The Brunel Room

The Brunel Chamber presents a very chaotic landscape as opposed to the uniformity of the Bear Hollow Chamber. This tormented geology predates human presence. Areas of old and dismantled concretions are scattered on the ground and can make walking difficult.

The Brunel Chamber contains parietal representations. Their common feature is on observation point from the top of a scree (small-stone mass) several yards high. Several red dots drawn in ocher, marking the place precisely in this spot, also demonstrate a desire to dramatize this chambers entangled relief.

The parietal representations are characterized by the abundant use of the hand drawing technique, i.e. applying the palm of the hand filled with soft wet clay on the rock wall or with the help of a plant-based stamp (moss) or animal skin. This technique is characteristic of the art in the Chauvet Cave.

The sacred heart panel

This panel, at 19.5 ft long and 10 ft high, is located on the edge of the prehistoric entrance. The passage of bears (in the lower part, about 3 ft high) and the proximity to the entrance porch resulted in the fading of these dozens of dots. These hand stencils are streaked with symbolic imprints. This cluster could represent an animal profile (a bison, possibly). To the right of this panel of red dots is a wreath of red lines topped by two perpendicular segments, poorly named Sacred Heart.

The spotted animal panel

Here too is an animal profile (a bison or rhinoceros perhaps) which was created using the hand dot technique. Occupying a clear and flat wall highlighted by a rough-hewn frame, the location of this representation was deliberately chosen to be seen and shared.

These red dots are different from the others found in the Brunel Chamber. They have a more marked palm-shaped cavity. The fingers, sometimes visible, are longer. These dots could have been produced by a tall person (6 ft).

The bear diverticulum

The symbolic treatment of the cave bear in the Chauvet Cave is special. Animals are often grouped together in sometimes monumental panels and frescoes. In contrast, the bear is very often drawn alone. Thus, the Bear Diverticulum is a small compartment, accessible in a squatting position.

After a few yards, this compartment widens and you discover three red bears, one of which is complete. The other is only partial although the natural crevices of the rock seem to complete the animal's undepicted body. There is also the head of a smaller bear. In addition to the symbolic dimension of the place, this semi-hidden setting could be an old bear hollow where cave bears came to hibernate.

Right after that, the three discoverers passed near a small red mammoth drawn on a rock pendant.

At that moment, they said that they had "entered prehistory."