151 00:13:29,719 --> 00:13:32,788 the play of light and shadows from their torches 152 00:13:32,891 --> 00:13:36,670 could possibly have looked something like this. 153 00:13:39,170 --> 00:13:45,156 For them, the animals perhaps appeared moving, living. 154 00:13:45,256 --> 00:13:48,292 We should note that the artists painted this bison 155 00:13:48,395 --> 00:13:51,497 with eight legs, suggesting movement, 156 00:13:51,599 --> 00:13:55,280 almost a form of proto-cinema. 157 00:14:05,758 --> 00:14:08,030 The walls themselves are not flat 158 00:14:08,128 --> 00:14:10,946 but have their own three-dimensional dynamic, 159 00:14:11,043 --> 00:14:17,215 their own movement, which was utilized by the artists. 160 00:14:17,322 --> 00:14:21,931 In the upper left corner, another multilegged animal. 161 00:14:22,031 --> 00:14:24,139 And the rhino to the right 162 00:14:24,242 --> 00:14:27,312 seems also to have the illusion of movement, 163 00:14:27,413 --> 00:14:31,127 like frames in an animated film. 164 00:14:42,726 --> 00:14:45,762 The painters of the cave seem to speak to us 165 00:14:45,865 --> 00:14:49,731 from a familiar yet distant universe. 166 00:14:49,838 --> 00:14:51,727 But what we are seeing here 167 00:14:51,823 --> 00:14:55,373 is part of millions of spatial points. 168 00:15:00,056 --> 00:15:03,638 Today scientists have mapped every single millimeter 169 00:15:03,741 --> 00:15:07,738 of the cave using laser scanners. 170 00:15:07,841 --> 00:15:12,002 The position of every feature in the cave is known. 171 00:15:18,188 --> 00:15:21,989 This is the shape of the cave in its entirety. 172 00:15:22,096 --> 00:15:28,246 From end to end, it is about 1,300 feet long. 173 00:15:28,342 --> 00:15:29,554 This map is the basis 174 00:15:29,656 --> 00:15:33,522 for all scientific projects being done here. 175 00:15:37,569 --> 00:15:43,871 - We are working to create new understanding of the cave 176 00:15:43,975 --> 00:15:48,136 through that precision, through scientific methods, 177 00:15:48,236 --> 00:15:52,583 but that's not, I think, the main goal. 178 00:15:52,689 --> 00:15:55,375 The main goal is to create stories 179 00:15:55,476 --> 00:15:59,889 about what could have happened in that cave during the past. 180 00:15:59,993 --> 00:16:01,304 It is like you are creating 181 00:16:01,403 --> 00:16:03,379 the phone directory of Manhattan. 182 00:16:03,484 --> 00:16:07,962 Four million precise entries, but do they dream? 183 00:16:08,066 --> 00:16:10,108 Do they cry at night? 184 00:16:10,211 --> 00:16:11,489 What are their hopes? 185 00:16:11,589 --> 00:16:12,997 What are their families? 186 00:16:13,094 --> 00:16:15,136 You'll... - we'll never know from the phone directory. 187 00:16:15,241 --> 00:16:16,617 - Definitely. 188 00:16:16,715 --> 00:16:20,330 We will never know, because past is definitely lost. 189 00:16:20,430 --> 00:16:23,303 We will never reconstruct the past. 190 00:16:23,410 --> 00:16:25,682 We can only create a representation 191 00:16:25,781 --> 00:16:29,462 of what alre... - what exists now, today. 192 00:16:29,561 --> 00:16:31,188 You are a human being. 193 00:16:31,291 --> 00:16:32,437 I am a human being. 194 00:16:32,540 --> 00:16:35,510 And here when you come to that cave, 195 00:16:35,615 --> 00:16:37,307 of course there are some things. 196 00:16:37,409 --> 00:16:39,167 I have my own background. 197 00:16:39,267 --> 00:16:41,178 What is your background, if I may ask? 198 00:16:41,285 --> 00:16:43,906 - Well, I used to be a circus man before, 199 00:16:44,008 --> 00:16:45,570 but I switched to archaeology. 200 00:16:45,674 --> 00:16:46,787 Circus? 201 00:16:46,891 --> 00:16:48,748 Doing what? Lion tamer? 202 00:16:48,846 --> 00:16:51,019 - Well, mostly... - not lion tamer, 203 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:55,216 but mostly unicycle and juggling, yeah. 204 00:16:55,316 --> 00:16:58,516 The first time I entered to Chauvet Cave, 205 00:16:58,616 --> 00:17:02,362 I had a chance to get in during five days, 206 00:17:02,460 --> 00:17:05,081 and it was so powerful. 207 00:17:05,183 --> 00:17:09,760 Then every night, I was dreaming of lions. 208 00:17:09,860 --> 00:17:13,693 And every day was the same shock for me. 209 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:15,492 It was an emotional shock. 210 00:17:15,594 --> 00:17:19,210 I mean, I'm a scientist but a human too. 211 00:17:19,310 --> 00:17:23,886 And after five days, I decided not to go back in the cave, 212 00:17:23,987 --> 00:17:30,388 because I needed time just to relax and take time to... - 213 00:17:30,490 --> 00:17:31,418 To absorb it? 214 00:17:31,515 --> 00:17:33,208 - To absorb it, yeah. Yeah. 215 00:17:33,309 --> 00:17:35,963 And you dreamt not of paintings of lions 216 00:17:36,064 --> 00:17:37,527 but of real lions. 217 00:17:37,634 --> 00:17:40,637 - Of both, of both, definitely. 218 00:17:40,741 --> 00:17:41,987 Yeah. 219 00:17:42,086 --> 00:17:43,911 And you were afraid in your dreams? 220 00:17:44,009 --> 00:17:45,384 - I was not afraid, no. 221 00:17:45,482 --> 00:17:46,629 No, no, I was not afraid. 222 00:17:46,731 --> 00:17:54,607 It was more a feeling of powerful things and deep things, 223 00:17:54,709 --> 00:18:02,169 a way to understand things which is not a direct way. 224 00:18:02,268 --> 00:18:03,480 - Uh, sorry. 225 00:18:03,582 --> 00:18:05,493 Silence, please. 226 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:07,162 Please don't move. 227 00:18:07,265 --> 00:18:10,116 We're going to listen to the silence in the cave, 228 00:18:10,213 --> 00:18:15,172 and perhaps we can even hear our own heartbeats. 229 00:21:32,159 --> 00:21:33,721 These images are memories 230 00:21:33,825 --> 00:21:37,626 of long-forgotten dreams. 231 00:21:37,733 --> 00:21:42,724 Is this their heartbeat or ours? 232 00:21:42,827 --> 00:21:45,547 Will we ever be able to understand the vision 233 00:21:45,645 --> 00:21:50,320 of the artists across such an abyss of time? 234 00:21:54,455 --> 00:21:59,512 There is an aura of melodrame in this landscape. 235 00:21:59,613 --> 00:22:02,911 It could be straight out of a Wagner opera 236 00:22:03,008 --> 00:22:06,624 or a painting of German Romanticists. 237 00:22:06,724 --> 00:22:10,885 Could this be our connection to them? 238 00:22:10,985 --> 00:22:14,567 This staging of a landscape as an operatic event 239 00:22:14,668 --> 00:22:18,120 does not belong to the Romanticists alone. 240 00:22:18,225 --> 00:22:21,097 Stone Age men might have had a similar sense 241 00:22:21,204 --> 00:22:24,109 of inner landscapes, and it seems natural 242 00:22:24,215 --> 00:22:27,350 that there's a whole cluster of Paleolithic caves 243 00:22:27,451 --> 00:22:29,078 right around here. 244 00:22:30,397 --> 00:22:33,368 - The Chauvet Cave is just here at the top of this cliff, 245 00:22:33,472 --> 00:22:36,672 but the Chauvet Cave is also associated 246 00:22:36,772 --> 00:22:38,268 to this natural feature, 247 00:22:38,375 --> 00:22:42,307 this beautiful arch called Pont d'Arc. 248 00:22:42,411 --> 00:22:47,020 Maybe this Pont d'Arc, in the mythology of the people, 249 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:51,347 was not only a landmark but a mark also 250 00:22:51,444 --> 00:22:54,546 in the imagination, in the stories, 251 00:22:54,648 --> 00:22:55,991 in the mythology 252 00:22:56,089 --> 00:22:59,671 that was important for them to understand the world. 253 00:22:59,774 --> 00:23:02,712 But what kind of world was it 254 00:23:02,816 --> 00:23:05,240 for Paleolithic people back then? 255 00:23:05,347 --> 00:23:08,864 - 35,000 years ago, the Europe... - 256 00:23:08,967 --> 00:23:13,347 Europe was covered by glaciers, and in this glacial Europe, 257 00:23:13,452 --> 00:23:19,438 you have to imagine a climate dry, cold, but with sun also. 258 00:23:19,539 --> 00:23:20,882 That was important. 259 00:23:20,980 --> 00:23:23,852 In this place, for example, 260 00:23:23,959 --> 00:23:25,936 you have to imagine woolly rhinos, 261 00:23:26,041 --> 00:23:27,734 mammoths along the rivers. 262 00:23:27,836 --> 00:23:29,398 In the forest, 263 00:23:29,501 --> 00:23:34,722 you had Megaloceros deers, horses, reindeers, bisons, 264 00:23:34,819 --> 00:23:37,987 and also ibex or the antelopes moving. 265 00:23:38,086 --> 00:23:39,976 So it was very rich. 266 00:23:40,073 --> 00:23:42,279 The biomass in this part of Europe 267 00:23:42,379 --> 00:23:44,388 was very important 268 00:23:44,493 --> 00:23:47,660 for the development of human but also carnivores. 269 00:23:47,761 --> 00:23:51,922 So you have to imagine lions, bears, leopards, 270 00:23:52,022 --> 00:23:56,336 wolves, foxes in very large numbers. 271 00:23:56,442 --> 00:24:01,368 And among all these carnivores and predators, human. 272 00:24:01,472 --> 00:24:04,891 Could it be how they set up fires in Chauvet Cave? 273 00:24:04,995 --> 00:24:07,998 There's evidence that they cast their own shadows 274 00:24:08,103 --> 00:24:11,205 against the panels of horses, for example. 275 00:24:11,306 --> 00:24:14,626 - The fire were necessary to look at the paintings 276 00:24:14,734 --> 00:24:18,732 and maybe towards staging people around. 277 00:24:18,834 --> 00:24:21,870 When you look with the flame, with moving light, 278 00:24:21,973 --> 00:24:24,911 you can imagine people dancing with the shadows. 279 00:24:25,017 --> 00:24:26,032 Like Fred Astaire. 280 00:24:26,138 --> 00:24:27,666 - Fred Astaire, yes. 281 00:24:27,772 --> 00:24:31,486 I think that this image dancing with this shadow 282 00:24:31,584 --> 00:24:36,707 is a very strong and old images of human representation, 283 00:24:36,805 --> 00:24:39,492 because the first representation was the walls, 284 00:24:39,592 --> 00:24:42,148 the white wall and the black shadow. 285 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,453 The presence of humans in the cave 286 00:25:03,554 --> 00:25:07,038 was fleeting like shadows. 287 00:25:07,142 --> 00:25:10,047 Bear skulls everywhere, 288 00:25:10,154 --> 00:25:12,775 but these skulls belong to the cave bear, 289 00:25:12,876 --> 00:25:16,557 a species, like the mammoth and the woolly rhino, 290 00:25:16,656 --> 00:25:20,490 that vanished from the face of the Earth long ago. 291 00:25:29,182 --> 00:25:33,081 Tens of thousands of years of patient water dripping 292 00:25:33,186 --> 00:25:37,631 has left a thick coating of calcite on this skull. 293 00:25:37,735 --> 00:25:41,416 It now has the appearance of a porcelain sculpture. 294 00:26:01,441 --> 00:26:03,777 In all this menagerie of bones, 295 00:26:03,875 --> 00:26:07,457 there's not a single human specimen. 296 00:26:07,559 --> 00:26:12,682 Scientists have determined that humans never lived in the cave. 297 00:26:12,781 --> 00:26:19,433 They used it only for painting and possibly ceremonies. 298 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:23,701 Michel Philipe has studied the bones of Chauvet Cave. 299 00:26:26,235 --> 00:26:28,212 Caves constitute a favorable place 300 00:26:28,318 --> 00:26:29,945 for the preservation of bones. 301 00:26:30,047 --> 00:26:32,603 As the result, there are a lot of bear bones. 302 00:26:32,706 --> 00:26:36,158 Overall, this represents 99% of the finds, 303 00:26:36,262 --> 00:26:37,725 but there are also some wolves. 304 00:26:37,831 --> 00:26:40,322 We have two skulls and have several bones. 305 00:26:40,426 --> 00:26:42,370 We have a few ibexes. 306 00:26:42,477 --> 00:26:45,230 We have a magnificent skull on the wet sand with calcite, 307 00:26:45,327 --> 00:26:47,272 quite lovely. 308 00:26:47,378 --> 00:26:48,841 When you shine light on it, 309 00:26:48,948 --> 00:26:51,252 they are calcite crystals that glisten. 310 00:26:51,350 --> 00:26:52,813 It's truly quite lovely. 311 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,710 There are some horses as well. 312 00:26:54,810 --> 00:26:56,601 There is a cave hyena. 313 00:26:56,700 --> 00:26:58,457 What else is there? 314 00:26:58,558 --> 00:27:00,830 There's also an eagle skeleton, 315 00:27:00,929 --> 00:27:04,795 a golden eagle, practically whole, 316 00:27:04,901 --> 00:27:06,495 but it may be a little more recent, 317 00:27:06,599 --> 00:27:08,259 carried in by the run of water 318 00:27:08,361 --> 00:27:11,463 and wedged against the big rocks at the edge of the waterway. 319 00:27:11,564 --> 00:27:13,159 So you can see its bones spread out 320 00:27:13,262 --> 00:27:15,304 over ten feet in length. 321 00:27:15,409 --> 00:27:17,745 Our goal is not only to say what bones there are, 322 00:27:17,842 --> 00:27:20,431 but we also try to understand if they lived there, 323 00:27:20,533 --> 00:27:23,351 if they were moved, how they were transported. 324 00:27:23,449 --> 00:27:25,174 Did the bears bring the bones? 325 00:27:25,274 --> 00:27:27,863 There are several bones that have been chewed on a little. 326 00:27:27,965 --> 00:27:32,280 So it could have been the bears or the hyenas. 327 00:27:35,141 --> 00:27:36,637 All the scientists are lodged 328 00:27:36,743 --> 00:27:40,806 in a nearby sports complex. 329 00:27:40,907 --> 00:27:43,593 Although they each have their special field, 330 00:27:43,694 --> 00:27:48,369 they compare and combine their findings. 331 00:27:48,468 --> 00:27:51,438 We were interested in the work of these two. 332 00:27:51,543 --> 00:27:56,502 Carole, Gilles, can you explain about what you're doing here? 333 00:27:56,604 --> 00:27:57,499 - Yeah, oui. 334 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,085 In the cave, 335 00:28:01,185 --> 00:28:02,812 we are trying to reveal the contours 336 00:28:02,915 --> 00:28:04,323 of underlying designs 337 00:28:04,421 --> 00:28:06,879 that are hard to follow with the naked eye. 338 00:28:06,984 --> 00:28:09,670 Because we are not supposed to touch the wall, 339 00:28:09,771 --> 00:28:14,598 we take a series of photos that we put together in a mosaic. 340 00:28:14,704 --> 00:28:17,641 We are trying to achieve a maximum of detail. 341 00:28:17,747 --> 00:28:19,953 Then we take a transparency, 342 00:28:20,053 --> 00:28:21,943 and we put it on top of the photo. 343 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,524 And then we trace the underlayers of engravings. 344 00:28:25,627 --> 00:28:29,560 Later, we return to the cave and check against the contours 345 00:28:29,663 --> 00:28:31,968 all the designs that we can see 346 00:28:32,067 --> 00:28:34,491 and all the markings of the bears as well 347 00:28:34,597 --> 00:28:38,562 so that we can understand each figure and event. 348 00:28:38,665 --> 00:28:40,128 We have bear scratches 349 00:28:40,235 --> 00:28:43,500 and then a magnificent drawing of a mammoth done by finger 350 00:28:43,599 --> 00:28:45,936 and other scratches done over the mammoth. 351 00:28:46,034 --> 00:28:47,824 So their succession is very important 352 00:28:47,923 --> 00:28:50,227 to understand what took place. 353 00:28:50,326 --> 00:28:53,591 On the computer, one can see three phases. 354 00:28:53,689 --> 00:28:56,692 The first dates 40,000 years back in time, 355 00:28:56,797 --> 00:29:00,346 the one when the bear scratched the walls. 356 00:29:00,449 --> 00:29:02,786 Then a second phase with drawings 357 00:29:02,884 --> 00:29:05,057 stretching over eight feet in height, 358 00:29:05,158 --> 00:29:08,872 therefore made with a stick, followed by the main phase 359 00:29:08,970 --> 00:29:13,896 sometime around 33,000 years or less. 360 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,621 It starts with the scraping of the wall 361 00:29:16,722 --> 00:29:18,448 to get to the white of the rock. 362 00:29:18,548 --> 00:29:20,787 After that, the first figures were put in place. 363 00:29:20,887 --> 00:29:22,612 These were the two rhinos attacking one another 364 00:29:22,713 --> 00:29:24,089 at the bottom. 365 00:29:24,187 --> 00:29:26,611 After that came the three bulls. 366 00:29:26,717 --> 00:29:29,272 - And finally, they ended 367 00:29:29,376 --> 00:29:32,478 with a series of horses going from top to bottom 368 00:29:32,580 --> 00:29:36,293 and, in the final phase, adding this very beautiful horse 369 00:29:36,391 --> 00:29:40,258 that confronts the viewers when they arrive in the cave. 370 00:29:40,364 --> 00:29:42,374 - When you do a synthesis of the composition, 371 00:29:42,478 --> 00:29:44,815 there is a kind of dynamic circular movement 372 00:29:44,913 --> 00:29:46,606 going from the bottom to the right, 373 00:29:46,706 --> 00:29:48,651 towards the center, like a circle. 374 00:29:48,757 --> 00:29:51,313 It obviously creates a very strong dynamic 375 00:29:51,416 --> 00:29:52,693 that is reinforced here 376 00:29:52,793 --> 00:29:55,993 by the oblique movement of the horses. 377 00:29:56,093 --> 00:29:58,070 - It's the force of the contrast, 378 00:29:58,175 --> 00:30:00,382 the fact that they've played with the contrast 379 00:30:00,482 --> 00:30:03,387 and with the shape of the wall. 380 00:30:09,195 --> 00:30:10,506 It's like an easel. 381 00:30:10,605 --> 00:30:13,258 They've used the surface, made use of the material, 382 00:30:13,359 --> 00:30:17,936 and mixed material to create this very strong impression. 383 00:30:20,471 --> 00:30:23,736 By comparing all the paintings in the cave, 384 00:30:23,834 --> 00:30:26,652 it seems certain that the horses of this panel 385 00:30:26,750 --> 00:30:32,091 were created by one single individual. 386 00:30:32,196 --> 00:30:35,494 But in the immediate vicinity of the horses, 387 00:30:35,591 --> 00:30:40,266 there are figures of animals overlapping with each other. 388 00:30:40,364 --> 00:30:41,860 The striking point here 389 00:30:41,966 --> 00:30:46,062 is that in cases like this, after carbon dating, 390 00:30:46,163 --> 00:30:47,987 there are strong indications 391 00:30:48,085 --> 00:30:50,356 that some overlapping figures were drawn 392 00:30:50,455 --> 00:30:53,874 almost 5,000 years apart. 393 00:30:56,862 --> 00:30:59,199 The sequence and duration of time 394 00:30:59,297 --> 00:31:02,529 is unimaginable for us today. 395 00:31:02,628 --> 00:31:07,685 We are locked in history, and they were not. 396 00:31:10,508 --> 00:31:12,682 Despite this blurring of time 397 00:31:12,784 --> 00:31:14,925 and the anonymity of the artists, 398 00:31:15,025 --> 00:31:21,109 there's one individual who can be singled out. 399 00:31:21,208 --> 00:31:24,857 Dominique Baffier is a scholar of Paleolithic culture. 400 00:31:24,956 --> 00:31:29,271 Here on the right, she examines the cluster of palm prints 401 00:31:29,377 --> 00:31:32,227 with her colleague Valérie Feruglio. 402 00:31:38,090 --> 00:31:39,718 We are currently working 403 00:31:39,820 --> 00:31:40,869 on this large panel 404 00:31:40,973 --> 00:31:43,343 that was covered with positive handprints. 405 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,744 We've been able to put forward, as evidence, 406 00:31:45,843 --> 00:31:48,497 the number of positions the individual assumed 407 00:31:48,597 --> 00:31:50,421 and his movements. 408 00:31:50,519 --> 00:31:54,867 He started by crouching, and then he stretched out 409 00:31:54,972 --> 00:31:57,528 to reach all the way to his highest palm prints. 410 00:31:57,632 --> 00:32:01,214 This panel is comprised of the prints of a single man 411 00:32:01,315 --> 00:32:05,182 who must have measured roughly six feet tall. 412 00:32:05,287 --> 00:32:07,144 A single human. 413 00:32:07,242 --> 00:32:09,481 - 1 meter 80 tall, that's big. 414 00:32:09,581 --> 00:32:11,273 Was it only one person? 415 00:32:11,374 --> 00:32:12,619 - Une personne, une personne. 416 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,237 One person, a person measuring six feet. 417 00:32:16,340 --> 00:32:18,065 And you'll notice on these prints 418 00:32:18,166 --> 00:32:20,721 that there is a very significant detail. 419 00:32:20,824 --> 00:32:23,609 He has a slightly crooked little finger. 420 00:32:23,707 --> 00:32:25,018 And that's extraordinary, 421 00:32:25,117 --> 00:32:27,388 because it gives a physical reality 422 00:32:27,488 --> 00:32:31,803 to a prehistoric individual who, 32,000 years or more ago, 423 00:32:31,908 --> 00:32:34,911 came to the cave before us. 424 00:32:35,016 --> 00:32:37,407 And what is even more surprising 425 00:32:37,514 --> 00:32:40,681 is that you'll find traces of him deeper in the cavern. 426 00:32:40,782 --> 00:32:44,081 We'll be able to recognize him by his crooked little finger, 427 00:32:44,178 --> 00:32:47,280 because he printed his hand farther in the cave. 428 00:32:47,381 --> 00:32:50,865 So we can follow this man's path. 429 00:32:53,820 --> 00:32:56,310 Madame Baffier took us on a tour. 430 00:32:56,415 --> 00:32:59,582 She serves as the custodian of the cave, 431 00:32:59,682 --> 00:33:01,789 and her rules of engagement are strict 432 00:33:01,892 --> 00:33:03,585 but entirely reasonable 433 00:33:03,687 --> 00:33:06,406 given the precious and fragile nature 434 00:33:06,505 --> 00:33:08,996 of this unique place. 435 00:33:15,540 --> 00:33:17,964 - You have cave bear tracks, 436 00:33:18,070 --> 00:33:20,626 the forepaws and hind paws. 437 00:33:20,729 --> 00:33:23,285 These are the longest cave bear tracks 438 00:33:23,387 --> 00:33:26,740 currently known in any cave. 439 00:33:44,819 --> 00:33:46,479 It's very sparkly. 440 00:33:46,581 --> 00:33:49,813 There are crystals that glitter. 441 00:34:03,014 --> 00:34:07,689 Here at this junction, we have the panel of the panther. 442 00:34:07,788 --> 00:34:09,797 You can see the drawing of a panther, 443 00:34:09,902 --> 00:34:13,036 which is the only one known in Paleolithic wall painting 444 00:34:13,137 --> 00:34:15,049 to date. 445 00:34:22,010 --> 00:34:23,834 Here we've arrived at a place 446 00:34:23,932 --> 00:34:27,548 where concretion growth has been very important. 447 00:34:27,649 --> 00:34:30,751 On the ground and walls, you can see 448 00:34:30,853 --> 00:34:34,599 that rimstone calcite ridges have covered everything 449 00:34:34,697 --> 00:34:39,721 in sparkling formation, a kind of cascade... 450 00:34:50,009 --> 00:34:53,209 With waves. 451 00:35:07,948 --> 00:35:11,814 Here you have... - take a look... - a bear vertebra 452 00:35:11,921 --> 00:35:14,858 which is entirely coated in calcite 453 00:35:14,964 --> 00:35:18,929 and held by calcite crystals. 454 00:35:24,927 --> 00:35:27,515 In front of us, on the wall, 455 00:35:27,617 --> 00:35:32,259 you also have an overflowing drapery-like concretion 456 00:35:32,359 --> 00:35:34,816 and here a kind of niche 457 00:35:34,921 --> 00:35:38,700 where you can see the traces of ancient red paintings, 458 00:35:38,797 --> 00:35:41,932 which have been washed away by water seepage. 459 00:35:42,032 --> 00:35:46,544 And this is where you find extremely original images, 460 00:35:46,646 --> 00:35:49,431 like this insect-shaped one 461 00:35:49,529 --> 00:35:52,052 or this one shaped like a butterfly 462 00:35:52,155 --> 00:35:56,950 or a bird in flight, 463 00:35:57,057 --> 00:36:00,289 that you also find on this rock pendant 464 00:36:00,388 --> 00:36:04,670 hanging from the ceiling large and very small 465 00:36:04,777 --> 00:36:07,333 coupled with two vertical ocher stripes 466 00:36:07,436 --> 00:36:11,335 that follow the pendant's contours. 467 00:36:28,514 --> 00:36:29,595 So here we are in front of 468 00:36:29,700 --> 00:36:31,874 the large panel of red paintings, 469 00:36:31,974 --> 00:36:34,563 also an extremely intriguing item: 470 00:36:34,666 --> 00:36:36,610 this mound of stones. 471 00:36:36,715 --> 00:36:39,139 You can see that it didn't fall from the ceiling. 472 00:36:39,246 --> 00:36:42,283 It was prehistoric man who grouped the stones here, 473 00:36:42,385 --> 00:36:44,810 but we do not know why. 474 00:36:51,420 --> 00:36:53,975 On this panel, you have, first of all, 475 00:36:54,078 --> 00:36:56,863 a little rhinoceros with a large horn 476 00:36:56,961 --> 00:36:58,971 and a stripe on the abdomen. 477 00:36:59,075 --> 00:37:02,789 Also, you have a whole series underneath 478 00:37:02,888 --> 00:37:05,378 of positive handprints. 479 00:37:05,483 --> 00:37:07,722 And over there, you can see the hand 480 00:37:07,821 --> 00:37:09,732 of the man who printed his palms 481 00:37:09,839 --> 00:37:11,531 in the first room of the cave, 482 00:37:11,633 --> 00:37:15,893 because you can recognize his crooked little finger. 483 00:37:15,990 --> 00:37:19,125 In other words, we've followed him here. 484 00:37:21,467 --> 00:37:23,837 Here there are some animals 485 00:37:23,935 --> 00:37:27,167 and here the front part of a big rhinoceros 486 00:37:27,266 --> 00:37:31,132 with a very large horn. 487 00:37:33,097 --> 00:37:35,587 Here you have torch swipe marks. 488 00:37:35,691 --> 00:37:38,148 The men would light their way with a torch, 489 00:37:38,254 --> 00:37:40,493 and when the wood was too burnt down, 490 00:37:40,592 --> 00:37:43,213 they would scrape the torch against the wall 491 00:37:43,316 --> 00:37:45,008 to rekindle the flame. 492 00:37:45,109 --> 00:37:47,697 The traces are fresh, because you can see 493 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,317 these small fragments of coal that have fallen. 494 00:37:54,271 --> 00:37:56,215 One of these tiny fragments 495 00:37:56,321 --> 00:37:59,041 was tested by radiocarbon dating. 496 00:37:59,140 --> 00:38:04,930 This torch was swiped 28,000 years ago. 497 00:38:08,526 --> 00:38:12,075 - And here we have a painting that is quite interesting, 498 00:38:12,178 --> 00:38:16,525 because it represents a couple of now-extinct cave lions. 499 00:38:16,631 --> 00:38:18,193 You have here the male. 500 00:38:18,297 --> 00:38:20,787 He's behind, the larger one. 501 00:38:20,892 --> 00:38:23,033 He's outlined in a single stroke 502 00:38:23,134 --> 00:38:26,268 more than six feet in length. 503 00:38:26,369 --> 00:38:29,220 And in front, you have the female. 504 00:38:29,316 --> 00:38:35,269 She is smaller and seems to rub her flank against the male. 505 00:38:35,371 --> 00:38:38,691 And this representation of the cave lion 506 00:38:38,799 --> 00:38:41,519 has allowed us to shed light on a mystery, 507 00:38:41,618 --> 00:38:44,468 because archaeozoologists didn't know 508 00:38:44,565 --> 00:38:46,935 whether the cave lion had a mane, 509 00:38:47,032 --> 00:38:49,522 like the lion today living in Africa. 510 00:38:49,627 --> 00:38:52,313 And this representation of a cave lion, 511 00:38:52,413 --> 00:38:54,684 more than 30,000 years old, 512 00:38:54,784 --> 00:38:58,465 shows us that they didn't have a mane. 513 00:38:58,564 --> 00:39:03,108 Look at the outline of his head, which is clearly delineated. 514 00:39:06,636 --> 00:39:09,028 And this is, without a doubt, a male, 515 00:39:09,136 --> 00:39:13,450 because we've got the scrotum right here under the tail. 516 00:39:25,665 --> 00:39:28,578 This is one of the most beautiful panels in the cave, 517 00:39:28,678 --> 00:39:31,780 along with the lion panel at the far end. 518 00:39:31,881 --> 00:39:33,541 And here we can see 519 00:39:33,642 --> 00:39:35,652 the technique of prehistoric man, 520 00:39:35,757 --> 00:39:38,378 but you can also see their keen knowledge 521 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,042 of the animal world. 522 00:39:40,146 --> 00:39:42,057 They tell us stories. 523 00:39:42,164 --> 00:39:44,338 Here you have an ensemble of horses, 524 00:39:44,438 --> 00:39:47,606 but their open mouths suggest that the animals are whinnying. 525 00:39:47,705 --> 00:39:49,398 That is to say that these images 526 00:39:49,500 --> 00:39:51,225 become audible to us. 527 00:39:51,326 --> 00:39:55,007 You see that the two rhinos there are fighting. 528 00:39:55,106 --> 00:39:58,371 You can see all the signs of fury towards each other, 529 00:39:58,470 --> 00:40:01,702 the movement of their legs, which are thrown forward, 530 00:40:01,801 --> 00:40:06,181 and you can almost hear the sound 531 00:40:06,286 --> 00:40:09,224 of their horns colliding against each other 532 00:40:09,329 --> 00:40:11,371 in the movement of the fight. 533 00:40:11,475 --> 00:40:15,702 Here you have another story, a story of lions, 534 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:19,065 a male courting a female who is not ready for mating. 535 00:40:19,163 --> 00:40:21,500 She sits and growls. 536 00:40:21,598 --> 00:40:24,700 Look, you can hear the female growling. 537 00:40:24,802 --> 00:40:26,494 She's raising her lips. 538 00:40:26,595 --> 00:40:28,026 She's baring her teeth. 539 00:40:28,133 --> 00:40:29,629 She is not happy. 540 00:40:29,735 --> 00:40:32,104 And here, to finish off, 541 00:40:32,202 --> 00:40:34,277 you have the flight of this bison. 542 00:40:34,380 --> 00:40:35,724 We hear the hooves. 543 00:40:35,821 --> 00:40:39,240 We can make out multiple legs indicating its movement. 544 00:40:39,345 --> 00:40:41,452 It is escaping from this alcove, 545 00:40:41,556 --> 00:40:44,079 following this auroch. 546 00:40:48,379 --> 00:40:50,269 Madame Baffier takes us down 547 00:40:50,366 --> 00:40:53,052 to the farthest chamber of the cave, 548 00:40:53,152 --> 00:40:56,931 the mysterious chamber of the lions. 549 00:40:57,029 --> 00:41:01,157 There is a serious level of toxic CO2 gas 550 00:41:01,257 --> 00:41:03,528 emanating from the roots of trees, 551 00:41:03,627 --> 00:41:09,034 which seeps down into the cave through the porous limestone. 552 00:41:09,137 --> 00:41:13,582 Our time is even more constricted in this location, 553 00:41:13,686 --> 00:41:19,158 and there is no possibility to get close to the paintings. 554 00:41:19,260 --> 00:41:20,636 - Unfortunately, 555 00:41:20,734 --> 00:41:23,519 there are things you won't be able to show in your film 556 00:41:23,617 --> 00:41:25,561 and you won't be able to see. 557 00:41:25,668 --> 00:41:27,677 You can't get closer. 558 00:41:27,782 --> 00:41:30,501 That is the case with these absolutely marvelous paintings 559 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,987 in the farthest chamber, this grouping of lions. 560 00:41:34,092 --> 00:41:37,259 It is especially the case with this rock pendant, 561 00:41:37,359 --> 00:41:39,533 where the lower portion of a woman's body 562 00:41:39,634 --> 00:41:41,228 has been painted. 563 00:41:41,332 --> 00:41:43,986 That is, you have her pubic triangle 564 00:41:44,087 --> 00:41:47,505 and her legs that separate, starting at the knee, 565 00:41:47,611 --> 00:41:49,948 which diverge and are reminiscent 566 00:41:50,046 --> 00:41:53,049 of the well-known small early Stone Age statuettes 567 00:41:53,152 --> 00:41:57,313 from archaeological digs in the Swabian Jura in Germany. 568 00:41:57,413 --> 00:42:01,247 We can only see part of this lower half of a female body, 569 00:42:01,353 --> 00:42:04,903 because we cannot access the other side of the pendant. 570 00:42:05,006 --> 00:42:06,895 You can not walk on these grounds, 571 00:42:06,992 --> 00:42:08,903 because they are too fragile. 572 00:42:09,010 --> 00:42:11,795 You would destroy the charcoal remains. 573 00:42:11,893 --> 00:42:13,586 You would destroy the tracks 574 00:42:13,687 --> 00:42:15,991 left by the bears and the humans. 575 00:42:16,090 --> 00:42:19,738 So you'll have to make do with this partial image. 576 00:42:19,838 --> 00:42:22,743 If you completed the other half of this female body 577 00:42:22,848 --> 00:42:24,923 with its other legs symmetrically, 578 00:42:25,027 --> 00:42:28,096 you could see that it is connected to a bison head 579 00:42:28,198 --> 00:42:30,502 that would have a somewhat human arm. 580 00:42:30,601 --> 00:42:34,467 And here we are, some 30,000 years later, 581 00:42:34,573 --> 00:42:38,505 with a myth that has endured until our days. 582 00:42:38,609 --> 00:42:40,586 We can also find this association 583 00:42:40,691 --> 00:42:42,067 of female and bull 584 00:42:42,165 --> 00:42:48,314 in Picasso's drawings of the Minotaur and the woman. 585 00:42:48,412 --> 00:42:52,345 This is the only partial representation 586 00:42:52,449 --> 00:42:55,354 of a human in the entire cave. 587 00:42:55,459 --> 00:42:57,152 For the time being, 588 00:42:57,254 --> 00:42:59,460 the other side of the rock pendant 589 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:04,071 must remain unreachable for us. 590 00:43:04,173 --> 00:43:08,880 The people who created this are equally enigmatic. 591 00:43:08,978 --> 00:43:11,599 Of the few things they left behind, 592 00:43:11,701 --> 00:43:14,257 practical items like flint tools 593 00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:17,528 can be more easily read. 594 00:43:17,627 --> 00:43:19,123 - All the boxes... 595 00:43:19,229 --> 00:43:20,605 The local museum is filled 596 00:43:20,703 --> 00:43:22,777 with artifacts from the region. 597 00:43:22,881 --> 00:43:26,113 - Because we have made some excavation in the site. 598 00:43:26,212 --> 00:43:28,604 But Jean-Michel Geneste - can only lead us 599 00:43:28,711 --> 00:43:31,332 to a handful of findings from Chauvet Cave. 600 00:43:31,434 --> 00:43:32,548 - Things are preserved. 601 00:43:32,652 --> 00:43:35,655 You have only two, three boxes in this area, 602 00:43:35,759 --> 00:43:37,616 but I have prepared for you some... 603 00:43:37,713 --> 00:43:40,367 To shed light on the enigmatic female image, 604 00:43:40,468 --> 00:43:44,335 he has prepared some similar figurines from other regions. 605 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:46,297 - Very precious for archaeology. 606 00:43:46,394 --> 00:43:52,030 You can see, like in this Willendorf Venus, 607 00:43:52,129 --> 00:43:56,388 it's a copy made in limestone, found in Austria, 608 00:43:56,485 --> 00:43:58,626 from the same period. 609 00:43:58,728 --> 00:44:00,257 In the Chauvet Cave, 610 00:44:00,361 --> 00:44:03,594 you have only the lower part of the belly preserved. 611 00:44:03,693 --> 00:44:06,379 It's embedded in a bison. 612 00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:08,107 There seems to have existed 613 00:44:08,210 --> 00:44:09,421 a visual convention 614 00:44:09,523 --> 00:44:13,389 extending all the way beyond Baywatch. 615 00:44:16,027 --> 00:44:18,812 - No male representation very clearly found 616 00:44:18,910 --> 00:44:21,279 but this lion man. 617 00:44:21,376 --> 00:44:22,807 It comes from a site, 618 00:44:22,913 --> 00:44:25,983 Hohlenstein-Stadel in Swabian Alps. 619 00:44:26,085 --> 00:44:31,012 What is amazing, it's a mixture 620 00:44:31,114 --> 00:44:35,494 between an anthropomorphic shape, 621 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:39,466 a human body, and the head of a lion. 622 00:44:39,572 --> 00:44:43,056 Is it the spirit of the... - of a lion in a man? 623 00:44:43,159 --> 00:44:45,016 Is it a marriage? 624 00:44:45,113 --> 00:44:46,806 Is it a new being? 625 00:44:46,907 --> 00:44:51,320 That's a question we can ask to this reproduction. 626 00:44:55,781 --> 00:44:57,572 What the people who lived in this valley 627 00:44:57,671 --> 00:45:00,609 left behind is their great art. 628 00:45:00,714 --> 00:45:02,342 It was not a primitive beginning 629 00:45:02,444 --> 00:45:04,268 or a slow evolution,; 630 00:45:04,366 --> 00:45:09,260 it rather burst onto the scene like a sudden explosive event. 631 00:45:09,364 --> 00:45:15,480 It is as if the modern human soul had awakened here. 632 00:45:15,578 --> 00:45:18,843 Even more astonishing to consider is that at the time, 633 00:45:18,942 --> 00:45:23,803 Neanderthal man still roamed this valley. 634 00:45:23,907 --> 00:45:28,002 But there must have been other forms of artistic expression, 635 00:45:28,104 --> 00:45:30,790 like music, for example. 636 00:45:30,890 --> 00:45:35,565 For this, we had to look around in nearby regions. 637 00:45:35,664 --> 00:45:39,792 Southwestern Germany 30,000, 40,000 years ago 638 00:45:39,892 --> 00:45:45,266 was connected to this valley through an ice-free corridor. 639 00:45:45,370 --> 00:45:48,537 It should also be noted that the Alp Mountains were covered 640 00:45:48,638 --> 00:45:52,220 by 9,000 feet of ice, binding so much water 641 00:45:52,322 --> 00:45:58,275 that the sea level was 300 feet lower than today. 642 00:45:58,376 --> 00:46:01,227 A hunter could have walked from Paris to London 643 00:46:01,324 --> 00:46:06,315 crossing the dry seabed of the English Channel. 644 00:46:06,417 --> 00:46:08,786 Walking 400 miles in this direction 645 00:46:08,883 --> 00:46:12,630 would lead you to the Swabian Alb of Germany. 646 00:46:15,900 --> 00:46:18,171 There, in the museum of Blaubeuren, 647 00:46:18,270 --> 00:46:23,261 we find replicas of the best-known Paleolithic Venuses. 648 00:46:35,632 --> 00:46:39,892 But this one, the Venus of Hohle Fels, stands out. 649 00:46:39,989 --> 00:46:45,975 Found in 2008, it is sensational for its age. 650 00:46:48,959 --> 00:46:52,224 - The Venus from Hohle Fels is probably the oldest depiction 651 00:46:52,322 --> 00:46:55,194 of any kind of figurative object we know at all. 652 00:46:55,302 --> 00:46:58,152 It's the earliest representation of a human being, 653 00:46:58,248 --> 00:47:02,049 and it's the absolute root of figurative depiction 654 00:47:02,157 --> 00:47:03,500 as we know it. 655 00:47:03,599 --> 00:47:06,384 Later on, we see a range of animals being depicted. 656 00:47:06,482 --> 00:47:08,972 We can think of the animal depictions in ivory here 657 00:47:09,076 --> 00:47:12,495 or the fabulous depictions from Grotte Chauvet 658 00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:13,911 of mammoths, of lions, 659 00:47:14,010 --> 00:47:15,867 and we can see a very clear connection 660 00:47:15,964 --> 00:47:19,797 between the Swabian finds and the depictions in Chauvet. 661 00:47:19,904 --> 00:47:22,273 What's also fascinating is that at this time, 662 00:47:22,370 --> 00:47:23,549 40,000 years ago, 663 00:47:23,652 --> 00:47:25,596 we see evidence for musical instruments, 664 00:47:25,703 --> 00:47:27,133 a range of personal ornaments, 665 00:47:27,240 --> 00:47:29,314 mythical depictions that clearly show 666 00:47:29,418 --> 00:47:31,810 that these people had a religious concept 667 00:47:31,917 --> 00:47:35,850 evolving the transformation between humans and animals. 668 00:47:35,953 --> 00:47:37,897 This here is the original statuette 669 00:47:38,003 --> 00:47:40,723 carved from a mammoth tusk. 670 00:47:40,823 --> 00:47:43,990 - If we look at the Venus of Hohle Fels a bit more closely, 671 00:47:44,090 --> 00:47:46,132 we can see very clearly, for instance, 672 00:47:46,237 --> 00:47:48,573 that the figurine has no head, right? 673 00:47:48,670 --> 00:47:50,909 Instead of a head, the figurine has a ring. 674 00:47:51,009 --> 00:47:52,833 It was perhaps worn at times, 675 00:47:52,931 --> 00:47:55,618 suspended on a string of some sort. 676 00:47:55,718 --> 00:47:58,023 Also, the sexual attributes are key, 677 00:47:58,121 --> 00:48:00,393 which clearly link this depiction 678 00:48:00,492 --> 00:48:03,724 to ideas of reproduction, fecundity, sexuality, 679 00:48:03,823 --> 00:48:06,477 ideas that are absolutely essential 680 00:48:06,578 --> 00:48:10,477 to all of humanity also today. 681 00:48:10,582 --> 00:48:12,472 It's also important to realize that at this time, 682 00:48:12,569 --> 00:48:14,905 much of Europe was occupied by Neanderthals. 683 00:48:15,003 --> 00:48:16,434 So we're dealing with the critical phase 684 00:48:16,540 --> 00:48:17,851 in human evolution 685 00:48:17,951 --> 00:48:21,697 where two forms of human beings are testing their boundaries. 686 00:48:21,795 --> 00:48:24,066 And what we find over and over again 687 00:48:24,165 --> 00:48:25,115 is that Neanderthals, 688 00:48:25,222 --> 00:48:26,685 although they're very sophisticated, 689 00:48:26,792 --> 00:48:32,679 they never had this kind of symbolic artifact ever. 690 00:48:32,782 --> 00:48:34,824 This small ivory mammoth 691 00:48:34,929 --> 00:48:40,204 was also found near Hohle Fels cave. 692 00:48:40,311 --> 00:48:45,619 And this beautiful horse comes from the same region. 693 00:48:45,724 --> 00:48:48,542 They also found fragments of flutes. 694 00:48:48,639 --> 00:48:52,222 We asked Dr. Conard to show us an original. 695 00:48:52,323 --> 00:48:55,076 - The ivory flute is really a remarkable artifact 696 00:48:55,175 --> 00:48:57,993 that Maria Malina discovered a few years back, 697 00:48:58,089 --> 00:49:00,710 and I think what's extremely important 698 00:49:00,812 --> 00:49:02,702 is that we realize that archeology today 699 00:49:02,799 --> 00:49:05,966 is not a heroic adventure with spades and picks 700 00:49:06,066 --> 00:49:08,337 but high-tech scientific work 701 00:49:08,436 --> 00:49:10,577 that's done with incredible detail. 702 00:49:10,679 --> 00:49:13,464 Really millimeter by millimeter, the sediments are removed 703 00:49:13,562 --> 00:49:16,282 in these deposits the age of Grotte Chauvet 704 00:49:16,381 --> 00:49:17,494 and our sites, 705 00:49:17,598 --> 00:49:19,323 between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago. 706 00:49:19,424 --> 00:49:21,565 And this detailed work allowed Maria 707 00:49:21,667 --> 00:49:23,938 to identify a whole range of finds 708 00:49:24,037 --> 00:49:25,599 that she was able to piece together. 709 00:49:25,703 --> 00:49:27,778 Maybe you can explain how that worked out. 710 00:49:27,882 --> 00:49:29,738 - Yes, we were doing an inventory 711 00:49:29,835 --> 00:49:31,364 of all the artifact pieces. 712 00:49:31,469 --> 00:49:34,506 Some of the pieces came from the 1970s, 713 00:49:34,609 --> 00:49:36,367 from the first years of excavation, 714 00:49:36,466 --> 00:49:39,055 and these were really small pieces. 715 00:49:39,158 --> 00:49:41,299 You can see here in this picture. 716 00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:42,962 The tiny ivory pieces 717 00:49:43,066 --> 00:49:46,365 remained unexplained for a full three decades. 718 00:49:46,462 --> 00:49:52,032 - And 31 pieces had a very significant look. 719 00:49:52,132 --> 00:49:55,933 We found pieces with a part of the finger holes 720 00:49:56,039 --> 00:49:57,797 and with notches on the side, 721 00:49:57,898 --> 00:50:00,651 and with these pieces, I thought already 722 00:50:00,749 --> 00:50:03,272 that it could be a part of an ivory flute. 723 00:50:03,375 --> 00:50:05,516 Of course, the question was very important 724 00:50:05,618 --> 00:50:07,376 how this flute was made. 725 00:50:07,476 --> 00:50:10,162 And you can see here on the long axis 726 00:50:10,263 --> 00:50:14,009 there is a split going all over the flute, 727 00:50:14,107 --> 00:50:18,422 and inside the two halves, they hollowed the flute out. 728 00:50:18,528 --> 00:50:22,689 And these little notches along this axis, along the split 729 00:50:22,788 --> 00:50:28,391 helped to refit these two halves together very precise. 730 00:50:28,491 --> 00:50:30,981 This flute is only one of eight in all 731 00:50:31,085 --> 00:50:35,400 so far recovered from this area of southwestern Germany. 732 00:50:35,506 --> 00:50:37,548 The caves here have no paintings 733 00:50:37,653 --> 00:50:40,788 but yield many other objects of art. 734 00:50:40,888 --> 00:50:43,029 - In this cave, the Geissenkloesterle cave, 735 00:50:43,130 --> 00:50:47,325 many very important findings from the Ice Age were made. 736 00:50:47,423 --> 00:50:51,650 We found some little ivory statues of bear and mammoth... - 737 00:50:51,748 --> 00:50:53,889 a very tiny mammoth, very lovely. 738 00:50:53,990 --> 00:50:58,119 And in 1992, I was part of the excavation team. 739 00:50:58,219 --> 00:51:03,046 People lived here about 30,000, 40,000 years back in time, 740 00:51:03,151 --> 00:51:05,358 and in that time, it was very cold here, 741 00:51:05,459 --> 00:51:07,916 because the Alp Mountains were covered by a glacier 742 00:51:08,021 --> 00:51:10,609 about 2,500 meters thick. 743 00:51:10,712 --> 00:51:12,470 And in the valley down there, 744 00:51:12,570 --> 00:51:15,322 reindeer and mammoth were passing, 745 00:51:15,421 --> 00:51:17,081 and it was very cold. 746 00:51:17,183 --> 00:51:21,792 And that's the reason why I'm dressed up like an Inuit. 747 00:51:21,892 --> 00:51:24,895 We presume that in this way, 748 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:27,271 the people of the Ice Age were clothed 749 00:51:27,370 --> 00:51:31,149 by reindeer fur and boots made of reindeer fur 750 00:51:31,246 --> 00:51:32,622 and reindeer leather, 751 00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:37,995 because otherwise you couldn't stand the cold. 752 00:51:38,102 --> 00:51:44,535 One of the most important finds we made in this cave 753 00:51:44,636 --> 00:51:49,463 was a very tiny flute made out of the radius of a vulture. 754 00:51:49,570 --> 00:51:53,698 Astonishing on this flute is that is... - 755 00:51:53,798 --> 00:51:55,808 that it is pentatonic, 756 00:51:55,912 --> 00:52:01,515 and this is the same tonality we are used to hear today. 757 00:52:01,615 --> 00:52:07,404 And if you like, I'll try to play some small tunes for you. 758 00:52:21,860 --> 00:52:24,798 And when I first reconstructed the instrument 759 00:52:24,904 --> 00:52:28,006 and tried to play some tunes, I came across these ones. 760 00:52:45,310 --> 00:52:49,340 Sounds a little bit like Star-Spangled Banner. 761 00:52:54,312 --> 00:52:58,210 Back in France, near Chauvet Cave, 762 00:52:58,316 --> 00:53:01,287 explorers using more primal techniques 763 00:53:01,391 --> 00:53:04,176 in search of still-hidden underground chambers 764 00:53:04,274 --> 00:53:07,627 roam the landscape. 765 00:53:37,494 --> 00:53:39,318 Professional cave explorers 766 00:53:39,416 --> 00:53:42,583 have techniques for finding underground chambers, 767 00:53:42,683 --> 00:53:44,278 because there are air currents. 768 00:53:44,381 --> 00:53:47,451 So they use the back of their hands or their cheeks 769 00:53:47,552 --> 00:53:49,497 to feel for a faint draft of air 770 00:53:49,603 --> 00:53:54,115 that may be coming out of the cave. 771 00:53:54,215 --> 00:53:56,389 I'm trying to do things differently, 772 00:53:56,491 --> 00:54:02,313 as I have the habit of using my sense of smell in my profession. 773 00:54:02,416 --> 00:54:04,011 So I try to sniff the smells 774 00:54:04,115 --> 00:54:09,620 coming from the interior of a cave. 775 00:54:09,721 --> 00:54:14,712 Here, I didn't smell anything except the exterior landscape. 776 00:54:14,814 --> 00:54:20,483 Outside you can smell the earth, the wild thyme, the ivy. 777 00:54:20,580 --> 00:54:21,956 You can smell a range of things 778 00:54:22,054 --> 00:54:24,358 but nothing specific related to a cavern 779 00:54:24,457 --> 00:54:27,559 that's been closed for thousands of years. 780 00:54:32,241 --> 00:54:36,239 This is my personal technique, because I design perfumes. 781 00:54:36,341 --> 00:54:37,870 It's a matter of trying to experience it 782 00:54:37,975 --> 00:54:39,537 in a different manner. 783 00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:42,960 So I've been... - I've always created perfumes, 784 00:54:43,069 --> 00:54:45,275 and most notably, I was president 785 00:54:45,375 --> 00:54:47,450 of the French Society of Perfumers 786 00:54:47,553 --> 00:54:51,037 for some years and... 787 00:55:12,380 --> 00:55:13,942 There are plans 788 00:55:14,045 --> 00:55:16,536 to build a theme park for tourists 789 00:55:16,641 --> 00:55:18,814 with a precise replica of the cave 790 00:55:18,915 --> 00:55:23,360 a few miles from here. 791 00:55:23,464 --> 00:55:26,434 This replica may even contain a re-creation 792 00:55:26,539 --> 00:55:30,537 of the odor of the prehistoric interior. 793 00:55:51,654 --> 00:55:54,079 - Evidently, the odor you can smell right now 794 00:55:54,185 --> 00:55:56,489 is quite attenuated. 795 00:55:56,587 --> 00:55:59,110 It is very subtle. 796 00:55:59,214 --> 00:56:03,409 There are not many emanations, but our imagination permits us 797 00:56:03,507 --> 00:56:07,122 to try and reconstruct the scene, 798 00:56:07,223 --> 00:56:10,772 the scene with its odors from 25,000 years ago, 799 00:56:10,875 --> 00:56:13,595 with all the animals that would have been found there... - 800 00:56:13,694 --> 00:56:18,817 bears, wolves, perhaps even rhinoceroses, and man... - 801 00:56:18,916 --> 00:56:23,558 the presence of their lives, meaning burnt wood, resins, 802 00:56:23,657 --> 00:56:26,824 the odors of everything from the natural world 803 00:56:26,924 --> 00:56:29,260 that surrounds this cave. 804 00:56:29,358 --> 00:56:32,875 We can go back with our imagination. 805 00:56:39,610 --> 00:56:41,467 Herzog: With his sense of wonder, 806 00:56:41,564 --> 00:56:43,126 the cave transforms 807 00:56:43,230 --> 00:56:46,648 into an enchanted world of the imaginary 808 00:56:46,753 --> 00:56:51,974 where time and space lose their meaning. 809 00:56:52,071 --> 00:56:56,516 These crystal formations take thousands of years to grow. 810 00:56:56,620 --> 00:56:59,689 The artists of the cave never even saw them, 811 00:56:59,792 --> 00:57:02,282 as many of them only started to form 812 00:57:02,386 --> 00:57:06,132 after the landslide sealed the entrance. 813 00:57:25,355 --> 00:57:28,008 In a forbidden recess of the cave, 814 00:57:28,110 --> 00:57:30,796 there's a footprint of an eight-year-old boy 815 00:57:30,897 --> 00:57:35,244 next to the footprint of a wolf. 816 00:57:35,350 --> 00:57:38,615 Did a hungry wolf stalk the boy? 817 00:57:38,713 --> 00:57:42,230 Or did they walk together as friends? 818 00:57:42,334 --> 00:57:46,167 Or were their tracks made thousands of years apart? 819 00:57:46,274 --> 00:57:49,573 We'll never know. 820 00:59:21,449 --> 00:59:23,655 Dwarfed by these large chambers 821 00:59:23,756 --> 00:59:26,759 illuminated by our wandering lights, 822 00:59:26,862 --> 00:59:31,308 sometimes we were overcome by a strange, irrational sensation 823 00:59:31,411 --> 00:59:34,349 as if we were disturbing the Paleolithic people 824 00:59:34,455 --> 00:59:37,273 in their work. 825 00:59:37,370 --> 00:59:41,782 It felt like eyes upon us. 826 00:59:41,887 --> 00:59:45,305 This sensation occurred to some of the scientists 827 00:59:45,410 --> 00:59:50,205 and also the discoverers of the cave. 828 00:59:50,312 --> 00:59:53,928 It was a relief to surface again aboveground. 829 00:59:55,854 --> 00:59:58,726 Back outside, we ask Jean-Michel Geneste 830 00:59:58,833 --> 01:00:01,902 about hunting techniques of Paleolithic people 831 01:00:02,004 --> 01:00:06,067 millennia before the invention of bow and arrow. 832 01:00:06,169 --> 01:00:10,035 - The Ohauvet Oave Aurignacian people 833 01:00:10,142 --> 01:00:13,178 hunted a lot of really big games. 834 01:00:13,280 --> 01:00:17,627 They hunted everywhere in France and Europe. 835 01:00:17,733 --> 01:00:20,485 In the settlement, we found a lot of bones 836 01:00:20,584 --> 01:00:25,226 of reindeer, bison, horses, and sometime mammoths. 837 01:00:25,325 --> 01:00:29,520 So they developed very specific hunting technology. 838 01:00:29,618 --> 01:00:33,713 For example, the system of the Aurignacian bone point 839 01:00:33,814 --> 01:00:35,059 is very ingenious. 840 01:00:35,160 --> 01:00:38,710 It's a bone point on a wooden shaft. 841 01:00:38,812 --> 01:00:41,335 The piece of the bone point 842 01:00:41,439 --> 01:00:45,153 is very strongly associated to the shaft. 843 01:00:45,251 --> 01:00:49,795 It's a system using a fork and a piece inside. 844 01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:52,517 So it's very strong. 845 01:00:52,619 --> 01:00:54,377 It has been made and developed 846 01:00:54,477 --> 01:00:57,611 to kill bison or horses like that. 847 01:00:57,712 --> 01:00:59,503 It's very aggressive, 848 01:00:59,603 --> 01:01:02,256 and it's also very strong and powerful. 849 01:01:02,357 --> 01:01:06,552 This kind of weapon and spear were thrown 850 01:01:06,650 --> 01:01:11,161 not only by hand, like that, because it's not very efficient, 851 01:01:11,263 --> 01:01:14,015 but l... - we suspect that very... - 852 01:01:14,114 --> 01:01:16,987 in the beginning of the Paleolithic, 853 01:01:17,093 --> 01:01:20,610 they developed the technology of the spear thrower. 854 01:01:20,713 --> 01:01:24,546 A spear thrower, it's at the beginning only a hook, 855 01:01:24,653 --> 01:01:27,503 sometime a tooth, a piece of antler, 856 01:01:27,600 --> 01:01:30,189 like this one, on a long handle. 857 01:01:30,291 --> 01:01:36,113 It's elongated arm gave a lot of power, like that, 858 01:01:36,218 --> 01:01:39,385 and also at the same time, some precision to keep... - 859 01:01:39,485 --> 01:01:41,855 I just... - to give the spear a good direction. 860 01:01:41,951 --> 01:01:43,961 So I will show you. 861 01:01:44,067 --> 01:01:47,037 Yes. 862 01:01:47,142 --> 01:01:50,462 You see, the spear with a flint point, 863 01:01:50,569 --> 01:01:53,889 but to use this, it's necessary to have 864 01:01:53,997 --> 01:01:58,442 a small depression at the back of the spear. 865 01:01:58,545 --> 01:02:03,668 We suspect that sometimes they used feathers to a very... - 866 01:02:03,767 --> 01:02:06,487 to keep the direction at the moment of the throw. 867 01:02:06,586 --> 01:02:11,447 I will try to show you how to kill a horse. 868 01:02:13,955 --> 01:02:16,161 Okay. 869 01:02:16,261 --> 01:02:20,226 His efforts may not look very convincing, 870 01:02:20,329 --> 01:02:22,699 but this is a powerful weapon. 871 01:02:22,796 --> 01:02:26,116 Spearheads have been found deeply embedded 872 01:02:26,223 --> 01:02:30,221 in the shoulder blades of horses and mammoths. 873 01:02:35,994 --> 01:02:37,337 - You see the fly? 874 01:02:37,435 --> 01:02:41,269 It's very straight, and it's 30 meters. 875 01:02:41,376 --> 01:02:43,004 But stay here. 876 01:02:43,105 --> 01:02:47,103 The Paleolithic man was better than you, I guess. 877 01:02:47,206 --> 01:02:48,582 - Oh, I suspect. 878 01:02:48,679 --> 01:02:50,951 It could be really difficult for me 879 01:02:51,050 --> 01:02:55,877 with such a shot to kill a horse, really. 880 01:02:58,066 --> 01:02:59,311 By mid-April, 881 01:02:59,411 --> 01:03:02,764 scientific research has ended for the year. 882 01:03:02,871 --> 01:03:07,251 Now we are allowed full access to the cave, 883 01:03:07,356 --> 01:03:09,365 but even that is restricted 884 01:03:09,470 --> 01:03:13,566 to a single week, four hours a day. 885 01:03:13,666 --> 01:03:16,637 The famous cave of Lascaux had to be shut down 886 01:03:16,741 --> 01:03:19,527 because the breath of scores of tourists 887 01:03:19,625 --> 01:03:24,037 has caused mold to grow on the walls. 888 01:03:29,780 --> 01:03:31,309 We enter Chauvet Cave 889 01:03:31,413 --> 01:03:35,378 aware that this may be the only and last opportunity 890 01:03:35,482 --> 01:03:38,333 to film inside. 891 01:04:40,128 --> 01:04:44,125 The mystery of the Minotaur and the female began to unfold 892 01:04:44,228 --> 01:04:47,101 when our guides allowed us to mount a small camera 893 01:04:47,207 --> 01:04:52,745 on a stick with which we reached out. 894 01:04:52,845 --> 01:04:57,738 The bison seems to embrace the sex of a naked woman. 895 01:05:03,897 --> 01:05:06,234 - Traditional people and, I think, 896 01:05:06,332 --> 01:05:10,013 people of the Paleolithic had very probably some... - 897 01:05:10,112 --> 01:05:14,557 two concepts which change our vision of the world. 898 01:05:14,660 --> 01:05:18,942 They're the concept of fluidity and the concept of permeability. 899 01:05:19,049 --> 01:05:22,915 Fluidity means that the categories that we have... - 900 01:05:23,022 --> 01:05:27,304 man, woman, horse, I don't know, tree, et cetera... - 901 01:05:27,410 --> 01:05:29,103 can shift. 902 01:05:29,205 --> 01:05:31,094 A tree may speak. 903 01:05:31,190 --> 01:05:33,910 A man can get transformed into an animal 904 01:05:34,010 --> 01:05:38,390 and the other way around, given certain circumstances. 905 01:05:38,494 --> 01:05:44,578 The concept of permeability is that there are no barriers, 906 01:05:44,677 --> 01:05:47,014 so to speak, between the world where we are 907 01:05:47,111 --> 01:05:49,252 and the world of the spirits. 908 01:05:49,354 --> 01:05:52,324 A wall can talk to us, 909 01:05:52,429 --> 01:05:56,907 or a wall can accept us or refuse us. 910 01:05:57,010 --> 01:06:00,047 A shaman, for example, can send his or her spirit 911 01:06:00,150 --> 01:06:02,574 to the world of the supernatural 912 01:06:02,680 --> 01:06:06,743 or can receive the visit, inside him or her, 913 01:06:06,844 --> 01:06:09,083 of supernatural spirits. 914 01:06:09,183 --> 01:06:11,771 If you put those two concepts together, 915 01:06:11,874 --> 01:06:15,807 you realize how different life must have been 916 01:06:15,910 --> 01:06:19,744 for those people from the way we live now. 917 01:06:22,414 --> 01:06:24,970 Humans have been described in many ways, right? 918 01:06:25,072 --> 01:06:28,305 And for a while, it was Homo sapiens 919 01:06:28,404 --> 01:06:30,413 and is still called Homo sapiens, 920 01:06:30,518 --> 01:06:32,276 "the man who knows." 921 01:06:32,376 --> 01:06:35,861 I don't think it's a good definition at all. 922 01:06:35,964 --> 01:06:37,275 We don't know. 923 01:06:37,374 --> 01:06:38,619 We don't know much. 924 01:06:38,719 --> 01:06:42,782 I would think Homo spiritualis. 925 01:06:45,767 --> 01:06:48,322 The strongest hint of something spiritual, 926 01:06:48,425 --> 01:06:50,981 some religious ceremony in the cave, 927 01:06:51,084 --> 01:06:53,061 is this bear skull. 928 01:06:53,167 --> 01:06:59,153 It has been placed dead center on a rock resembling an altar. 929 01:06:59,253 --> 01:07:02,901 The staging seems deliberate. 930 01:07:03,001 --> 01:07:06,233 The skull faces the entrance of the cave, 931 01:07:06,332 --> 01:07:09,631 and around it, fragments of charcoal were found 932 01:07:09,728 --> 01:07:13,529 potentially used as incense. 933 01:07:17,577 --> 01:07:19,466 What exactly took place here, 934 01:07:19,563 --> 01:07:22,763 only the paintings could tell us. 935 01:10:07,392 --> 01:10:10,712 - If you want to have an understanding of it, 936 01:10:10,819 --> 01:10:13,505 you must go outside of the cave. 937 01:10:13,606 --> 01:10:18,401 I mean, you must start from the cave and then go outside. 938 01:10:18,507 --> 01:10:19,588 How far outside? 939 01:10:19,692 --> 01:10:20,937 Where would you go? 940 01:10:21,038 --> 01:10:24,686 - Well, I would say everywhere but with... - 941 01:10:24,786 --> 01:10:26,894 to have a look at different culture 942 01:10:26,996 --> 01:10:29,847 would be a very good way to better understand 943 01:10:29,944 --> 01:10:33,810 how different culture could have coped with rock art, 944 01:10:33,916 --> 01:10:36,985 for example, in Australia, in North America, 945 01:10:37,088 --> 01:10:38,551 or in South Africa. 946 01:10:38,657 --> 01:10:40,699 Aborigines in Australia 947 01:10:40,803 --> 01:10:45,762 who lived until recently almost like Stone Age people. 948 01:10:45,865 --> 01:10:50,092 - Sure, for example, because they used to paint 949 01:10:50,190 --> 01:10:54,089 and to create rock art until the 1970s, 950 01:10:54,193 --> 01:10:56,465 and in some places, I think there still are 951 01:10:56,564 --> 01:10:59,469 some traditions of creating rock art. 952 01:10:59,575 --> 01:11:01,071 Well, of course it has changed 953 01:11:01,177 --> 01:11:03,383 since the beginning of the century, 954 01:11:03,484 --> 01:11:05,242 when they were discovered, 955 01:11:05,342 --> 01:11:08,957 but it can tell us different ways 956 01:11:09,057 --> 01:11:10,433 of looking at rock art 957 01:11:10,531 --> 01:11:12,955 which are not our way of looking at rock art. 958 01:11:13,062 --> 01:11:14,492 Do you have an example? 959 01:11:14,600 --> 01:11:16,063 - Yeah, sure, of course. 960 01:11:16,169 --> 01:11:21,740 In north Australia, for example, in the 1970s, 961 01:11:21,839 --> 01:11:25,291 an ethnographer was on the field with an aborigine 962 01:11:25,395 --> 01:11:27,251 who was his informer, 963 01:11:27,349 --> 01:11:30,669 and once they arrived in a rock shelter. 964 01:11:30,777 --> 01:11:31,988 And in that rock shelter, 965 01:11:32,090 --> 01:11:34,548 there were some beautiful paintings, 966 01:11:34,653 --> 01:11:36,028 but they were decaying. 967 01:11:36,126 --> 01:11:39,578 And the aborigine started to become sad 968 01:11:39,682 --> 01:11:41,856 because he saw the paintings decaying. 969 01:11:41,957 --> 01:11:44,130 And in that region, there is a tradition 970 01:11:44,231 --> 01:11:48,164 of touching up the paintings time after time, 971 01:11:48,267 --> 01:11:54,799 so he sat, and he started to touch up the paintings. 972 01:11:54,899 --> 01:11:58,765 So the ethnographer asked the question 973 01:11:58,871 --> 01:12:02,804 that every Western person would have asked. 974 01:12:02,908 --> 01:12:04,732 "Why are you painting?" 975 01:12:04,830 --> 01:12:06,686 And the man answered, 976 01:12:06,783 --> 01:12:10,584 and his answer is very troubling, 977 01:12:10,692 --> 01:12:12,734 because he answered, "I am not. 978 01:12:12,839 --> 01:12:14,815 "I am not painting. 979 01:12:14,920 --> 01:12:18,219 "That's the hand, only hand, 980 01:12:18,316 --> 01:12:21,483 spirit who is actually painting now." 981 01:12:21,584 --> 01:12:23,244 The hand of a spirit. 982 01:12:23,346 --> 01:12:28,304 - Yeah, because the man is a part of the spirit. 983 01:19:28,027 --> 01:19:31,446 Do you think that the paintings in Chauvet Cave 984 01:19:31,551 --> 01:19:35,778 were somehow the beginning of the modern human soul? 985 01:19:35,876 --> 01:19:37,951 What constitutes humanness? 986 01:19:38,054 --> 01:19:43,723 - Humanness is a very good adaptation 987 01:19:43,820 --> 01:19:46,190 with the... - in the world. 988 01:19:46,287 --> 01:19:49,257 So the soc... - the human society 989 01:19:49,362 --> 01:19:52,595 needs to adaptate to the landscape, 990 01:19:52,693 --> 01:19:55,992 to the other beings, the animals, 991 01:19:56,089 --> 01:19:59,289 to other human groups 992 01:19:59,389 --> 01:20:03,288 and to communicate something, to communicate it 993 01:20:03,393 --> 01:20:05,851 and to inscribe the memory 994 01:20:05,956 --> 01:20:10,117 on very specific and hard things, 995 01:20:10,217 --> 01:20:14,859 like walls, like pieces of wood, like bones, 996 01:20:14,958 --> 01:20:18,376 this is invention of Cro-Magnon. 997 01:20:18,481 --> 01:20:19,824 And how about music? 998 01:20:19,923 --> 01:20:23,953 - And... - yes, and also things, mythology, music. 999 01:20:24,055 --> 01:20:28,337 But with the invention of the figuration... - 1000 01:20:28,444 --> 01:20:31,229 figuration of animals, of men, of things... - 1001 01:20:31,327 --> 01:20:34,559 it's a way of communication between humans 1002 01:20:34,658 --> 01:20:36,449 and with the future 1003 01:20:36,549 --> 01:20:40,710 to evocate the past, to transmit information 1004 01:20:40,809 --> 01:20:44,042 that is very better than language, 1005 01:20:44,141 --> 01:20:47,144 than oral communication. 1006 01:20:47,249 --> 01:20:52,754 And this invention is still the same in our world today... - 1007 01:20:52,855 --> 01:20:55,672 with this camera, for example. 1008 01:21:18,994 --> 01:21:20,687 On the Rhone River 1009 01:21:20,788 --> 01:21:24,949 is one of the largest nuclear power plants in France. 1010 01:21:25,049 --> 01:21:29,658 The Chauvet Cave is located only 20 miles as the crow flies 1011 01:21:29,758 --> 01:21:32,925 beyond these hills in the background. 1012 01:21:33,026 --> 01:21:35,417 A surplus of warm water, 1013 01:21:35,524 --> 01:21:38,309 which has been used to cool these reactors, 1014 01:21:38,407 --> 01:21:44,196 is diverted half a mile away to create a tropical biosphere. 1015 01:21:44,302 --> 01:21:47,983 Warm steam fills enormous greenhouses, 1016 01:21:48,082 --> 01:21:50,637 and the site is expanding. 1017 01:22:09,769 --> 01:22:14,411 Crocodiles have been introduced into this brooding jungle, 1018 01:22:14,510 --> 01:22:17,480 and warmed by water to cool the reactor, 1019 01:22:17,586 --> 01:22:21,037 man, do they thrive. 1020 01:22:21,141 --> 01:22:24,854 There are already hundreds of them. 1021 01:22:32,930 --> 01:22:34,622 Not surprisingly, 1022 01:22:34,724 --> 01:22:40,098 mutant albinos swim and breed in these waters. 1023 01:22:40,201 --> 01:22:44,330 A thought is born of this surreal environment. 1024 01:22:44,430 --> 01:22:48,363 Not long ago, just a few ten thousands of years back, 1025 01:22:48,467 --> 01:22:52,912 there were glaciers here 9,000 feet thick. 1026 01:22:53,015 --> 01:22:56,794 And now a new climate is steaming and spreading. 1027 01:22:59,326 --> 01:23:04,449 Fairly soon, these albinos might reach Chauvet Cave. 1028 01:23:04,548 --> 01:23:10,053 Looking at the paintings, what will they make of them? 1029 01:23:22,200 --> 01:23:23,728 Nothing is real. 1030 01:23:23,834 --> 01:23:26,258 Nothing is certain. 1031 01:23:26,364 --> 01:23:29,302 It is hard to decide whether or not 1032 01:23:29,408 --> 01:23:31,297 these creatures here are dividing 1033 01:23:31,393 --> 01:23:34,877 into their own doppelgaengers. 1034 01:23:37,640 --> 01:23:40,807 And do they really meet, 1035 01:23:40,907 --> 01:23:45,614 or is it just their own imaginary mirror reflection? 1036 01:23:49,590 --> 01:23:52,659 Are we today possibly the crocodiles 1037 01:23:52,761 --> 01:23:55,382 who look back into an abyss of time 1038 01:23:55,483 --> 01:23:59,416 when we see the paintings of Chauvet Cave?