You now stand outside the cave at sunset, the time is now 8:56 pm and for the past few weeks, the brightest star in the sky,
Sirius (the Dog Star) has been getting lower in the south western sky
with every passing evening. Tonight (June 16th.) Sirius now becomes lost
in the twilight as it sets with the sun. The disappearing of Sirius is the signal
that the hunters have been waiting for, and activity now moves back inside
the cave. The Hall of the Bulls is the first and largest chamber in the cave. Looking around, we notice that the animals are painted on a white calcite layer, below which is a darker layer representing a horizon. At the back of the chamber, is a keyhole shaped opening connecting us with the Axial Gallery, and it is this narrow opening that marks the position of the last sighting of Sirius as it descends 'below ground' . |
Outside, night is falling, and the stars of our solstice are appearing. To the right
of the Axial opening, the setting stars of twilight are represented on the
walls of the cave. By the light of our flickering lamps, we see the six dots
forming the tight group of the Pleiades, and below this the obvious arrowhead
shape of the head of Taurus with the 'eye of the bull', Aldeberan and
the Hyades (this suggests that Taurus has been represented by a bull for
as least 18,000 years and is in fact an archaic constellation). Below this group, are a mother and calf running along our 'horizon'. They are painted in bright red, smudged to become a metaphor for the red glow of the sunset. Next are represented Orion and Gemini, the constellations now linked by the outline of our second bull; its horns reaching out to meet the stars Castor and Pollux. Orion's belt is shown by a row of dots in the correct position and angle, but containing a curious fourth star to the familiar three. It would seem impossible that such an obvious group as Orion's belt be miscounted, and although I have checked for a supernova remnant, or variable star that could have flared to naked eye magnitude, none suggests itself, and so for the moment this 'extra star' is a mystery. Directly below this however, are two more dots in the perfect position for Orion's sword as if to cement the association. |
