Palaeolithic decorated cave, located in France, that contains numerous cave drawings dating back as far as 27,000 years BP. The cave has more than 200 parietal figures and is also the only decorated cave whose entrance opens under the sea.The Cosquer Cave is located in the Calanque de Morgiou in Marseille, France, near Cap Morgiou. The entrance to the cave is located 37 m (121 ft) underwater, due to the Holocene sea level rise. The cave contains various prehistoric rock art engravings. It was discovered in 1985 by and named after diver Henri Cosquer, but its existence was not made public until 1991, when three divers became lost in the cave and died.
The cave can now be accessed by divers through a 175 m (574 ft) long tunnel; the entrance is located 37 m (121 ft) below sea level, which has risen since the cave was inhabited. During the glacial periods of the Pleistocene, the shore of the Mediterranean was several kilometers to the south and the sea level up to 100 m (330 ft) below the entrance of the cave.Cosquer Cave is home to 500 paintings and engravings which were made during two distinct periods of occupation, the first 27,000 years ago and the last 19,000 years ago. Half of them depict animals drawn in bold lines, such as bison, antelopes, ibex, seals, auks and numerous horses.
The walls also feature 200 geometric designs. Except for an engraving showing a half-man, half-seal creature, the only human depictions are red or black hand stencils, some just outlines, others coloured in. Thumbs always seem to be shown intact, whereas other fingers are often missing or truncated. A computer analysis suggests these drawings are mostly of female hands. There are over 150 animals painted or engraved, making Cosquer one of the most densely painted caves ever found. And the 11 different species depicted are more than at Lascaux and nearly as many as at Chauvet.
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