66 hand stencils have been identified in the Cosquer Cave. This number is less than that found at Gargas, where many of the hands are incomplete, but greater than that recorded at El Castillo, making the collection of hand stencils found in the Cosquer Cave one of the largest found in a Palaeolithic cave to date. Hand representations in Cosquer vary in both colour and form: red and black, right and left, complete and partial; some of them have been deliberately scraped, which is a most exceptional occurrence. They can be linked to several animal species and to diverse geometric signs. It was particularly interesting to apply the 'Manning index' to these representations. This index is based on the ratio of the index finger to the ring finger and it allows the hand stencils to be sexed, thus revealing new patterns of distribution for the hands. Previous studies had already begun to point to the importance of sex in the Cosquer images.