Word: breuil
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Died. Abbé Henri Breuil, 84, paleontologist-priest who in the face of disbelieving colleagues proclaimed the paleolithic origin of the famed cave paintings at Altamira, Spain, and the Dordogne region of France-a contention that was later borne out by radioactive-carbon dating; near Paris...
...location of the cave is still kept secret to protect it from destructive sightseers. But one honored guest, the Abbe Henri Breuil, dean of French prehistorians, was invited to inspect the find. Although 79 years old, he crept through the cave's winding corridors and examined the animal drawings. He declared them "among the most beautiful specimens of prehistoric art yet discovered," estimated they were late paleolithic, probably between 15,000 and 20,000 years...
...Stone Age did not decorate their caves with animal drawings for pure love of art. The drawings had a purpose: they were the central images in religious rites. In the newly found cave there are no drawings of deer, and the Abbe Breuil thinks he knows why. His guess: "The occupants of the cave probably regarded deer as their mythical ancestors. They were forbidden to kill and eat them. So there was no reason to use any charm, such as cave paintings, to attract deer...
...Visiting Lady. Dear to South African diggers are colored cave drawings, some made by modern Bushmen, some (perhaps) very old. French Digger Abbé Henri Breuil favors the "very old" theory. In the Drakensberg mountains he found drawings of men who were certainly not Bushmen. They wore long cloaks with triangular markings and serrated bottom edges. On their shoulders they carried quivers. After studying them for a while, the romantic abbé decided that they might be ancient Sumerians who wandered down to South Africa thousands of years ago and posed for indigenous portrait painters...
...Montignac cave, many tortured galleries still remain unexplored, many scratched figures still undeciphered. "There may yet be many surprises in store," observes Breuil, who knows that cave paintings are sometimes hidden a half-mile from the entrances. There may also be many undiscovered Paleolithic caves on both slopes of the Pyrenees. Today archeologists are more eager than ever to continue their explorations, but they fear that for years to come the prizes will fall only to French schoolboys...