The adventure of Niaux -- The greatest mystery -- The Neanderthal enigma -- The roots of language -- Abbé Breuil -- Font-de-Gaume and Combarelles -- The tale of a missing dog -- The sign of the bull and the legend of the minotaur -- Rouffignac and Pech Merle -- The discovery of Lascaux -- The enigma of the pit -- The groundbreaking work of Annette Laming-Emperaire -- Prehistoric objets d'art -- The sign of the hand -- The legend of the white lady -- Shamans of the tundra -- Stonehenge and signs in the sky -- The Mediterranean, Australia, and Patagonia -- Leroi-Gourhan's theory -- The relationship between signs and animals -- The Chauvet cave
Summary
Popular science writer Aczel examines French (and some Spanish) cave drawings and the theories scientists have put forward to explain them, including religious iconography, hunting trophies, and a leap in human brain development
