3. A. Leroi-Gourhan, Treasures of Prehistoric Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1967), 502. We thank Paul Hull for bringing to our attention the wealth of Paleolithic stone objects that also portray birds. See, for example, the analysis of French Paleolithic objects found in D. Buisson and G. Pinçon, “Nouvelle lecture d’un galet gravé de Gourdan et essai d’analyse des figurations d’oiseaux dans l’art paléolithique Français,” Antiquités Nationales 18–19 (1986–1987): 85–89. Buisson and Pinçon list swans, ducks, and other web-footed birds, grouse and other gallinaceous birds, cranes, bustards, stilt and other marsh species, raptors, owls, and perching birds. In an article by Stephen J. Gould, discussion of the owl discounts the possibility that the artwork was forged: the ground beneath the overhang on which it was engraved had collapsed, opening a crater that put the overhang out of reach. Gould, “Rhinos and Lions and Bears (Oh, My!),” Natural History (May): 30–34. 4. Here is the official Web site for Chauvet Cave: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/index.html (accessed August 5, 2004). 5. The following sources were helpful in our evaluation: “French Cave Yields Stone Age Art Gallery,” Science News (January 1995): 28, 52–53; J. de la Torre, Owls: Their Life and Behavior (New York: Crown, 1990), 20, 110; Fischman, “Painted Puzzles,” 614; Gould, “Lesson from the Old Masters,” 16–22, 58–59; Morell, “Stone Age Menagerie,” 54–62. 6. For argument’s sake, we could say that the stripes represent the heavy vertical markings of the ventral plumage. The ears of both owl species are long (although it is true that those of the Long-eared Owl [Moyen Duc] are held more vertically), and the range of both owl species covers Europe now and probably did 30,000 years ago. 7. Tomorrow’s viewers will probably have even more information. Researchers could find more caves painted during the Paleolithic and the bones of more owls in the vicinity, but we may never reach the point of identifying the Chauvet owl with certainty, just as we may never know whether the many painted hand prints with their missing fingers, like those found at Cosquer Cave in large numbers (see Plate 17), represent mutilations, sign language, or even evidence of widespread frostbite, but the menagerie recorded on the walls of Chauvet Cave tell us one thing with certainty that changes our view of our ancestors: 30,000 years ago they could depict entire scenes and events--and not just in silhouette--like the fight recorded between rhinoceroses found not far from the Chauvet owl. E. H. Gombrich, “The Miracle at Chauvet,” New York Review of Books (November 14, 1996): 9–10.