Freethought Nation

"France's Lascaux caves have long been celebrated as one of the world's best examples of Paleolithic art. These 35,000-year-old animal depictions were thought to have represented life during the hunting season, but French researcher Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez has theorized that in actuality, these murals are a celestial map of the night sky."

- "Ancient Astronomers"

"Lascaux is a World Heritage Site and late Upper Paleolithic cave complex in southwestern France that belongs to the Magdalenian Culture. Lascaux’s cave paintings were made c.15–18,000 B.C. The sophistication of the Lascaux cave paintings is extraordinary when considered against their great antiquity. Their subtlety, complexity of technique and metaphor are qualities we can immediately relate to. The full articulation of this cave art reveals a mind akin to our own. If time and language barriers could be set aside, it is very possible that Magdalenian people of the late Upper Paleolithic would understand us, and that in return we could understand them."...

"...Mathematical aspects in late Upper Paleolithic mythopoetics derived from observational astronomy. Some cave paintings recorded an understanding of the path the moon takes around the sun – the ecliptic. An understanding of the ecliptic leads to the discovery of the zodiac, the annual path of the sun through the celestial sphere. A construct for the zodiac then follows, in which it is divided into twelve sections later known as ‘houses’."

THE ZODIAC

"One of the most interesting interpretations of the cave paintings at Lascaux in France is that the paintings were actually animal representations of the zodiac. A paper was presented at the International Symposium of Prehistoric Art in Italy, which stated the belief that the cave paintings at Lascaux were records of the zodiac constellations, fixed stars and the solstice points. Chantal Jeques - Wolkiewiez showed that all the constellations of the zodiac except Aquarius and part of Pisces are represented by the animals of that time. She believed that this together with the presence of the setting sun demonstrated that the painters were remarkable observers of the sky.

If this is indeed the case, early man preceded the Babylonian astronomers by 10,000 years. To have done this early man would have had to measure distances between stars and Jegues - Wolkiewiez believes they did this with sticks as rulers, she believes that they were already using the stars as heavenly guides to find the position of the stars that were not visible above the horizon. She and a colleague studied the paintings carefully, keeping in mind that the sky then was different from ours today. They made measurements with an astronomical compass, and conjectured that the rays of the setting sun at the summer solstice penetrated into the cave and touched certain paintings. She checked her theory on the summer solstice, June 21st 1999, and saw that the setting sun hit the entrance for 15 minutes, and lit up the painting of the Red Bull on the back wall of the Hall of Bulls.

In the prehistoric zodiac, the constellation Taurus – the Bull – culminated in the summer solstice. The entire Hall of Bulls is proposed to correspond to the constellation of Taurus. There is a picture of two bulls facing each other, these align with the constellations of Taurus and Scorpio, which are not in the sky at the same time, so strengthens the theory that prehistoric man possessed a direct knowledge of astronomy, and also mathematics as they may have had the ability to calculate and project the positions of the stars regardless of their visibility.

Some experts believe that the caves at Lascaux should be treated as an isolated incident, and that with the millions of stars in the sky, there would always be some that could be found to be in correspondence to the paintings or to anything.

We may never know the truth, but it is fascinating nevertheless."

http://historyday.crf-usa.org/1708/zodiac.htm

A lot of paintings are related to the zodiac and the study of the stars. Some could be related to a form of religion, so it’s possible that the stars could have been gods to Prehistoric man.

"A lot of paintings are related to the zodiac and the study of the stars. Some could be related to a form of religion, so it’s possible that the stars could have been gods to Prehistoric man."
http://historyday.crf-usa.org/1708/introduction.htm

Now where have I heard that before?

4004 BC
On 23 October at 0900, the Universe was created, according to the Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher.

"Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting. He puts 3-D technology to a profound use, taking us back in time over 30,000 years. "

http://www.wernerherzog.com/index.php?id=64