Théo d'Or ’s Reviews > The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists > Status Update

....a fake prehistoric heritage. In 1902, Altamira
is officially recognized as authentic. Sautuola is rehabilitated 14 years after his death, and Maria lives to see her discovery validated. Conclusion - the first artists were as skilled and intelligent as modern humans.

Bonjour, Théo !

In the 1990s, construction work on a dam in Portugal’s Côa Valley revealed hundreds of open‑air Palaeolithic engravings. More than twenty thousand years old, they showed animals carved with striking precision and artistic control. If the dam went ahead, the valley would be submerged, and that is why people began saying that “the engravings can’t swim” — a blunt reminder that this ancient art would simply disappear underwater.As the scale of the discovery became clear, scientific studies confirmed the engravings’ true age, and a strong public movement emerged to protect the valley. The growing pressure forced the government to abandon the dam project. The Côa Valley was later recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserving one of Europe’s most remarkable prehistoric landscapes.

Merci.

That's something very interesting, Maria ! So pity they abandoned ! It is such a valuable field ! Thinking of it, it struck me how deliberate everything was.Those paintings weren't rough sketches made by people who barely understood what they were doing. Those painters worked with the level of intention that feels almost modern. They chose specific minerals , iron oxyde for red, manganese dioxide for black, charcoal for deep shadows, fat or even saliva to make pigments that would cling to stone.
You already know that I used charcoal a lot, and I still use, sometimes. I know how it is. They didn't painted for fame, neither for survival, they just needed to be expressed.
I remember what you told me, some time ago, about
what you discovered, or more precisely - what you didn't discovered at Elephanta Caves. And , indeed, I found that that " oldest whale portrait " - is not actually à whale at all.
The Elephanta Caves contain Hindu sculptures, not Paleolithic art. The figure Melville thought was a whale is actually linked to Vishnu's Matsya avatar, a mythic fish-form of the god. Melville read early European travelogues, these writers often misunderstood Indian iconography.

I just read about Côa Valley. About Canada do Inferno, Penascosa, Ribeira de Piscos and Faia.
But what I find amazing is that they exist in open air, not in caves. And is not a finished site.

Merci, Théo !

Yes, it’s in the open air. I’ve never actually been there myself, even though it’s in the region where I was born. But everyone says it’s well worth the visit.

As for the Elephanta Caves, getting there really is an adventure. I took a boat from Mumbai, and once you land on the island, you hop on a little toy‑train and then walk the rest of the way up. The heat was absolutely brutal.

Oh, it sounds like a Indiana Jones adventure.. There's something magical, though, about how all exotic journeys seems to revolve around heat. Meursault was too a Indiana Jones, in a way. But the heat defeated him :))

Are you rereading Letters to Milena, Théo ?

Non. But maybe I will reread them. They are the most touching letters I ever read...Some passages one can't reread them even. It is lot of pain in Kafka's words..

Your Letters to Milena updates keep showing up in my feed.

Kafka's spirit haunts GR..
Still wonder why he chose me.. Maybe he sensed my résonance...

Bonne lecture, Théo !
Merci.

Merci à toi aussi, Celeste.
C'est quelque chose que je savoure chaque soir, petit à petit.