14,000 YEAR OLD BUL AND COW BISON

Bradshaw Foundation visit to view the c. 14,000 year old Bull and Cow Bison
found in the Le Tuc d'Audoubert cave, Ariege, France.

by John Robinson

The 15000 years that separated me from the child disappeared as though the time between us had been wiped away. These people were our ancestors, every bit as clever as we like to think we are, but able to survive in an environment that would kill most of us all off today. Without doubt their artistic skill was absolutely brilliant, and I believe, was more in touch with the purpose that Art should play in society than it does today.

We followed on, turning this way and that, always sticking to the pathway. A narrow squeeze, a larger tunnel, and skirting around sections of the cave floor that had collapsed into the lower levels made by the river. No-where was there any art, the walls of the tunnel were pristine.

Time and space were so completely mixed together by now that I had no idea of either as separate identities. The Count turned to me and pointed off to the left down into a large hollow space. “Sit and Rest”, he said in French. I settled down and waited. “Look behind you”. I turned and there were the Bison, three feet away from my eyes. “Oh my God”, I exclaimed. What a moment. What an impact. I could not believe my eyes. The Bison are incredibly beautiful, incredibly powerful, and immensely full of Religious Purpose. The Cow is ready and the Bull is scenting the air. The act of conception is about to be fulfilled, and a new Life is about to be created.

The two Bison lean against a central rock that supports them, adding a scale to the scene. Because of the darkness of the cavern that surrounds the sculptures, one feels as though you are looking down from afar onto a moment of real life.

A white ribbon encircles the Bison. No one is allowed to stand, in case they accidentally fall on the Art that has been there for 15000 years. Slowly I crawled around the circle so I could see all the angles of perspective, shining my light this way and that to get the shadow effects. The great humps of the Bison were exactly like the Bison Damon and I had seen the week before in Montana. There, wild Bison still roam the valleys, as they must have done here 15000 years ago, providing meat to the Magdalenian people then, just as they had the Hunter Gatherer Indians of America.