THE CAVE PAINTERS
GREGORY CURTIS
ISBN: 978-1-4000-7887-5
October 9, 2007
Anchor Books, an imprint of Random House Inc.
1745 Broadway New York, NY 10019
Paperback
$14.95
288 pages
Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 cups

Mr. Curtis took one visit to Font-de-Gaume and saw the paintings on the walls that were done by painters of long ago and he was hooked on finding out why they were done and what purpose they served. He had a lot of research ahead of him but did not seem to mind it one bit. There were many sites to visit and a lot of things to cover in order for him to make some educated guesses. That is all they really are since we do not have much left of that culture of the pre-historic era. We have a few things like axes, bones of dead animals and the like. There is no poetry, music or any indication of what might have been their favorite things to do. We can only see what they left behind on the walls in the different caves. Mr. Curtis seeks to find as many answers as he can and uses every resource that he can.

I was impressed with how well Mr. Curtis presented all the terms used by archeologists. It was not an easy task but he wantsto make sure lay people understand the background of these people so we ccan go forward. One of the things that most intrigued me was the people who were involved in getting this area studied. Max Raphael, Henri Breuil, and Jean Clottes were just a few of the noted people in this field. Henri Breuil is known as the Pope of the Pre-historic while Max Raphael did not receive recognition for his works until later. Another thing, they cannot agree on how to date the pictures found on the cave walls. The main problem is that it is hard to know when the different pictures had been done. They can be seen as individual pictures or as one large composition. But, were they painted over a week, month or even years? One person wanted to date them older while another thought they were more recent.

These questions and more were what Mr. Curtis did his best to answer in this wonderful book. I am captivated by all history and this subject had me from the beginning. The ideas presented show how any area of study has arguments. I was not surprised by the way they were trying to prove themselves true became a struggle for everyone. I wish we could learn more about these painting. I was impressed with how well Mr. Curtis never stated what was right or wrong, during the journey made in this area of study. The pictures in the book were good illustrations of the discoveries and I felt I was a part of the team along with Mr. Curtis. He explained things so well I could imagine what it would have been like to be there for the first chance encounter.

Krista
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
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