Melder WR #2

          While studying this cave, the part that I found was most fascinating was The Shaft panel. This segment of the cave displays what is called the Panel of the Wounded Man. In this picture contains a bison, man, bird, and a rhinoceros. This work caught my interest because it seems to be telling a story, and also because this man is the only human drawing in the whole cave.  It appears as if the he is being attacked or threatened by the bison who is standing as though ready to charge with his horns out front. Underneath the man there is a bird perching on something tall and narrow, perhaps a branch or some tall grass. It is unsure what the species of the bird is because it does not have any clearly defined characteristics. The artist, maybe not being very developed or detail oriented, painted the man’s head and that of the bird the same way, two simple curved lines that do not meet up where the mouth would be; instead, leaving an open space. In this time, it is said that birds were the conductors of souls. Clearly, the rhinoceros has a different appearance than that of the man, bird, and the bison. Unlike the other drawings/paintings that are completed with a brush type tool, the rhinoceros is created by the spraying of pigments. The long line that is drawn through the bison has been understood as a spear piercing through its body.