Study of calcite formation on Palaeolithic cave paintings : The case of Arcy-sur-Cure " Grande Grotte " ( 28000 BP Yvonne, France ) - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2006

Study of calcite formation on Palaeolithic cave paintings : The case of Arcy-sur-Cure " Grande Grotte " ( 28000 BP Yvonne, France )

Résumé

Palaeolithic rock art belongs to the most ancient artisitc representations of human beings. Conserved under very exceptional conditions, it is today threatened by numerous alteration phenomena, among them the formation and interaction with calium carbonate concretions. The cave “Grande Grotte” of Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne, France) with prehistoric paintings shows important calcite concretions. Two types of calcite have been observed on the walls: translucent yellowish layers and opaque white or grey layers that obscure the paintings. Other calcite types are present in the lakes of the cave (floating calcite rafts at the surface of the lake and soft calcite at the bottom of the lake). The morphology of the different calcites was observed at different scales by optical microscopy with normal and polarized light, SEM and TEM. The elemental composition was measured by micro-PIXE and the structure by XRD, IR and Raman spectroscopy. The bacterial diversity and its role in calcite formation were assessed by culture and 16S-SSCP in order to distinguish and to assess various abiotic and biotic formation mechanisms. The investigation of calcite characteristics enables conclusions on the formation mechanism and on a biotic or abiotic origin of the calcites. The change of calcite types on the walls reveals changes of the environmental cave parameters. In addition, interactions of calcites with the prehistoric paint layer could be evaluated.
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Dates et versions

halsde-00452971 , version 1 (03-02-2010)

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  • HAL Id : halsde-00452971 , version 1

Citer

I. Reiche, Emilie Chalmin, M. Menu, Laurent Charlet, F. d' Orlié, et al.. Study of calcite formation on Palaeolithic cave paintings : The case of Arcy-sur-Cure " Grande Grotte " ( 28000 BP Yvonne, France ). ISA 2006, May 2006, Québec, Canada. pp.45-54. ⟨halsde-00452971⟩
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