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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 114
At Lascaux, discovered in 1940, the famous Hall of Bulls presents aurochs and
horses in swirling, dynamic composition. André Leroi-Gourhan interpreted
these not as decoration but cosmology: “The arrangement of animals suggests a
structured mythic order — oppositions of male and female, predator and prey. This is symbolic
thought inscribed on stone.
” (Leroi-Gourhan, 1965, p. 142).
Figure 11.9 — Hall of Bulls, Lascaux Cave, ~17 ka (after Leroi-Gourhan, 1965).
A polychrome panel depicting large wild bovines (aurochs), horses, deer, and possibly other animals, with
sophisticated compositional techniques (e.g. layering, perspective, use of negative space). Painted on surface
walls and ceiling with mineral pigments, this is among the most iconic and well-preserved examples of
European Upper Paleolithic parietal art.
Sources: after Leroi-Gourhan (1965); images via Wikimedia Commons, National Geographic, Don’s
Maps, etc.
In Europe, unlike Africa or the Levant, symbolism did not flicker. It roared into
permanence. Figurines, flutes, ornaments, and cave paintings appeared in a
single sweep. This was not trial and error but explosion — a threshold crossed,
cognition ablaze.
