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Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a documentary by famous film maker Werner Herzog. The film is
dedicated to the discoverers of the Chauvet cave in Southern Frane: Jean-Marie Chauvet, Eliette
Brunel and Christian Hillaire who discovered it in 1994. The film takes us into a mesmerizing
journey of wonders and awe. In the history of man, 32,000 years a long span and to imagine
humans who drew these figures on a canvas of rock is simply amazing.
Werner Herzog takes us into a world of the prehistoric man and with the help of dedicated
researchers tries to grasp the meanings and motivations behind the pictures. Each step of the
unknown artist is tracked meticulously by scientist from a range of fields like paleontology,
geology, history and archaeology.
The cave has given the scientists an insight into the human mind and thinking of a time 32,000
years ago. The creative instincts of the prehistoric man comes forward in the cave paintings. The
scientists are able to decipher numerous stories from the paintings and the people who painted
there. According to the scientists the humans did not inhabit the cave but only painted here or
possibly used it for ceremonies as there are no human bones in the cave. Animals like the cave
bear did inhabit this caves as the bones of these bears are strewn across the cave.
Scientists like Carole Fritz and Giless Tosello are mapping every millimeter of the cave using laser
and creating spatial points which has given them a 3D image of the cave. Due to this mapping the
scientists have come to the conclusion that the cave is 1300 ft. from end to end. According to Jean
Michel Genestec, the Director of the Chauvet Cave Research Project, 35,000 years ago, Europe
was covered by a glacier- dry and cold yet there was sunshine.
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Some of the paintings are 5000 years apart and this information was gained by radio carbon dating
and it was concluded that some paintings were painted over others, the rock walls used as an easel
by the prehistoric man.
Although a tremendous effort has been made by scientists and other professionals to understand
the type of people who did this, the scientists concede that they will never know what the
motivations of the people were, what they dreamed, what their hopes were and how their family
was. As Herzog says, we will not understand the vision through such an abyss of time. In fact a
gap of 32,000 years between us and the cave painters.
The mystery of the bones of a boy and a wolf give evidence to the fact that we will never know
the exact sequence of events as Genestec says that either the boy was eaten by the wolf or perhaps
they may have been friends or they bones may have been preserved thousands of years apart.
Dominique Baffier interestingly says that although we are Homo sapiens i.e. those who know but
we still do not know much about the connections or our real history. History is a past that has been
lost according to Julien Monney, an archaeologist.
Thus despite our recent technological advances we are still in the dark about much of our own
history. The scientists have created a good picture of history, yet there are overlapping gaps; gaps
that are thousands of years apart. Nature has preserved the cave and now humans are protecting
the cave. It is the hope of the dedicated scientists that we can still decipher and learn from the cave.
Many more caves may be still lying undiscovered near the Chauvet Cave and many professional
as well as amateur scientists are using their own methods to make new discoveries.
Bibliography
Herzog, W. (Director). (2011). Cave of Forgotten Dreams [Motion Picture].
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