Fig. 232. Head of a reindeer deeply incised or engraved in the limestone wall of the cavern of Tuc d'Audoubert. After Bégouen.
In company with Professor Cartailhac the writer had the good fortune to enter the cavern of Tuc d'Audoubert a few days after its discovery by the Comte de Bégouen and his sons; it is still in the making, for out from the entrance flows a stream of water large enough to float a small boat, by which the first of a series of superbly crystallized galleries is reached. After passing through a labyrinth of passageways and chambers a favorable surface was found where the Bégouen party showed us a whole wall covered with low-engraving reliefs, very simply done, fine in execution, with sure and firm outlines of the bison, the favorite subject as in all other caverns; horses fairly well executed and of the same steppe type as those in the near-by cavern of Niaux; one superbly engraved contour of the reindeer, with its long, curved horns; the head of a stag with its horns still in the velvet; and a mammoth. All this work is engraved; there are no drawn outlines, but here and there are splashes of red and black color. Shortly afterward a great discovery was made in this cavern; it is described as follows by the Comte de Bégouen:[BA] "To-day I am happy to give you excellent news from the cavern Tuc d'Audoubert. As you were the first to visit this cavern, you will also be the first to learn that in an upper gallery, very difficult of access, at the summit of a very narrow ascending passage, and after having been obliged to break a number of stalactites which completely closed the entrance, my son and myself have found two superb statuettes in clay, about 60 cm. in length, absolutely unbroken, and representing bison. Cartailhac and Breuil, who have come to see them, were filled with enthusiasm. The ground of these chambers was covered with imprints of the claws of the bear, skeletons of which were buried here and there. The Magdalenians have passed through this ossuary and have drawn out all the canine teeth to make ornaments of them. Their steps left their fine impressions on the humid and soft clay, and we still see the outlines of several bare human feet. They had also lost several flakes of flint and the tooth of an ox pierced at the neck; we have collected them, and it seems as if they had only dropped yesterday; the Magdalenians also left an incomplete model of a bison and some lumps of kneaded clay which still carry the impression of their fingers. We produce the proof that in this period all branches of art were cultivated." This model of the male and female bison in clay has been described by Cartailhac as of perfect workmanship and of ideal art.
Fig. 233. Two bison, male and female, modelled in clay, discovered in the cavern of Tuc d'Audoubert. The length of each of these models is about two feet. After Bégouen.
Fig. 234. One of a series of horses of the high-bred Celtic type, sculptured in high relief on the wall of the cliff shelter known as Cap-Blanc. The actual length of each of these sculptures is about seven feet. After Lalanne and Breuil.
The procession of six horses cut in limestone under the sheltering cliff of Cap-Blanc is by far the most imposing work of Magdalenian art that has been discovered. The sculptures are in high relief and of large size and are in excellent proportion; they appear to represent the high-bred type of desert or Celtic horse, related to the Arabian, so far as we can judge from the long, straight face, the slender nose, the small nostrils, and the massive angle of the lower jaw; the ears are rather long and pointed, and the tail is represented as thin and without hair; they were found partly buried by layers containing implements of middle Magdalenian industry, and they are therefore assigned to an early Magdalenian date in which animal sculpture in the round reached its climax.