Cosquer Cave

The Cosquer cave is located in the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille, France, not very far from Cap Morgiou. This cave, the entrance of which is located undersea nowadays, was discovered by Henri Cosquer in 1985 and declared to the authorities in 1991.

Description

Today, the cave can be accessed through a 175 meters (574 ft) long tunnel, the entrance of which is located 37 meters (121 ft) under sea level because of changes in the relative altitudes of land and sea. The ancient corresponding shore of Mediterranean sea was then several kilometers away and below as measured from the cave mouth. Sea surfaces were smaller and land altitudes higher because large volumes of water were retained in enormous icecaps, making the level of the sea 110 to 120 meters (361 to 394 ft) lower than today affecting Mean Sea Level as calculated for circa 20,000 years ago during the peak of the last major glaciation (Würm glaciation).

The Art of Cosquer Cave

Four-fifths of the cave art was obliterated by the rising sea. 150 cave art remained^[1] including several dozen painting and carvings dating back to Upper Paleolithic, matching two different phases of occupation of the cave:

• Older drawings of 65 hand stencils and other related motifs, dating back to 27,000 BP (Gravettian)
• Newer drawings of signs and 177 animal drawings dating back to 19,000 BP (Solutrean), representing both "classical" animals such as bisons, ibexes, and horses but also marine animals such as seals, penguins^[2] and what appear to be auks and jellyfish.

References

1. ^ Jean Clottes Transports French Cave Art to Montrose; The Uncompahgre Journal; 2008;VOLUME 26, NO. 6pdf
2. ^ Histoire de la Provence;Aldo Bastié; Editions Ouest-France, 2001

See also

• Cave painting

External links

• Cosquer’s CaveGrotto Cosquer
• Prehistory and coastal karst area: Cosquer Cave and the “Calanques” of Marseille
• Official French Ministry of Culture pages on The Cosquer Cave
• The Cosquer Cave Prehistoric Images and Medicines Under the Sea by Jean Clottes, Jean Courtin and Luc Vanrell

References

• Jean Clottes, Jean Courtin, La grotte Cosquer, Seuil, 1994, ISBN 2-02-019820-7 (French)
• Jean Clottes, Jean Courtin, Luc Vanrell, Cosquer redécouvert, Seuil, 2005, ISBN 2-02-065550-0 (French)
• The Cave Beneath the Sea: Paleolithic Images at Cosquer by Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin (1996) Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York ISBN 0-8109-4033-7 English translation by Marilyn Garner from the French edition

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Coordinates: 43°12′10″N 5°26′57″E / 43.20278°N 5.44917°E / 43.20278; 5.44917