Ronald,

You are certainly right. The bird on a pole in the lowest part of Lascaux is not a hawk but another kind of bird resembling a pidgeon or dove. It is convenient to speak of a Hawk as it eventually became one in Egypt, but it's also a test to see if anyone is paying attention on this list. Congratulations. It's probably better to call it a "bird" on a pole. In any case it is the same icon as the bird on a pole in Egypt and I know of no other cave or site with this imagery. The combination with the dead stickman with erect penis and a similar birdhead, indicating his relationship with the bird, is also unique. The bird and the birdman can only be a representation of Sirius and Orion for a number of reasons. Together they represent father and son, in Egypt Osiris and Horus (Sopdet is the female form of Sirius, as wife of Orion; Sept is the male form).

In an article published in ‘Antiquity’, researchers Demorest Davenport and Michael A. Jochim have identified the bird as a male capercaillie grouse, which resembles a pidgeon or dove. They demonstrated that the characteristic supra-ocular comb of this species is shown on the beak of the bird itself and on the beak of the stick-figure (Demorest Davenport & Michael A. Jochim: ‘Antiquity’, 62, 1988, pp. 558-562).

They also pointed out that the stick-figure’s hands, though they look human at a superficial glance, only have four fingers each: ‘Four is the precise number of digits that a bird has. The replacement of each human hand with a four-fingered bird’s foot was a deliberate and indeed sophisticated ploy of the artist to make the image more bird-like… The humanoid is not a man and not a bird but a man/bird, if downed by the bison, apparently struck at the moment of transformation into a grouse.’ (ibid p. 561). On the other hand no toes are shown, which suggest that the man is wearing footware with even a slight upward curl, while lying fully naked.

Regards,
Ian