Semenov is recognized as the inventor of traceology as an archaeological discipline (Семенов 1957 Semenov 1964), but its definition in Europe and the United States has been more restrictive than in Russia. Lévy, manager of the caves of Font -de-Gaume and Combarelles, for his logistical assistance. Cleyet-Merle, director of the National Museum of Prehistory of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, for allowing us to work in La Grèze cave, and G. The present study was carried out thanks to a grant from the Franco-Russian Study Center of Moscow and the support of the Artemir Associated International Laboratory. A close examination of the outline with a binocular microscope and its 3D modeling at different scales show that, despite a fresh and white bottom of some parts of the groove, there is no evidence of secondary work : all the recent features are due to the natural alteration of the wall. This has been the case with the bison of La Grèze cave, suspected to have been partly redrawn at the time of its discovery for making it more visible. Differences in the morphology of the engraved or pecked lines belonging to a same pattern can be seen as the result of distinct events.

A topic which is directly linked but which has not yet been investigated concerns their renewal. Nonetheless, some pioneer works show that the analysis of tool marks can provide useful data to rock art studies and helps to address questions about the techniques, the « chaîne opératoire » and the chronology of the pictures. The scope of traceology, as defined by S.A.Semenov who founded the discipline, was broad, but in half a century most of the studies have focused on the use wear of lithic tools.

Artistic licence microscope 3a