Much of the rock art recovered from Abri Castanet comes from the collapsed ceiling: certainly all that was excavated in the latter 20th and early 21st centuries. One massive block which fell to the floor some 35,000 years ago measured 131x91 centimeters (51.6x35.8 inches) and is estimated to weigh in the neighborhood of 1.5 tons. The broken block--some of it had to be broken down further before researchers could lift it--represents only a portion of the entire ceiling, so many of the images such as this one are incomplete.
This image is of an unidentified animal painted in what appears to be red ochre and charcoal. A second animal, possibly the head and forequarters of a bison, was carved into the ceiling adjacent to the vulva seen in Slide 3.
- Read more about Abri Castanet itself
- Learn more about Red Ochre
White R, Mensan R, Bourrillon R, Cretin C, Higham TFG, Clark AE, Sisk ML, Tartar E, Gardère P, Goldberg P et al. 2012. Contexts and dating of Aurignacian vulvar representations from Abri Castanet, France. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early edition.
