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15 1 This chapter examines evidence for ritual Paleolithic cave use in Europe. It begins with a case for limited ritual use of a deep cave by Neanderthals prior to the Upper Paleolithic and the arrival of modern humans in the area. Numerous examples of caves used for rock art by modern humans date from about 38,000 to 11,000 BP, and extend from the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula to the Urals in Russia. Burials are rare at that time in painted or engraved caves (Cussac in the Dordogne, Vilhonneur in the Charente). On the other hand, many activities took place in caves and left abundant evidence that must be interpreted with caution to be able to work out whether they may be considered ritual behaviors, and to discover whatever additional information these data can bring us about the people who frequented the deep painted caves. Remains range from footprints on the ground to fires and their attendant debris (charcoal, burnt bones), from mobiliary art—which can be related (or not) to the wall art—to deliberate gestures and actions, such as breaking and using concretions, sticking bits of bones into cracks or cave-bear bones into cave floors, and making scratches on the walls. Such traces and remains are nowhere better preserved than in deep caves and are apt to bring invaluable information about ritual cave use tens of thousands of years ago. A recent book on The Human Use of Caves (Bonsall and Tolan-Smith 1997) deals with many of the issues in point and presents a wealth of information and observations on which it will be necessary to dwell. First, we must explain precisely what we mean by cave. In the above-cited book, as in many other cases, the word cave is used indiscriminately by various authors. It can mean either rockshelters , where activities take place in the natural light of the day, or deep passages and chambers that truly pertain to the subterranean world. For clarity’s sake, it is only the latter that should properly be called caves. To avoid misunderstandings , all cavities in the rock where in the daytime it is possible to see and to move about without the help of such artificial lighting as torches or grease lamps should and will be called shelters. Such a definition includes the entrances to deeper caves, often used as shelters. Another central point is the definition of ritual. Actions evidenced as ritual in caves by Tolan-Smith and Bonsall include art, votive deposits, and burials. The authors also state that “some activities may be described, rather loosely, as economic. These include . . . the acquisition of raw materials such as workable stone, minerals, water and chemicals,” while acknowledging that “we know from ethnography , ethnohistory and everyday experience that many aspects of economic behaviour have a ritual dimension, while ritual behaviour can often have an economic aspect.” They add that “deep caves are rarely used at all and then only for ritual purposes” (Bonsall and Tolan-Smith 1997, 217). Now, in traditional societies—such as those of huntergatherers —it could be argued that everything is ritual Ritual Cave Use in European Paleolithic Caves Jean Clottes Jean Clottes 16 Everywhere in the world and at all times, people have had feelings of awe about caves. Caves are the realm of the supernatural powers, the spirits, the gods, and/or the dead. (See, for example, Charon and the Styx, a subterranean river in Greek mythology.) They can be highly respected places of emergence or of origin, as for the Incas who traced their origins from a cave 26 kilometers south of Cusco (Dransart 1997). It is only in our modern Western world that deep caves have lost their supernatural aura and are routinely explored by spelunkers for whom they are a challenge and an area of sport and study. Traditional orientations to caves may entail one of two attitudes. They may be considered such spiritually dangerous places that people must keep away from them. Contemporary Aborigines have always felt that way, as do most Africans. Conversely, caves can be considered as providing a physical access to the other world and, as such, to constitute a valuable cultural resource that can be used whenever necessary. This might explain the deposition of the dead found in many different cultures, such as those of the Chalcolithic in Western Europe or of the Kalimantan people in Borneo (Chazine and Fage 2002). Although their Pleistocene ancestors made use of deep caves...

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