Glossary

Albedo is the ratio of the solar energy reflected by a surface to the incident solar energy. A scale ranging from 0 to 1 is used, where 0 corresponds to black – a body that reflects nothing – and 1 to a perfect mirror – a body that scatters light in all directions and absorbs none of the visible electromagnetic radiation it receives.

A distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image.

A distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image.

A long throwing spear invented in the Upper Palaeolithic. Only the points remain, generally made from reindeer antler. They were attached to the end of long wooden shafts, which no longer survive, as is the case for the majority of objects made from wood at this time.  The Magdalenians put flint bladelets on assegai points to make them more dangerous to prey.

A large, wild ox, today extinct.

A pointed instrument made of bone or flint for piercing leather. Its use is attested to starting in the Châtelperronian culture (38,000–32,000 BP).

Mineral deposits containing ore bodies.

(Cow or ox in Latin) The genus of wild and domestic cattle.
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(Cow or ox in Latin) The genus of wild and domestic cattle.

"Before Present" A time scale used to specify when events in the past occurred, using 1950 CE as the starting point (1950 marks the invention of carbon dating). As an example, 15,000 BP means 15,000 years before 1950.

A stone tool (generally made of flint) that was very common in the Upper Palaeolithic. It has a chisel-like edge that could have been used to engrave bone.

Natural crystallised calcium carbonate, often occurring in karstic cavities and a constituent of limestone

An alteration of a cave wall due to a chemical process.

A "club-shaped" sign found on the walls of Magdalenian-era decorated caves.

A rocky outcrop protruding from the vertical plane of the rock face.

A flap of skin that hangs beneath the lower jaw of certain animals, including bovines.

A flap of skin that hangs beneath the lower jaw of certain animals, including bovines.

Designates a fracture in a rock in which there is no movement of one side in relation to the other. In limestone rocks, these may be enlarged by dissolution. At depth, they often guide the route taken by flows and underground passages.

A work in two parts.

Upper part of the tail. A term generally used for horses.

The front part of a horse’s head, extending from the forehead to the nostrils.

A decorated cave at Eyzies-de-Tayac in southwest France. It contains many animal paintings dating to the Magdalenian period.

A brown iron bearing oxide mineral that, through dehydration, produces hematite. It was used as a pigment in certain Palaeolithic paintings.

Natural dam formed by re-crystallised calcite that builds up in cave pools.

Tool used to reduce something to powder

A wild member of the Equidae family, whose territory extends from Asia Minor to India. It has a more slender body than a horse. Although some people see representations of it in certain Palaeolithic caves, there is no formal proof of its presence in Europe during the Palaeolithic.

Last subdivision of the Quaternary. It corresponds to the current interglacial, which began around 12,000 years ago.

A change in a surface causing it to harden.

The inner surface of a vault.

Landscape shaped by the dissolution of soluble bedrock, either above ground or below (caves).

The shaping of stone by removing flakes to make a tool. Various knapping methods are known, and can be used to identify cultures and as chronological markers.

A decorated cave near Eyzies-de-Tayac in the Dordogne, whose décor primarily consists of engravings of animal figures (Gravettian and Magdalenian cultures).

At Lascaux, a great many lamps have been discovered, most of them in the lowest parts of the cave where the concentrations of CO₂ are highest. The higher the concentration, the lower the flame in the lamp; at a level of 3% of CO₂, the flame is extinguished. Even if it is difficult to determine the exact concentration of CO₂ at the time the cave was decorated, it is highly likely that this phenomenon explains the large number of lamps found in the lower areas, particularly at the foot of the Panel of the Great Black Cow.

Multiform culture of very significant chronological and geographical extent (21,000-14,000 years ago, across central and western Europe) in the late Upper Palaeolithic. It takes its name from the Abri de la Madeleine (Dordogne). The major traits of the Magdalenian, which developed during the last Pleniglacial period, are the intensive use of bone, antler and ivory to make tools and weapons, the richness of the stone tool industry made on blades and thin flakes and the unprecedented development of personal ornamentation, portable art and cave art. Magdalenian groups initially demonstrated great mobility and significant adaptability to their environment. Towards the end of the Magdalenian, cultural regionalisation took place as a consequence of the gradual sedentism of some groups.

One of the later cultures of the Upper Palaeolithic (between 18,000 and 11,500 BP), named after the site of La Madeleine (Dordogne). The culture is characterised by reindeer hunting, a microlithic component to its blade industry and the beauty of its engraved and sculpted animal figures.

A chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn, and with the atomic number 25. It is a grey-white metal that is close to iron, and that oxidises easily. It has been known since prehistory, when it was crushed into powder and used as a pigment.

The degradation of the walls in the Mondmilch Gallery, between the Nave and the Chamber of the Felines, is the result of natural alteration mechanism that is most often linked to the presence of bacteria that modifies the structure of the calcite. Depending on its degree of humidity, the plasticity of the phenomenon changes from a chalky state to that of "fromage blanc", as André Glory used to call it sometimes. This is a phenomenon common to a number of caves.

A Prehistoric period, which, in Europe, is divided into the Lower Palaeolithic (780,000–250,000 BP), Middle Palaeolithic (250,000-35,000 BP) and Upper Palaeolithic (35,000–9,500 BP).

A manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. At Lascaux it is used to describe engraved spaces that have been used on a number of occasions.

A manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. At Lascaux it is used to describe engraved spaces that have been used on a number of occasions.

From the Latin paries (wall). Used to designate drawings, engravings and paintings done on the walls of caves.

Natural colouring agents: charcoal, iron oxides and manganese oxides.

Refers to the front part (head and neck) of an animal figure.

A decorated cave in the heart of the Perigord, located near the town of Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac. The site features more than 250 engravings as well as line drawings that date to the Upper Palaeolithic (Magdalenian).

Having the characteristics of a sediment; pertaining to a sediment.

A natural, open cavity that is often shallow.

Geological term describing the process by which waterlogged sediment slowly moves downslope over impermeable material.

A technique consisting of blowing pigment onto a wall to obtain shadings or soft outlines. This is the process used to create negative handprints, the so-called stencil process. The pigment can be sprayed directly from the mouth, either as powder or in a liquid state.

Cut along a horizontal line.

A mythological animal with the body of a horse and a single long twisted horn emerging from its forehead; Lascaux contains a painted figure incorrectly referred to as the Unicorn.

A mythological animal with the body of a horse and a single long twisted horn emerging from its forehead; Lascaux contains a painted figure incorrectly referred to as the Unicorn.

The third and last subdivision of the Palaeolithic, which began around 34,000 BP in Europe. The period is characterised by blade-making, new tools, better-organised habitations, hunting as the predominant activity, the systematic use of bone, ivory and antler, the appearance of aesthetic (jewellery), artistic and religious concerns. Planetary warming (around 9,500 BP) put an end to the Upper Palaeolithic.

The third and last subdivision of the Palaeolithic, which began around 34,000 BP in Europe. The period is characterised by blade-making, new tools, better-organised habitations, hunting as the predominant activity, the systematic use of bone, ivory and antler, the appearance of aesthetic (jewellery), artistic and religious concerns. Planetary warming (around 9,500 BP) put an end to the Upper Palaeolithic.

A cave near Brantôme in the Black Perigord decorated with rock paintings dating to 17,000 years ago.