View source for Earth:Cave of the Trois-Frères

{{Short description|Cave in southwestern France famous for its cave paintings}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Cave of the Trois-Frères
| native_name = '''Grotte des Trois-Frères''' 
| alternate_name = Les Trois Frères
| image = File:Grotte du Tuc d'Audoubert - 1912.jpg
| image_size = 
| alt = 
| caption = Entrance to the Grotte du Tuc d'Audoubert, 1912
| map_type = France
| map_alt = 
| map_caption = location in France
| map_size = 240 px
| relief = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|43|1|52|N|1|12|30|E|display=inline,title}}
| location = Montesquieu-Avantès
| region = Ariège, southwestern {{wipe|France}}
| type = [[Earth:Limestone|limestone]] [[Earth:Karst|karst]] cave complex
| part_of = Three cave-complex
| length = 
| width = 
| area = 
| height = 
| depth = 
| builder = 
| material = 
| built = 
| abandoned = 
| epochs = late [[Earth:Upper Paleolithic|Upper Paleolithic]], 13,000 BC 
| cultures =  Magdalenian
| dependency_of = 
| occupants = Paleo Humans
| event = 
| excavations = 
| archaeologists = Henri Breuil
| ownership = 
| management = 
| public_access = 
| website =  
| notes = 
}}
The '''Cave of the Trois-Frères''' is a [[Earth:Cave|cave]] in southwestern {{wipe|France}} famous for its cave paintings. It is located in Montesquieu-Avantès, in the Ariège ''département''.  
The cave is named for three brothers ({{lang-fr|trois frères}}, {{IPA|fr|tʁwɑ fʁɛʁ|pron}}), Max, Jacques, and Louis Begouën, who, along with their father Comte {{ill|Henri Begouën|fr}}, discovered it in 1914.<ref>{{cite news |title=Young Folks Find Cave Art |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88847854/discovery-of-the-cave-of-the-three/ |newspaper=The Independent Record |date=August 15, 1957 |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=November 13, 2021}}</ref> The drawings of the cave were made famous in the publications of the Abbé Henri Breuil. The cave art appears to date to approximately 13,000&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Trois-Freres |title=Trois Freres |publisher=Encyclopedia britannica |access-date= December 27, 2016}}</ref>

==Artwork==
[[File:The Sorcerer cave art. Sketch of Breuil's drawing. Photograph. Wellcome M0008769.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sketch of Breuil's "The Sorcerer"]]
[[File:Enlène, Grasshopper.jpg|thumb|left|Drawing of the cave cricket engraving]]
One of the paintings, known as "The Sorcerer", is the "most famous and enigmatic human figure" with the features of several different animals, whose exact characteristics remain a matter of debate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/trois-freres-cave.htm#sorcerer |title=Trois Freres Cave, Ariege: Sorcerer Rock Engraving |publisher=Visual-arts-cork com |access-date= December 27, 2016}}</ref>

Engravings featuring what appear to be several birds and a [[Biology:Rhaphidophoridae|cave cricket]] were found on a fragment of bison bone at the junction of Trois-Frères with the Grotte d'Enlène.  The grasshopper was portrayed with such fidelity that the insect's species has been determined.<ref>{{cite book|last=Connell|first=Evan|title=The Aztec Treasure House|year=2001|publisher=Counterpoint|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=1-58243-162-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/aztectreasurehou00conn/page/37 37]|chapter=Olduval & All That|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/aztectreasurehou00conn/page/37}}</ref>{{Citation needed|reason=This sentence is copied directly from the reference, which does not elaborate or cite its own sources, making it uninformative.|date=February 2022}} It is thought to be the earliest known representation of an insect.<ref name=Beg1929>Bégouën H., 1929: À propos de l'idée de fécondité dans l'iconographie préhistorique, ''Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française'', 26, 3, pp 197–199.</ref>

A variety of engraved animals are found on the cave walls, including lions, owls, and bison. Of particular note is a horse overlaid with claviform (club-like) symbols,<ref>Sieveking, A., 1979: ''Cave Artists (Ancient Peoples and Places)''</ref> and an apparently speared [[Biology:Ursus arctos|brown bear]] vomiting blood.<ref>Breuil H., 1930: Un dessin de la grotte des Trois frères (Montesquieu-Avantès) Ariège, ''Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'', 74e année, N. 3, 1930. pp. 261–264.</ref>

Aside from the "Sorcerer", other human-like figures can be seen at Trois-Frères, such as the man-bison, and a character known as the "small sorcerer" who appears to be playing a nose-flute.<ref name=Beg1929 /> Also of interest is an etched representation of a 59{{nbsp}}cm long phallus that follows the contours of the cave walls.<ref>Bégouën E., Bégouën M., 2013a: Découverte d'un grand phallus gravé magdalénien dans la grotte des Trois-Frères (Ariège), ''Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française'', Tome 110, numéro 1, janvier-mars 2013, p. 127–129.</ref>

==Tuc d'Audoubert==
[[File:Musée des Antiquités Nationales - bisons Tuc d’Audoubert - 2015.jpg|thumb|left|Clay sculpted bison from Trois Frères (facsimile)]]
The Trois-Freres cave is part of a single cave-complex formed by the Volp River. The complex is divided into three caves; the central Trois-Freres, '''Enlène''' ({{IPA-fr|ɑ̃lɛn}}) to the east, and the '''Tuc d'Audoubert''' ({{IPA-fr|tyk dodubɛʁ|pron}}) to the west.

The Tuc d'Audoubert was discovered by the three teenage brothers in 1912. The galleries are situated on three levels; the River Volp flows through the lowest, the middle contains decorated galleries known as the ''La Salle Nuptiale'' (The Bridal Room) and ''La Galerie des Gravures''  (The Gallery of Engravings), while the upper has further decoration in ''La Chatière'' and ''Salle des Talons'' (Hall of Claws) and finishes in the ''Salle des Bisons'' (Hall of Bisons).<ref>Bégouën R., Clottes J., 1991: Portable and Wall Art in the Volp Caves, Montesquieu-Avantès (Ariège), ''Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society'', 57, pp 65-79.</ref> In 2013 the Tracking in Caves project tested experience based reading of prehistoric footprints by specialised trackers of Ju/'hoansi San with great success.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603113353.htm |title='Tracking in caves': On the trail of pre-historic humans -- ScienceDaily |publisher=sciencedaily |access-date= February 4, 2017}}</ref>

The ''Salle des Bisons'' contains two masterfully modeled [[Biology:Bison|bison]], which were sculpted in clay with a stone spatula-like tool and the artist's fingers. The pair are among the largest and finest surviving prehistoric sculptures.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBrvazPDFoYC&pg=PT36|title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume 1|page=36|author=Kleiner, Fred|year=2009 |isbn=978-0495573609}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://donsmaps.com/cavepaintings3.html Cave Paintings and Sculptures]

{{Navbox prehistoric caves}}

[[Category:Limestone caves]]

{{Sourceattribution|Cave of the Trois-Frères}}