THE FRENCH CAVE-DRAWING CONTROVERSY
There was a secret wall image in a cave in France that both French authorities and evolutionary theorists want to deny. The image appeared in a section of the cave system known as Bernifal Cave. I use past tense because the section of the cave at which the image appeared was closed to the public. The evidence provided by this image is so damaging to the proponents of established historical timelines and “Ages” that it may, indeed, have been annihilated by its French custodians.
I have provided a photograph of the image that appeared in Mr. Jack Cuozzo’s fascinating account of his study of Neanderthal facial remnants, especially teeth, that he entitled BURIED ALIVE!. Most of the book focused on the French specimens and the French caves in which specimen and artifacts, including “wall painting,” were discovered. I have also included an image of my paperback version’s cover, less anyone doubt its existence.
What did the wall image depict? It depicted a confrontation between a dinosaur and a mammoth.
Who is or was Jack Cuozzo that you should allocate time to this matter? Dr. Jack Cuozzo studied at Georgetown University and obtained degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (D.D.S.) and Loyola University/Chicago Graduate School of Dentistry. His specialty is Orthodontics. He has had a life-long interest in Neanderthal man.
Those familiar with these matters understand that timelines forbid any confrontation between a dinosaur and a mammoth, as dinosaurs died out some 62 million years before the mammoths roamed the Earth. Hence, the existence of a cave image depicting such confrontation cannot exist. The only conclusion that establishment authorities can reach is that any image depicting a confrontation between dinosaur and mammoth on a Bernifal Cave wall cannot be depicting such a confrontation, since it was an established fact that dinosaurs did not exist at the time of mammoths.
The sealing of the cave from further public scrutiny is the desperate act of an imprisoned class of authorities. Dr. Cuozzo stated in his book that it was likely that the French cave authorities removed this unwanted piece of evidence. Further, he attempted to interest American authorities and journals, which specialized in this area, in his photographs, speculations and conclusions without success.
The problem faced by Dr. Cuozzo was one faced by many other mavericks of science, such as Copernicus, Pasteur, et al, of massive resistance by period authorities.
The “Age of Dinosaurs” is typically presented as if the various Saurischia and Ornithischia were the only game in town. Yet, there were mammals that lived simultaneously with the dinosaurs during at least a portion of the timeline allocated to dinosaurs by experts. Although the theory of utter dinosaur annihilation has been argued as established, the various proposals that touch upon the means of its annihilation have rung hollow. If dinosaurs were destroyed by an ice-age brought on by some disaster, why would mammals not also perish? Not all dinosaurs were giants; some were the size of birds.
Further, why would the relatives of modern reptiles survive? True, they could abide in water for a while. Fresh water reptiles would seemingly be as doomed as dinosaurs. Salt-water reptiles, being cold-blooded, might find the sea water inhospitable in a big freeze of the hypothesized sort. Whether cold-blooded or warm-blooded, dinosaur-era precursors of modern reptiles would find food scarce. Additionally, the salt seas hosted ferocious fish, apparently.
The subsequent “Cambrian Explosion” is inexplicable, so it is presented theoretically as an event in which a godlike Mother Nature declared, “Life! Find a way!” (And it did.)
The established position is that Cro-Magnon Man actually did the cave paintings; Neanderthals were thought to have passed from the Earthly scene. Some experts suggest that the two primates existed in hostile clans during a sort of “overlap” era. Dr. Cuozzo challenged the distinction.
In the Neanderthal Age mammals might have dominated the Earth. Yet, there were certainly reptiles in all temperate and tropical zones. They might be lowly snakes and lizards, but they were present along with the giant mammoths. Could not this objective situation have inspired a reverse scenario in which the reptiles were dominating giants and mammals laying low to the ground? Where do theories come from? I believe that “sleight of hand” may be used in a pinch.
As pointed out by Dr. Cuozzo, there were portable cultural artifacts that were carried by Neanderthal clans [See Marshak, Roots of Civilization, La Madeleine artifacts]. He reasonably pointed out that some of them may well have been passed down for generations. On some of them have been carved snake images. Why would not images of snakes appear on the walls of the caves in France in which Neanderthal clans were said to have dwelled? [Being nomadic hunters, they might have established cave “cottages” in several locations adjacent to the usual roaming range of preferred game.] Although the Neanderthal rendered images of what he hunted, he also rendered images of what he saw. Snake images are one of the most persistent images found in antiquity.
Dr. Cuozzo found cave guides exclusively discussing mammals, as if no other animal family existed. He stated that all French authorities in this area of interest did the same. Tourists were shown images of bison, mammoth, elk, and the like. Apparently, no tourist ever thought to ask, “Where are the reptiles?”
His examination of the Bernifal Cave was, of course, different. Dr. Cuozzo’s knowledge of Bernifal Cave was provided in a guide book he had brought with him in which one Ann Sieveking described it as the only important cave in a certain section of southern France. She stated that it was open to the public. [Apparently, it was open to the public between 1976 and 1979.] Perhaps ominously, Michelin map entirely ignored Bernifal Cave. Ms. Sieveking had warned that a visitor would have to bring his own light, as the cave was unlit.
Dr. Cuozzo noted that an unlit public cave would not be a strong tourist draw. He inferred official discouragement and wondered what was in the cave.
Taking his wife and five children with him, Dr. Cuozzo ventured forth into rural France. He did not know the precise location of the cave. He probably hoped for guiding signs. Eventually, he and his “team” set forth on foot toward a farmhouse beyond which they hoped to find the cave entrance. They ignored warning signs.
The entrance to the cave had been blocked by sturdy wooden doors, which someone had broken through in the middle. The Cuozzo team entered. It was very dark, had a slippery floor and was 50 degrees F. They had four flashlights among them. Cautiously, they proceeded into it.
He snapped photographs of its walls as he proceeded. Later, while examining the photographs, he discovered the interesting image of the dinosaur-mammoth confrontation. He speculated that a Neanderthal had actually witnessed such a confrontation and rendered it on the wall. There was also the possibility that it was witnessed by an ancestral Neanderthal who rendered the scene to his clan, as it was undoubtedly a memorable fuss. Thereafter, the image passed down through the clan.
Dr. Cuozzo learned soon after his tour of the Bernifal Cave, the section in which he had photographed the dinosaur-mammoth confrontation had been sealed off from the public for some time.
Further, as Dr. Cuozzo’s stay in France progressed and the nature of his work more fully appreciated by authorities, he discovered that he was being followed by French police/intelligence. [This whole story would make a great movie.]
In regard to the cave paintings by Neanderthals this famous series of caves offered the French government a significant tourist draw. The established timeline could not be tampered with without calling into question all sorts of historical issues which authorities had considered settled. From the government’s point of view Dr. Cuozzo was a threat to the French economy. Allocations of revenues to important programs could not be allowed to be threatened by some American “snake oil” salesman.
On the other hand French academicians were not prepared to have established Jurassic and Pleistocene periods tinkered with. Theoretically, Neanderthals had died out before the Magdalenian period (Cro-Magnon) in which artifacts in the La Madeleine (Dordogne region), France were discovered with fine carvings, including snakes. Whether Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon denominated, these were crafted by men. The same applied to the sketches in Bernifal Cave. Establishment scientist may not want to face the fact of a drawing of a confrontation between a dinosaur and a mammoth. It rocks their world.
The reason that Dr. Cuozzo went to France was to further his studies on the Neanderthal Man by examining remnant teeth and jaw bone fragments. He had developed his own theories about Neanderthals, and this book was a rather detailed study of French specimens (as well as others). For this reason he had brought along photography and x-ray equipment. His two oldest sons helped with the equipment.
Although many scientists wanted to place Neanderthals into a separate species from Cro-Magnon, or early Man, Dr. Cuozzo provided evidence based on detailed study of the skull, jaw, and teeth that established Neanderthals as Man. He offered reasons why Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon Man should be considered basically the same people.
One of his conclusions was that Neanderthals aged much slower than contemporary mankind. Just as the human head today grows longer between the ages of 20-30 and 60-70, creating a “different-looking” man, so the even slower growth of the Neanderthals, accompanied by a much longer age, created in the very mature specimens a “primitive-looking” face and large head.
The error among paleontologists was supposing that Neanderthals died at about the age of forty. As a matter of evolutionary principle, their theories demand a progressively longer duration of life from ancient to modern times in mankind. Hence, no matter how long a Neanderthal actually lived, he died about forty, according to the establishment in science. Theory trumps facts!
There is no good reason to believe that Neanderthals could not make and use tools to create artifacts and cave drawings found along with their bone fragments. Incidentally, the fragments by which individuals have been identified often were but a single bit of skull or a single tooth – often partial. Creativity and imagination – and prejudice – have informed the final depiction of an ape man, Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon. Entities such as National Geographic can skillfully morph the “evolution of man” on monitors, using skills first hinted at by Walt Disney in his animated cartoons.
Nor is there good reason to suppose that a Neanderthal is less intelligent than George W. Bush. Because establishment scientists depict a Neanderthal as a primitive, muscular being, they feel that they are distant from his kind. Neanderthals cannot have fine skills or even average intelligence. [“They’re not like us.”] However, there is a significant gap in accumulated knowledge between the average Neanderthal and the average Bush that must be granted.
This brings me back to the battle between the dinosaur and the mammoth. If the image photographed by Dr. Jack Cuozzo captured an interesting scene he witnessed, why could the scene itself be an accurate rendering of a scene witnessed by a cave-dweller, whether he be called Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon? The drawing IS the photograph of its era.
If it is accurate, then it establishes a revolutionary change in the timeline of life on Earth. As for radiocarbon dating, and other dating alternates, inaccuracies and artistic “needs” by scientists play a disquieting role. An unwanted time range may be cast aside as “impossible” because “it doesn’t fit.”
Finally, Dr. Cuozzo related not only a story of scientific sleuthing by him, but he drew into it a possible torture/murder of a friend, strange phone calls, French police/intelligence stalking, and much more to render this real-life episode an exciting, thought-provoking tale.
calm
mischievous