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Whispering sands

13 January 2001

In the 1960s, Cordwainer Smith was a star of the science-fiction firmament,
but the tales stopped in 1966 when a fatal heart attack felled the man behind
the pseudonym, Paul Linebarger, an American professor born in China and an
expert on psychological warfare. His books have been brought back into print by
fans. Now his daughter and a recording engineer have brought his voice back from
the grave with a tape on which he dictated his short story On the Sand Planet.
The sound quality remains far below a modern recording, but the two-CD set is
the closest you’ll ever…

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Lascaux Cave is a Palaeolithic cave situated in southwestern France, near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region, which houses some of the most famous examples of prehistoric cave paintings. Close to 600 paintings ??? mostly of animals - dot the interior walls of the cave in impressive compositions. Horses are the most numerous, but deer, aurochs, ibex, bison, and even some felines can also be found. Besides these paintings, which represent most of the major images, there are also around 1400 engravings of a similar order. The art, dated to c. 17,000 ??? c. 15,000 BCE, falls within the Upper Palaeolithic period and was created by the clearly skilled hands of humans living in the area at that time. The region seems to be a hotspot; many beautifully decorated caves have been discovered there. The exact meaning of the paintings at Lascaux or any of the other sites is still subject to discussion, but the prevailing view attaches a ritualistic or even spiritual component to them, hinting at the sophistication of their creators. Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979, along with other prehistoric sites in its proximity. Valley, France.

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