Barefoot in Chauvet Cave

Chauvet cave, discovered in 1994 in the Ardeche, South of France, is one of the most exquisite and mysterious examples of parietal art yet discovered; and at 30 odd thousand years old, is also the oldest. Created by a few select individuals who entered the cave and lit small fires to make charcoal to use as a medium; the cave was not used as an art gallery or a living space - but something else entirely. The animals depicted do not seem to infer hunting magic as used by modern indigenous tribes, nor do they represent their prey, in fact most of the animals are hunters. The image of the bear predominates and the bear was particularly venerated. The location of the cave is a round valley-like depression which perhaps offered a microclimate in an otherwise harsh landscape. A naturally formed bridge at its centre makes it a unique visual environment; the presence of water attracting all sorts of animals, both prey and predator also makes it a unique ecological environment. Whilst the south of france is today nice and hot, 30 thousand years ago it was cold, snowy with a predominate tree species of Scots Pine.

Why is this of interest to the barefoot runner? It so happens that the moist clay floor has recorded the comings and goings of a multitude or animals, and also a few human foot prints too. The interesting thing is that, despite the cold weather, the foot prints are barefoot... 30,000 years ago perhaps Mankind had not yet developed footwear?

The most studied foot print shows a ten year

From the book Return to Chauvet Cave (2003) by Jean Clottes

old boy walking slowly and tentatively into the darkness of the cave illuminated by small fires and torches, to view (in the undulating walls) drawings of animals. In fact even without the drawings actual "animal shapes" would have leaped out at them - through the action of their own neurology of their visual cortex - as their flickering torches illuminated animal-like shapes on the walls. It would seem in the first instance that natural animal-like formations were indeed sought out in such a manner and then adapted to become more animal-like and after that the artist became, perhaps neurologically inspired, as their neural networks were fired-up; drawing animals in charcoal, ochre and in relief scraping the clay ways with their hands.

It may be coincidence that these artists venerated the bear and the bear's foot is the closest animal foot to a humans, the bear also stands on two legs at times, perhaps they saw a parallel to the bear?

But back to barefoot running. It has occurred to me often as I run "barefoot" in my Vibram Five Finger's that it is the one thing (as far as I am aware) that archaeologists and art historians do not do. They do not go into the environment barefoot to understand what an environment feels like for those who do not have shoes, in particular those living in prehistory. Why should this be useful? Since I started barefoot running which dramatically focuses the brain onto the path ahead and focuses onto the visual environment in general, I have often felt that feeling of being animal-like, even hunter-like, as I traverse forest paths and rocky track ways. As darkness starts to fall I find myself "seeing" animals in clumps of ferns or in old tree roots, or logs, they are not really there of course it is the brain mistaking clumps of vegetation for an animal, but in that moment I have started to understand the predilection of the stone age hunter to "see"  animals in natural formations. The imagination can be wild and unpredictable when the light starts to fall and this would have been accentuated in a dark cave, illuminated by a flickering oil lamp or burning torch where animals seemed to leap out of the uneven and undulating walls to a people who had viewed animals, studied them, hunted them - even venerated them - their whole lives.