ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the motif of the confronted animals as it occurs in Palaeolithic art. The term 'confronted' was used very early to describe animals represented in prehistoric caves and mobile art. Confronted animals appear most frequently on objets d'usage, 'tools', and on only five bone plaquettes and two flat stones. When the Palaeolithic entrances of caves are known, confronted animals can be found both in the first part of the cave, with or very near the first representations, and in the inner part of the cave. In both the Perigordian and the Solutrean, the theme is found only amongst Bovidae and Capridae in cave art, and Elephantinae in both forms of art. Speaking of the designs on pebbles at the Abri de Rochedane, Thevenin claims that a strict choice of one type of base and decoration means that the design has a symbolic significance. The theme of confrontation is also an architectural construction.
