Many have recommended the grotte de Pech Merle as one of the best and authentic sites to view prehistoric cave paintings. I agree. And I have a favor to ask of anyone going. I have a clear image in my mind of a cave wall with silloutted hands: a father, a mother and a child. That wall is just to the left of the huge frieze with animals and handprints toward the end of the tour. But when I recently returned to Pech Merle but couldn't get on a tour, I asked the quide who the said no such trilogy of family hands exists there. But I truly believe it does, and have been using the verbal description of that image in my psychotherapy practice to emphasize the long term existance of family ties. If you are visiting, I would appreciate your looking for that narrow vertical wall in the latter part of the tour and posting a response here. Thank you!!!

Visit to Pech Merle was a highlight of a trip a few years ago. I do not remember such an image. I checked two French sites about Pech Merle and no such image is referred to. Sorry.

The official site is:

http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/index.html

Another site, with nice pictures is:

http://www.dinosoria.com/pech_merle.htm

I greatly recommend www.voila.fr for searches in French.

Is it possible that you're reading a bit more into the following images?




http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/smr0...10/Slide12.jpg

http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/images/IMG0027_600.jpg

http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/images/IMG0029_600.jpg

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...ains&hl=en

That smiley face should be replaced by a colon and a lower case letter "p" to give you the last url.

ttt

One this web site you can see the three hands along the top of the picture

http://vm.kemsu.ru/en/palaeolith/pmerle-img3.html

There is indeed the scene with the handprints, but I've never heard them identified as being of a family.

DejaVu is correct. The prints are there, but how would one ever know they were a family? That's just pure conjecture and way beyond what scientists are able to determine about the meaning of prehistoric art.