From Room 1:  Birds as Icons

Art In 1994 news of the discovery of Chauvet Cave in France and its walls full of Paleolithic art spread rapidly, and photographs of the woolly rhinoceroses, lions, bears and other animals, including this owl, were almost immediately available to accompany the early reports. Photographs of the owl were not as widely circulated as were those of the grotto’s megafauna, but Paleolithic bird images were not as widely produced as the megafauna were, either. Years earlier, André Leroi-Gourhan (1911–1986), former director of the Museé de l’Homme in Paris, had surveyed seventy-two caves in France and neighboring countries and listed over 2,000 animal images on the walls. Among them, horse images outnumbered the rest, with 610; bison followed with 510; and mammoths came in a distant third with 205. Fish accounted for a paltry 8, and birds (or their heads) for only 6 (2 in Lascaux, 4 in Les Trois Frères).[3]

The official cave Web site describes the Chauvet owl image as follows: “This finger tracing represents an owl. The position of the wings shows that its head is turned 180 degrees relative to its posterior face. The anatomical characteristics of the animal permit its attribution to Moyen Duc [Long-eared Owl] (Asio otus). This drawing was realized on the soft outer layer of the cave wall. In the background we see traces that show the wall surface was scraped before the drawing was made.”[4]

Science Evaluating avian taxonomy based on an ancient figure etched into the soft surface of a cave wall is a difficult business, and an alternative interpretation is available. It may be that the bird is facing forward and that the species might actually be an Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo). Given Paleolithic artists’ fascination with large and imposing creatures, that conclusion strikes the authors as more plausible. To emphasize the resemblance between the cave image and the Eagle Owl, we have inserted a drawing of its head into the accompanying image (Plate 3).[5]

Other factors--the relative size of the birds, their presence in the cave, and the suite of other cave images--support the alternative hypothesis. Eagle Owls are the size of eagles and prey on the smaller Long-eared Owls. They nest in caves, whereas Long-ears typically seek abandoned crow nests, found mostly in trees or shrubs. They are also impressive predators: they have been known to take down roe deer, and such accomplishments have earned for members of their genus (Bubo) a reputation as “Tigers of the Air.” In contrast, Long-ears are more commonly preyed upon by others in their tribe than other owls are by their tribe members. Long-ears have even evolved a defensive posture: They lean forward while arching their wings--like a swimmer poised to dive from a racing block. Then, by lifting the trailing edge of their wings skyward, they frame their face and appear more formidable, the way “owl eyespots” on the wings of certain moths may fool predators into thinking they are too large to take.6

The message of a Paleolithic artist is unknowable, and the message of any work of art can change with time. The modified image (showing details of the head) and this discussion do not resolve the identity of the species, but they do raise the issue and provide today’s viewers with additional information, allowing them to make the comparisons and consider alternatives for themselves.[7]
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Plate 2
Owl in Chauvet Cave, Vallon–Pont d'Arc, France, c. 30,000 BCE.
© Photo: J. Clottes. In J. Clottes, ed., Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2003).Science Art--Birds

Plate 3
Modified Owl in Chauvet Cave [Eagle Owl], Vallon–Pont d'Arc, France, Ink, watercolor, and pencil drawings digitally placed over photograph.
© 1997/2007 Darryl Wheye. Photo courtesy of J. Clottes.Science Art--Birds.