For at least two reasons, the Cosquer Cave near Marseille is amazing - firstly for what's in it, secondly for the story of its discovery.
Penguins, seals, horses, bison and aurochs, all in one space. Painted of course, by cave dwellers who lived there up to 27,000 years ago. My notions of pre-history are a bit vague, the various ages merging into a sameness in my mind, populated by our grunting, gesticulating forefathers, gathered round a fire clad in bearskins. But to be more exact, that's the paleolithic, which stretched for 2.5 million years before gradually giving way to the much shorter mesolithic, which itself gave way to the neolithic. Apart from painting, paleolithic people developed rudimentary stone tools and a belief in the afterlife.
The paintings in the cave are exceptionally well-preserved, mainly because it was cut off from the open air when the sea level rose about 10,000 years ago, sealing the entrance beneath 35 metres of water.
Unclebarned https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32354212
It would take a brave soul - and an experienced diver - to go into that tunnel, which may explain why the cave was undiscovered for so long. That soul was Henri Cosquer, who first navigated the tunnel in 1985, and then, with a few select companions, went back many times over the next six years. No one else knew of the cave until three divers died there in circumstances never fully explained. A few days later, unable to keep it secret any longer, Cosquer reported his discovery to the Department of Archaeological Research.
Was there any wrongdoing on Cosquer's part? He wasn't implicated in the death of the divers, and has always maintained that his aim was to study the cave, not derive any profit from it. No charges were ever brought against him, and today he is hailed as the intrepid diver who brought to light the unique cultural heritage that bears his name. Naturally, the original cave has been sealed off, but in 2022, a replica will be visible in the MUCEM museum in Marseille.
The story of the Cosquer Cave (with the diver's name changed to Jules Bisquet) gets a significant mention in Calisson Calamity, which also opens with the death of two divers near Marseille. How did they die and why? That too is a mystery - at least until Sophie Kiesser investigates. But even she is surprised by the course that events then take...
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