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00:02In France, hidden in the gorges of the Ardèche,
00:06lies one of the most stunning decorated caves ever discovered.
00:27The cave was formed six million years ago
00:30and shaped by the movements of the earth.
00:34It was flooded, inhabited by animals,
00:39than by humans, who covered its walls with drawings of exceptional beauty.
00:49Since its discovery in 1994,
00:52only a few scientists have been granted access to study it.
00:58To see a cave as scintillant, in such a state of conservation,
01:01is the feeling of being the first.
01:05It's a dream. It's a dream. It's a dream.
01:07It's a moment inoubliable, which will be inoubliable for me.
01:09To be able to embark on such a adventure, it's unexpected.
01:16Exploring the cave has been an incredible experience for these scientists.
01:25They are piecing together its story, identifying its inhabitants,
01:30and exploring its unsolved mysteries.
01:39Their research takes us on a remarkable journey, back to the origins of humanity.
02:02A hidden world lies within the towering gorges of the Ardash.
02:12Over 1,500 caves are tucked into the folds of the limestone,
02:19including the exceptional Chauvet Cave.
02:25Its location is kept secret.
02:33A discreet wooden footbridge leads to a secure entrance in the rock face.
02:40It is protected by cameras, fingerprint identification,
02:44and a 40-centimetre-thick submarine door.
02:49Chauvet is one of the most heavily guarded decorated caves in the world.
02:55The public do not have access to it.
03:10To create this uniquely comprehensive, filmed record,
03:15an unprecedented 500 kilos of equipment
03:19was allowed into the cave's fragile environment.
03:30The resulting footage is a valuable and historic document
03:35that takes us on a journey to the distant past.
03:39Little has changed since three speleologists first entered the cave
03:44on the 18th of December, 1994.
03:48Ah, yeah, look.
03:50There's a lot of water to breathe.
03:52Look, look, see, see.
03:59Elliot Brunel, Christian Hilaire, and Jean-Marie Chauvet
04:04sensed a breath of air coming through the rock,
04:07indicating a cavity behind the wall.
04:15Elliot squeezed through a tiny passage,
04:17closely followed by her two colleagues.
04:25Then, time stopped.
04:35The echo said it all.
04:38They'd just entered an exceptionally large cavity.
04:50Suddenly, Elliot uttered, they were here.
04:55One of the most beautiful decorated caves in the world stood before her eyes.
05:04The speleologists informed Bernard Gelli, who was responsible for decorated caves in the Ardèche.
05:32They named the cave for Jean-Marie, whose determination led to its discovery.
05:39It has been known as the Chauvet cave ever since.
05:44Had a few but later, an expertise was organized,
05:47with an official official from the Ministry, Jean-Claude.
05:51Yes.
05:54Oh, oh!
05:56Oh, yeah!
06:00Where organically!
06:01What a beautiful thing!
06:02Oh, Hello!
06:02Hope you loved and welcome to eat.
06:03Yes, it's amazing.
06:05We've remained professional.
06:08Expertise is to verify authenticity.
06:10That's the first objective.
06:12We've been convinced
06:14since the 10 or 20 first meters.
06:18That's incredible!
06:20It's allurevable.
06:22It's exceptional.
06:25You know what?
06:26You have to play on the world's patrimonial
06:27and on the national treasure.
06:29Yes, it's international.
06:31It's international.
06:33It's worldwide.
06:35So, the emotion...
06:38I think we've all cried at a moment,
06:41or in any case,
06:41we've cleaned the tears.
06:43Because we were fascinated.
06:45I don't think there's any other words.
06:47Imagine this.
06:49What's that?
06:51It's the system.
06:52It's the system.
06:55Three months later,
06:56the first data was released.
06:58The results were astounding.
07:00The paintings of this cave
07:02are the oldest in the world
07:05discovered in this day.
07:06The drawings in the Chauvet cave
07:08are over 37,000 years old,
07:11almost twice as old as the Lascaux cave art.
07:15In 1994, Chauvet was believed
07:18to be the oldest of the world's
07:20450 known decorated caves
07:22from the Paleolithic period.
07:31The research work began in 1998.
07:35Carol Fritz, who became scientific director in 2018,
07:40was part of the original team.
07:43The team that was founded
07:44Jean-Claude is the first interdisciplinary team.
07:48It's to say,
07:48it's going to look for people
07:50of different disciplines
07:51to work together.
07:53There are people who come from the field
07:55of geosciences.
07:56There are people who come from the field
07:57of climatology.
07:59There are people who come from the field
08:01of adaptation, of chronology.
08:02And then, of course, there are archaeologists
08:04and prehistoriens.
08:05And among them,
08:07there are specialists of the art parietal.
08:08That was the strength of the Chauvet team.
08:11And it was unique in France and in Europe.
08:19The newly assembled Chauvet team
08:21entered the cave.
08:25The original entrance
08:27had been sealed by a rockfall.
08:29So the scientists squeezed in
08:31through a narrow passage.
08:59The team had to work around the limitations
09:01that were imposed to protect the cave's
09:03fragile environment.
09:05Collaborating closely and sharing findings,
09:08they collectively traced the story
09:10of the cave back to its origins.
09:16How was the cave formed?
09:18The researchers go back in time,
09:21to an era when the gorges of the Ardèche
09:24didn't exist.
09:25In the past 20 million years,
09:27the landscape is obviously not the same
09:29as the one we know today.
09:31We are in an atmosphere
09:32like lagoon,
09:35sea bordering,
09:36and large rocks
09:39in an atmosphere
09:40of the Great Barrier of Corail.
09:41In Australia,
09:42they are placed
09:43and they accumulate
09:44in considerable thickness
09:47for millions of years.
09:56billions of decomposing aquatic organisms
09:59formed a layer of sediment
10:01in the depths of the lagoon.
10:03This sediment eventually became
10:06a layer of limestone
10:08several hundred meters thick.
10:11Once the crater mass is
10:14under the water,
10:16the crater mass will tend
10:17to rise
10:18under the effect
10:19of deep forces.
10:21It is simply
10:21to increase the levels
10:23of the mountain mass.
10:29Everyone rises
10:30and the crater mass,
10:31which until now
10:32have been under the water,
10:33will not be able
10:33to rise,
10:34nor to the outside.
10:39Water flowing down
10:40from the massif central
10:41carved the Ardèche riverbed
10:44into the rocky plateau.
10:47A tectonic shift
10:49then changed everything.
10:53There will be an event
10:54that will happen
10:55in 6 million years
10:56that will happen
10:57that is the
10:57closing of Gibraltar.
11:02This closing of Gibraltar
11:04will cause
11:05the evaporation
11:07of the Méditerranée.
11:09It will descend
11:10from 2,000 to 3,000 meters.
11:14So there is
11:15a complete
11:15of the Méditerranée
11:17and all the rivers
11:18that reach the Méditerranée
11:19will tend to fall.
11:21The Ardèche river
11:22created a deep canyon
11:24as it flowed
11:25towards the receding sea.
11:31600,000 years later,
11:34the Strait of Gibraltar reopened,
11:36causing the river
11:37to flood the valleys.
11:40The geology in the Ardèche
11:42has not changed much since.
11:47The Ardèche river
11:48is a geomorphic
11:50absolutely exceptional
11:51geomorphic
11:52It's a gorge,
11:53it's a canyon,
11:54a real tree
11:55that cuts
11:56into two
11:56the sea mass
11:57on 30 kilometers
11:58of extension
11:59and 300 meters
11:59of incisions.
12:10torrential rain
12:12lashed the limestone cliffs.
12:19The acidic water,
12:21saturated with CO2,
12:23percolated through fractures
12:25in the rock.
12:26Drop after drop
12:28it dissolved the limestone,
12:30creating a network
12:31of tunnels,
12:32galleries
12:33and underground rivers.
12:36This is what scientists
12:38call a cast.
12:41It is how the Chauvet cave
12:43was first formed.
12:46When water levels
12:48started to fall
12:49approximately
12:49two million years ago,
12:51the cave was revealed.
13:05Here,
13:05the underground volume
13:06will know other
13:07phenomena.
13:08The blocks will fall,
13:09the concrete will push,
13:11the calcites will be put
13:12in place,
13:12the corrosion will increase
13:14the volume.
13:14There are many other
13:15phenomena that will make
13:16the original volume
13:17be deeply disturbed.
13:22The Chauvet cave's
13:23dimensions are truly
13:25impressive.
13:308,500 square meters,
13:3420 chambers and galleries,
13:37some of which are almost
13:3920 meters high.
13:46Its entrance porch
13:48was monumental.
13:518 meters high
13:52and 15 meters wide
13:54overlooking the landscape.
14:00The Chauvet cave
14:02was ready to welcome
14:03its first visitors.
14:06The team started to
14:08research the cave's
14:09first inhabitants.
14:10Looking for clues,
14:12particularly on the ground,
14:14they discovered
14:15over 4,000 bones.
14:35No human bones were discovered.
14:38No human bones were discovered.
14:48They were discovered.
14:48And why were there so many
14:49of them?
14:52Philippe Foss,
14:53a paleontologist,
14:54has been part of the project
14:55since the beginning.
14:58There is an important
14:59diversity of species
15:01identified,
15:02with the wolf,
15:03the wolf,
15:05the lion,
15:07the savage cat,
15:08the lion.
15:09In the moment
15:09there is no trace
15:11of Silex,
15:12the bones are not
15:13broken,
15:14the man has not
15:15brought the rest
15:16of his gibier.
15:17So we have
15:19paleontological vestiges
15:19that are connected
15:20with a natural
15:22occupation
15:22of the cavity
15:23by animals.
15:37during their research,
15:39the scientists
15:40made a fascinating discovery.
15:43As they ventured
15:45deeper into the cave,
15:47fewer and fewer
15:48different types
15:49of skeletons
15:49were found,
15:50until only one species
15:53was left.
15:55The cave bear.
15:57This animal
15:58ruled the cave
15:59for thousands
16:00of years.
16:21L'ours et cavernes
16:22are extremely robust,
16:23which is the size
16:24of the most
16:24wild birds of the
16:26the grizzlies
16:27north-american
16:28or the kodiak.
16:33These birds could
16:34be 400-500 kg,
16:37with a height
16:38of 1,20 m,
16:391,30 m,
16:40and so we have
16:41a radically different
16:43and much more
16:43powerful than
16:44the modern birds
16:44of the European
16:52Europe.
16:54When cave bears
16:56first arrived
16:56in the Chauvet cave
16:57around 48,000 years ago,
17:00daylight would have
17:01only penetrated
17:02the entrance.
17:05How did this giant
17:06animal find its way
17:08around in complete
17:09darkness?
17:12This bird
17:13longed the
17:13walls.
17:14It managed to adapt
17:15to the dark
17:16where the abrasions
17:19that we have
17:19on the
17:20feet of the
17:20walls are
17:22polished,
17:22clean.
17:24This bird,
17:25even
17:25vague in the
17:27most total
17:28of the caves,
17:29has also
17:30frequented
17:31the depths
17:32of the caves
17:33in an important way.
17:38But why did the
17:39Chauvet cave
17:40attract these bears?
17:47On a,
17:48sur ces banquettes
17:49argileuses,
17:50énormément d'empreintes
17:51d'ours des cavernes
17:52et ce sont,
17:53en fait,
17:53des axes de circulation
17:54pour aller rejoindre
17:56cette zone qui est
17:57criblée de petits
17:57creusements,
17:58des nids de couchage,
17:59des boges à ours,
18:00isolés pour hiverner.
18:05The bears
18:06could survive
18:07here for six
18:07months without
18:08eating.
18:14The cave
18:15was so deep
18:16it protected them
18:17from other
18:18predators.
18:24Chauvet was
18:25almost exclusively
18:26occupied by bears
18:27for thousands
18:28of years.
18:30Then,
18:31around 37,000
18:33years ago,
18:34everything changed.
18:37Another creature
18:39entered the cave.
18:41Homo sapiens.
18:43Homo sapiens.
18:43Homo sapiens.
18:44Homo sapiens.
19:06Homo sapiens.
19:07Homo sapiens.
19:10Homo sapiens.
19:11Homo sapiens.
19:11Homo sapiens.
19:14Homo sapiens.
19:14Homo sapiens.
19:16Homo sapiens.
19:38Homo sapiens.
19:40Homo sapiens.
20:03Homo sapiens.
20:33Homo sapiens.
20:56The cave could be seen from a distance.
21:02A few hundred meters from the Pont d'Arc, a ledge could be seen from a distance.
21:06A natural path carved into the cliff brought the humans to the entrance.
21:21Aurignacians didn't live in caves which were cold, dark and damp.
21:32However, they made fires in the entrances and gathered around them to warm up, cook their
21:38food and probably to tell each other stories.
22:00These fires also protected them from wild animals.
22:11Equipped with torches, the humans ventured into the hostile and mysterious depths of
22:18the Chauvet Cave.
22:40When they come to a cave, they don't know what they'll find.
22:43And I think, intimately, that before drawing, there is an exploration of the places.
22:50The underground world is not made for us.
22:52We are not a species equipped to be able to move in the underground world.
22:56There are animals who can do it.
22:57Chauves-souris, ours, a lot of invertebrates, etc.
23:00If we don't have an artifice, an aid, such as an lighting, and at the time it's an lighting,
23:07it's a flame, we don't go into the underground world.
23:15Geoarchaeologists Catherine Ferrier and Jean-Claude LeBlanc were part of the project until 2024.
23:22Their work focuses on trying to understand how prehistoric humans used light in the cave.
23:30One key experiment was to recreate a torch, the tool needed to move around in total darkness.
23:38When an orignancien went to the bottom of the cave, he didn't go with only a torch.
23:43He had to go with several torches, depending on the time he had estimated at the inside of this cave.
23:52There are rest of the torches found for the Paleolithic Superior.
23:56What we find, are the extremities of the torches, where we can say.
24:01So we found things like that from an archaic point of view,
24:03we know that we are comparable.
24:18As this experiment cannot be conducted inside Chauvet, the scientists chose an ancient limestone quarry with similar characteristics.
24:27It's a torch made for exploration.
24:31Yes.
24:32A 400 grams will allow it to clear about 40 minutes, which is not bad.
24:38You take two torches, two times 40 minutes, and it's low weight.
24:43It's something that is easily transportable and that allows you to see the souterrain in security.
24:50In fact, by moving quite fast, it gives you a bit of oxygen.
24:54Yes, it gives you a bit of oxygen.
24:55Yes, of course.
24:55Yes, of course.
24:56I'm going to do a mouchage.
25:21The scientists found dozens of torch wipes in Chauvet.
25:35Prehistoric humans made extensive explorations of the cave.
25:46When I entered Chauvet for the first time, it was intimidating.
25:54Before I entered, we took our lamps, of course, and we descend on this scale of 10 meters.
25:59And then we thought, where are we?
26:01Where are we?
26:01And then, through the calcite walls, because there is a calcite that covers the drawings,
26:08we start to see red trees, etc.
26:11Yes, it's completely intimidating.
26:13The first paintings are found in the first chamber, known as the Brunel chamber.
26:25Geometric signs and drawings made on the large, smooth walls catch the eye.
26:30The predominant color in this part of the cave is red.
26:36These paintings were the first to be discovered and have been interpreted in many different ways.
26:43Who made them and how?
26:45When we visit the cave, we have the impression that there is an accumulation of red figures,
26:52signs in the first part, and then there are more and less.
26:55There are more and less.
27:09Since joining the team in 1998, Carol Fritz and cave art specialist and artist Gilles Tossello
27:17have analysed the cave painters' artistic techniques.
27:22The red trace is made of light.
27:26The red there is granite.
27:27The red, it is familiar with the oak rose.
27:31We have to brush it for hours.
27:33We need to prepare water, olhaers, liants.
27:35In all cases, it can be easily found in the valley of l'Ardèche,
27:39everywhere, in the gorge.
27:42The black woman is the highest.
27:50The artists used red ochre to draw symbols and animals and leave their handprints.
28:18This is the same technique for mine.
28:38One particular panel intrigues the researchers.
28:42It is composed of red dots.
28:45This technique has not been seen elsewhere.
28:50I was surprised by the fact that these dots were not regular.
28:54And by looking at it even better, we realized that there are parasites traces around.
28:58I had the idea that it was applied to the colorant on the hand and applied like that.
29:05And that the parasites dots were the marking of the fingers involontarily placed on the roof.
29:22By placing their hands on the wall, the artists left essential clues.
29:57It was about 1.80 m.
30:01And then in the same room, almost in front, we see another panel, which is this one.
30:07It was interesting because we have a whole hand.
30:11And the dimensions are a little smaller.
30:13So we are sure that there are two people who have executed these panels.
30:23As the artists moved deeper into the cave, they adopted other colors and artistic approaches.
30:39It's not anodin, this change of color.
30:42Especially that this change of color is accompanied by a theme change.
30:47There is an abundance of figurative motifs, animals.
30:52And so, there is something that changes.
31:05A narrow passage called the sill leads to a spacious, circular chamber 30 meters across.
31:14The hill air chamber.
31:21The predominant color here is black.
31:24The artwork is more elaborate.
31:26And the variety of techniques is fascinating.
31:31At the entrance, a six-meter fresco has been etched into the clay walls.
31:38The finger marks look like the artists have just left the cave.
31:52They drew horses, mammoths and ibexes, often in one stroke, using a finger or a stick.
32:05One figure stands out.
32:09It is the oldest representation of an owl in prehistoric art.
32:22On the opposite side, an 11-meter-long monumental fresco is one of the most important works found in the
32:30cave.
32:32It is called the panel of the horses.
32:37The panel depicts cats, reindeer, deer, aurochs, woolly rhinoceroses and mammoths.
32:47At the center of the panel is an alcove containing 17 figures.
32:55In the alcove, you have three tails aligned vertically.
33:00And this construction, for me, is fabulous.
33:05In addition, I love the horses.
33:06It is what I particularly touch.
33:15Gilles Tossello has extensive experience in the cave art techniques.
33:24These curves are diabolically made.
33:29With a lot of techniques, with a lot of knowledge.
33:34And so, in addition, they have been made in one or in a single gesture.
33:40So it's a little bit of time.
33:55Gilles created the monumental replica of the cave known as Chauvet II,
34:02reproducing two of the cave's largest works.
34:09This work helped him understand the techniques used by the original artists.
34:17First of all, you eliminate, you crackle the steel.
34:21Then you draw the steel.
34:23Because you can do it now that the steel has been eliminated.
34:29And so, you draw the steel on a white background.
34:34So the contrast is reinforced.
34:37This is something they noted.
34:39Then they used this steel background
34:43to make subtleties.
34:45For example, here, the head of this lion is argile.
34:49So it hasn't been erased all.
34:50It's not just a systematization.
34:53It's also why this is an artistic approach.
34:57Because what, at the beginning, is a constraint imposed by the paroi
35:02becomes an inspiration source.
35:04We play with it.
35:05The paroi supports the material and gives the volume to the representations.
35:16It took time for the team to understand how the artists manipulated the space.
35:22It was impossible to get close to the walls or view them from different angles.
35:28But in 2018, everything changed.
35:33Photogrammetry came to the Chauvet cave.
35:35With Oscar, we just found a new figure.
35:39We discovered, not only in the cave, but at the screen of the computer.
35:45Because the digital cliches have been given for several years.
35:48It's such a resolution that, by zooming in the photo, we can see details.
35:57Scientists now have a virtual cave at their disposal.
36:05Finally, they can observe the artworks up close and from every angle.
36:11The digital clone is created by two mounted cameras taking millions of pictures.
36:19Software then uses the photos to recreate the entire cave, accurately replicating its size and shape.
36:28The digital clone is created by two mounted cameras.
36:28The digital clone is created by two mounted cameras.
36:31The digital clone is created by two mounted cameras.
36:33The digital clone is created by two mounted cameras.
36:34Oscar Fuentes is a pre-history specialist.
36:38He uses 3D technology to document the cave's artwork.
36:44Thanks to the digitization, he is discovering previously unknown drawings and details.
36:50I'm drawing the panel from the mammoth room of the crâne room.
36:58I can't do that in the cave because it's not accessible.
37:05I'm drawing a animal, but it asks me because I see a brain line.
37:13I see a small piece of bone.
37:17I don't know what it is.
37:19I'm going to see on the 3D model.
37:22I see what happens in this place.
37:27I realize that we have a brain line and a piece of paper,
37:32in white paint.
37:34So the artist placed his brain line on a back-roche,
37:38and then he passed his hand on the back-roche
37:42to show us an almost complete animal,
37:47seen by the bar.
37:48The fact that we are always in 3D
37:50allows us not to forget
37:52that the artists have a 3D vision all the time.
37:55They have always integrated in their drawings
38:00all the deformations of the parroche.
38:05On some panels, the artists play with perspective,
38:09drawing a bison over two walls,
38:12one aligned behind the other.
38:16The art paléolithic.
38:16The art paléolithic.
38:16The art paléolithic.
38:38I don't want to forget that we look at our lamps today.
38:42But it's not that the palaeolithic art. The palaeolithic art should look at the flame, because it's the flame that
38:50will give the volume.
38:53About a thousand drawings and paintings depicting prehistoric fauna have been discovered.
39:12The forest of Chauvet is characteristic of the forest of the palaeolithic art. The three major animals are félins, rhinocéros
39:25and mammoths.
39:26We don't have a scene of hunting, humans who will kill animals. We don't have a scene of everyday life,
39:32we don't have a landscape.
39:51We don't have a scene of the forest.
39:53The forest of Chauvet is a place where the forest is located.
39:53The forest of Chauvet is a place where the forest is located.
40:01There is nothing else than a human. The human is an animal among others.
40:06The palaeolithic artists perfectly knew the animals they were hunting.
40:12So it's obvious that these artists from 40,000 years ago
40:15have distributed on the walls a lot of information of comportemental order
40:21and, in general, the world in which they lived.
40:28The depictions provided paleontologists with crucial information about the appearance and behaviour of many prehistoric species.
40:39These revelations shook up some preconceptions.
40:52This feature had not been observable from their skeletons.
40:57The animals filled the cave like a giant living fresco.
41:02But what do the drawings tell us?
41:05How should they be interpreted?
41:10Catherine Ferrier and Jean-Claude Leblanc noticed dark marks on the walls, signs of fires.
41:18These marks intrigued the two researchers.
41:22Why had fires been lit there?
41:25What did people want to illuminate?
41:28Was this the key to understanding the stories being told by these drawings?
41:33The traces that are visible are traces that indicate that there were fires of remarkable importance.
41:41But what type of fire?
41:43What is the fire that gives these marks thermiques, in terms of coloration,
41:48of climbing the rock, etc.?
41:50And we had well understood, since the beginning,
41:54that these were fires that were not what we usually have for prehistoric sites.
42:00We thought, but these were fires that were caused by these fires.
42:04These were gigantic fires that were caused by these fires.
42:06And that's where we were a little bit, I'd say,
42:10from what we know from other grottes.
42:12We thought, but what are these fires?
42:15What are these fires?
42:16What have they played in there?
42:18It's out of the way.
42:22To better understand the implications,
42:24the researchers recreated the fires in a quarry equipped with temperature sensors.
42:31We are in a career that reflects the dimensions of the mega-seros gallery.
42:37Our goal is to reconstruct a fire,
42:39such as the organizations have been able to do.
42:42For this, we have what we call a thermo-couple tree,
42:46with here, small sondes.
42:49These thermo-couples are relayed by cables to the exterior,
42:53to the acquisition center,
42:55which allows us to register the temperature in continuous.
43:00What we're looking for to demonstrate with this experience,
43:02is what it was possible for the Aurignaciens to do
43:06when they were making such fires.
43:09And, in particular,
43:10what was the possibility of living near the fire,
43:14and to feed the fire.
43:42What we see here is the result of a digital simulation,
43:45with the career here, where the fires have been made.
43:48What we see here is the formation of two layers,
43:51which is a cold layer in a low layer,
43:54and a cold layer in a high layer.
43:57And so, in a low layer, we can stay accrouped.
44:00However, we can't stay in position debout
44:02because of these temperatures
44:03which will be several hundred degrees.
44:06So, the fires were not made for us to stay in proximity.
44:10It's not like a domestic fire.
44:11The domestic fire is the classic fire that we know in the habitats
44:15where, in fact, we can be around
44:18and we practice daily activities.
44:20We eat, we take the silex,
44:23we make the objects of daily life.
44:25It's not that. It's another thing.
44:28So, of course, it's the question of their functions.
44:35This question has intrigued researchers for years.
44:39Were these giant fires made to enhance the art,
44:43or were they used for rites or ceremonies?
44:47The grottes ornées are symbolic sites.
44:50Did these fires not participate
44:51to the symbolic value of this site?
44:54And how?
44:55By the light, by the smoke, by the light, by the light,
44:58by the lighting provided,
44:59which was maybe something that was intended
45:01to put in scene the reliefs of the cavity,
45:06of the volume,
45:08by having a distant perspective,
45:10by looking at them from afar.
45:13We have to perceive this grottes
45:16as a theater scene
45:17where, as we move forward,
45:20we tell us something,
45:22and something that responds from door to door
45:24and door to door.
45:25That's the Grotte Chauvet.
45:34Scientists are still puzzled by a spectacular scene
45:37discovered in an isolated chamber
45:40with no walkway leading to it.
45:44The details can now be studied,
45:47thanks to 3D digitization.
45:51The skull of a cave bear has been placed
45:54on a rocky block in the center of the chamber.
45:58Did it get there by chance,
46:00or was it placed there intentionally?
46:04This question fascinates scientists.
46:07They have many theories.
46:12The skull of a cave bear is special,
46:14because there is a theatrical effect,
46:16there is an iron basket on the sides,
46:18and we could not even call it the theater room
46:20or the amphitheater room.
46:22The skull is part of this symbolic world.
46:27The skull that is on the block is the only evidence
46:30in all the grottes that we have in Europe.
46:32It shows us that the man of the superior poétique
46:36had a form of respect for these birds,
46:39because these people of the superior poétique
46:41were arrived in the world of birds.
46:43When we are here at Chauvet,
46:45the paintings, the panels,
46:46are ornées,
46:48at the same place where the birds
46:50come the most hibernate.
47:01When humans first arrived,
47:03the bears were still there.
47:05Did they continue to use the cave?
47:08Many drawings have been slashed by claw marks.
47:15Valerie Feruglio analysed one of them
47:18to determine if humans and bears were in the cave at the same time.
47:22Here, I'm on the first page of drawing,
47:26a priori, of the animals.
47:28The second phase that we identified,
47:31was the passage of the birds.
47:33So there are the griffes that came to be separated.
47:37And then, on the third page,
47:41there is again an human intervention with the raclages
47:44that have just effaced these first drawings.
47:47And then, on the last phase,
47:50there are drawings of the trees.
47:52At Chauvet, it's obvious
47:53that the birds came before,
47:55they came before,
47:56they came after,
47:56and they came after.
48:00The birds of the caverns
48:01coming to the cave to hibernate,
48:03we suppose that humans
48:05came to the good season.
48:07That's to say,
48:07to optimize their chances
48:09of not having to meet an bird
48:12in a cave or another cave.
48:16The bond between humans and animals
48:18is mysterious.
48:29Like the bears,
48:30humans ventured deep into the cave.
48:37The father's chamber,
48:39over 200 metres from the entrance,
48:42was the one most used by the bears.
48:45This is also where the men and women of Chauvet painted their masterpiece.
48:50For many years,
49:10they are not very likely to be
49:11in a clay.
49:12And they're too close to the sun.
49:13The characters that have been released
49:14and that's all,
49:14the strange one is being used.
49:16They are not too close to the trees,
49:18and that's when they are not too close to the trees.
49:18We don't see it.
49:19After these days,
49:19we're still able to see them
49:19that they don't see that
49:19they're too close for.
49:20on the floor on the floor.
49:25The point culmination passes
49:27at the bottom.
49:29It's a kind of musical metaphor.
49:33It's a symphony
49:34that begins with moderato
49:36and then at the end,
49:37it's completely allégro.
49:41We never get used, there's always an emotion.
49:45We're like aspirated,
49:47and in any case, I'm like aspirated by these images
49:49and I can spend hours
49:50to look at them.
49:52It's like looking at a table
49:55of Raphael, of Leonard.
49:57It's the same for me.
49:59It's exactly the same.
50:06The 10m long lion panel
50:08epitomizes the artist's creativity
50:11and technical mastery.
50:17It's the same for me.
50:20It's the same for me.
50:22It's the same for me.
50:31Prehistorian Mark Azamer,
50:33who worked on the project for 16 years,
50:36studied this spectacular fresco.
50:41He recommends total immersion
50:43in the images on a big screen
50:45to fully understand them.
50:49Every time I come into this room,
50:52I have a very strong emotion,
50:54a feeling.
50:56The artists orignaciens
50:57are trying to tell us a story.
51:04In this room,
51:05these compositions are made in the scene.
51:08There was carbon on the ground.
51:11There were so many rooms
51:12that contributed to
51:13to strengthen the photographs
51:14that happened.
51:17What is exceptional,
51:18is the presence of
51:19some animals
51:20with multiple feet
51:21or multiple heads.
51:23Maybe to decompose the movement
51:25in several images.
51:25And here,
51:26it's something extremely modern,
51:28an insane modernity,
51:29which makes,
51:29maybe,
51:30we are at the origin of the cinema.
51:39This first scene
51:40shows the lion of the caverns
51:42in a precise behavior
51:44that brings its cycle of life.
51:45And inside,
51:47we see a female
51:48who can see the head
51:50with the two ears
51:52lying in front,
51:53in front,
51:54frotting against the flank
51:56of the male.
52:02We move on to the rhinoceros
52:04and other elements
52:05of the beast.
52:12And again,
52:13we fall back
52:13on the lions
52:15of the caverns.
52:18And here,
52:19we are facing the famous
52:20panneau of lions
52:21where we can see
52:22a horde
52:23of a quinzine
52:25of lions
52:25following the bison
52:28who are represented
52:29in front,
52:30in front,
52:31running.
52:35It's very interesting
52:37because these lions
52:37of the caverns
52:39are in a hurry.
52:40We can see
52:40that there is a progression
52:42in the heads
52:43that are turned
52:44towards the front,
52:45with the legs
52:46in front,
52:47and the mouths
52:47that are found
52:48until they are
52:49moving,
52:49like if they were
52:50in a hurry.
52:53After the general plan
52:55that constitutes
52:56the panneau of lions,
52:57we feel
52:58that artists
52:59have tried
53:00to focus on
53:01the most dramatic moment.
53:04We see
53:05the two lions
53:06aggressive,
53:07the ears in front,
53:08the mouth
53:08being removed,
53:09and it's a very violent moment.
53:12The small bison,
53:13isolated,
53:13represented on the top,
53:14is pushing them
53:15from the front.
53:17So,
53:18there's a dramatic intensity
53:18that evolves
53:20like a big plan
53:21in the filming
53:22of the animal film
53:23that's happening.
53:28This animal scene
53:29ends in violence.
53:31The cave lions slaughter the bison
53:33and the tragedy unfolds,
53:35engraved on the wall.
53:38There,
53:39we can see
53:39a big lion
53:40in the cavern
53:41associated
53:42to a bison.
53:43So, the predator
53:44and his proies.
53:49The lion
53:50seems to take
53:51the rod
53:51from the bison,
53:52probably
53:53that he is
53:54attacking
53:54as we can see
53:55with the lion
53:57of Africa
53:57attacking
54:01and the lion
54:03the end
54:03of the hunt.
54:08In this great composition,
54:11the lion
54:11of the caverns
54:12plays a preponderous role.
54:13This is perhaps
54:14signified by
54:15the presence of the animal
54:16on the pendant
54:17who is facing
54:17the big pan.
54:19The lion is associated
54:20with its prey
54:21and a vulve.
54:23The vulve
54:24symbolizing
54:24the birth,
54:25the creation,
54:27the predator
54:28and its prey,
54:29the act of alimentation,
54:30the survival,
54:32which may be
54:32the symbol
54:33of the cycle of life.
54:38This vulva
54:39is the most obvious
54:40female representation
54:42in the cave.
54:49The presence of this woman
54:50shows that
54:51it is not lions
54:53that are represented,
54:54but humans.
54:55It is the humans
54:56who chase,
54:57who kill,
54:58because they have
54:59no other choice.
55:01They have to kill
55:01to live.
55:02In a certain way,
55:03the scene at the bottom
55:04speaks of an eternal cycle
55:06of life,
55:06death and birth.
55:14The works in Chauvet
55:16seem to invite us
55:17to read between the lines,
55:19to search for symbols
55:20and meaning
55:21that reveal
55:22the artist's vision
55:23of the world.
55:28At Chauvet,
55:29we tell us
55:30something.
55:32We think
55:33that we are
55:33facing
55:33what we call
55:34mythes.
55:36All societies
55:37need myths.
55:38There are no societies
55:39who don't exist
55:42without mythes
55:43and without mythes
55:44of origin.
55:45We have to know
55:46where we come.
55:47So,
55:48these societies
55:48have left us
55:49these myths.
55:51And I think
55:52in La Grosse Chauvet,
55:53we have the chance
55:53to have an access
55:57to this spiritual world.
56:05Even if their meaning
56:07has been lost in the silence of time,
56:09these works are revelatory.
56:15When we looked at the whole
56:18of the grottes,
56:18we imagined that if a figure
56:20was realist,
56:21it was definitely recent.
56:23And if it was not realist,
56:25it was ancient.
56:27And La Grosse Chauvet
56:28has led to what we call
56:32in science
56:32a change of paradigm.
56:34It's to say
56:35something so new,
56:36an information so new,
56:37that it enables
56:38to re-see
56:40the whole system
56:40in its sense.
56:42It's a linear evolution
56:44of drawing.
56:45It's like
56:46the origin of art
56:48is the age of art.
56:49And as humans
56:51grow up,
56:53it's better to draw.
56:55It's done.
56:56It doesn't exist.
57:02Chauvet's art
57:03is one of humanity's
57:04earliest expressions
57:05of creativity.
57:07A UNESCO World Heritage
57:09site since 2014,
57:11this sanctuary
57:12is recognized
57:14as a universal treasure.
57:18Chauvet
57:19is much more
57:20than a moment
57:20in art history.
57:22It is one
57:23of its foundation stones.
57:30Finally,
57:30when we ask ourselves
57:31if there are still
57:32things to find,
57:33the answer is 10 times
57:34yes.
57:35I'm part of those
57:36who think
57:38that the Grosse Chauvet
57:39is a sort of
57:40research school.
57:41that the Grosse Chauvet
58:06does not belong to us,
58:07but it binds us together.
58:09opening up infinite
58:11possibilities
58:12about our origins
58:14and uniting us
58:15with those
58:16who left
58:17this unique legacy.
58:22It's the night
58:23of the times.
58:24It's another world.
58:28And yet, it's us.
58:55the Grosse Chauvet
58:56that the Grosse Chauvet
58:56as a question.
58:56And I hope
58:56that the Grosse Chauvet
58:56is going to be
58:56possible.
58:56Let the Grosse Chauvet
58:56will be
58:56You
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