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Volp Caves
The Volp Caves - Contextualising Paleolithic Rock Art
Enlène, Trois-Frères and Tuc d'Audoubert, form the Volp caves and are located in the municipality of Montesquieu-Avantès (Ariège), in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The Volp caves are a prime example of the use of Ice Age caves with paintings and their integration
into the settlement and land use patterns of the time.
Spatial analyses of the archaeological finds and findings in these multi-layered image caves will be used to reconstruct the dynamic processes that led to their deposition. In addition, attempts will be made to identify the function(s) of the Volp caves in the regional subsistence system of the Magdalenian hunter-gatherer communities.
For further information about the project see here.
For further research results and research data see here.
Project The Volp Caves. Contextualising Palaeolithic Rock Art. General topography of the three Volp caves according to Marcel Henry and Robert Bégouën (1968), François Rouzaud (1976), Andreas Pastoors and Éric Bégouën (1998), and Jörg Hansen (2009), and their respective locations within the limestone massif (drawing by Gilles Tosello).
Aldène
Tracking in Caves - Reading Mesolithic Human Tracks
Since the end of the last ice age, humans have left behind not only rock paintings in caves, but also their own imprints in the plastic substrate. Such imprints of feet and hands have been known for over 100 years and have been studied using traditional anthropological methods of the Western scientific canon. However, the original ability of humans to interpret such tracks has never been included in this canon as a scientifically fruitful method. Today, only a few people still possess this knowledge and the associated skills. These include the experienced hunters of the Ju/hoansi (‘Bushmen’) from the Kalahari (Namibia).
Since the first successfull campagne in 2013 and as a part of the multidisciplinary project "Die Volp-Höhlen. Untersuchungen an einer Schlüsselfundstelle zur Kontextualisierung paläolithischer Felsbilder" the mesolithic footprints of Aldène and other caves have been studied in 2018 by indigenous ichnologists from Namibia.
For further information about the project see here.
For further research results and research data see here.
