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68-459: It is only in the last period (1990–1991) of the progressive underwater explorations that the cave divers emerged in the non-submerged part of the cave. The prehistoric paintings were not immediately discovered by the divers to first emerge from the other side of the sump. The cave was named after Henri Cosquer, when its existence was made public in 1991, after three divers became lost in the cave and died. The cave can now be accessed by divers through

136-661: A type section , Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), for the upper Pleistocene/Holocene boundary ( i.e. the upper boundary). The proposed section is the North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core 75° 06' N 42° 18' W. The lower boundary of the Pleistocene Series is formally defined magnetostratigraphically as the base of the Matuyama (C2r) chronozone , isotopic stage 103. Above this point there are notable extinctions of

204-583: A 175 m (574 ft) long tunnel; the entrance is located 37 m (121 ft) below sea level, which has risen since the cave was inhabited. During the glacial periods of the Pleistocene , the shore of the Mediterranean was several kilometers to the south and the sea level up to 100 m (330 ft) below the entrance of the cave. Henri Cosquer, a professional diver in Cassis , located

272-458: A broader ministry in charge of several governmental sectors. Hence, the ministry has gone through a number of different names: The Ministry of Culture is made up of a variety of internal divisions, including: The Ministry has access to one inter-ministerial division: The Ministry also runs three "delegations" (administrative boards): Finally, the Ministry shares in the management of

340-611: A change from low-amplitude glacial cycles with a dominant periodicity of 41,000 years to asymmetric high-amplitude cycles dominated by a periodicity of 100,000 years. However, a 2020 study concluded that ice age terminations might have been influenced by obliquity since the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, which caused stronger summers in the Northern Hemisphere . Glaciation in the Pleistocene

408-574: A deviation from today's annual mean temperature, taken as zero. This sort of graph is based on another isotope ratio versus time. Ratios are converted to a percentage difference from the ratio found in standard mean ocean water (SMOW). The graph in either form appears as a waveform with overtones . One half of a period is a Marine isotopic stage (MIS). It indicates a glacial (below zero) or an interglacial (above zero). Overtones are stadials or interstadials. According to this evidence, Earth experienced 102 MIS stages beginning at about 2.588 Ma BP in

476-421: A few regions had been studied and the names were relatively few. Today the geologists of different nations are taking more of an interest in Pleistocene glaciology. As a consequence, the number of names is expanding rapidly and will continue to expand. Many of the advances and stadials remain unnamed. Also, the terrestrial evidence for some of them has been erased or obscured by larger ones, but evidence remains from

544-552: A lamp breakdown forced him to retreat, and he was left with a good scare. In June 1990, Cosquer asked for the help of two Belgian cave divers , the brothers Bernard and Marc Van Espen, who had come to dive in Cassis. Following Cosquer's instructions, the two brothers found the entrance of the gallery at -37 metres at the foot of the Pointe de la Voile, near Cap Morgiou. They followed the ascending gallery, swimming slowly and carefully near

612-599: A more detailed exploration of the unflooded part of the cave. Gogan saw the outline of a hand on a wall, and Oriol hypothesized it was a cave painting . This discovery, as disconcerting as it was unexpected, prompted the four divers to return and actively search for other traces. Several dives in July and August 1991 enabled them to discover cave paintings and to make films and photos with the help of Thierry Pelissier and Gilles Sourice (Fanny Broadcast – Les films du soleil). On September 1, 1991, three accidental fatalities occurred in

680-578: A team of Russian scientists in collaboration with Princeton University announced that they had brought two female nematodes frozen in permafrost , from around 42,000 years ago, back to life. The two nematodes, at the time, were the oldest confirmed living animals on the planet. The evolution of anatomically modern humans took place during the Pleistocene. At the beginning of the Pleistocene Paranthropus species were still present, as well as early human ancestors, but during

748-781: Is estimated that, at maximum glacial extent, 30% of the Earth's surface was covered by ice. In addition, a zone of permafrost stretched southward from the edge of the glacial sheet, a few hundred kilometres in North America , and several hundred in Eurasia . The mean annual temperature at the edge of the ice was −6 °C (21 °F); at the edge of the permafrost, 0 °C (32 °F). Each glacial advance tied up huge volumes of water in continental ice sheets 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,900–9,800 ft) thick, resulting in temporary sea-level drops of 100 metres (300 ft) or more over

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816-459: Is no systematic correspondence between pluvials to glacials, however. Moreover, regional pluvials do not correspond to each other globally. For example, some have used the term "Riss pluvial" in Egyptian contexts. Any coincidence is an accident of regional factors. Only a few of the names for pluvials in restricted regions have been stratigraphically defined. The sum of transient factors acting at

884-637: Is represented by art consisting of 65 hand stencils , 44 in black and 21 in red. Art from the more recent period dates to 19,000 years BP (the Solutrean Era) and features much more complex depictions of various animals and human figures. In total there are 177 animals drawings found in the cave; these include 63 horses , 28 ibex , 17 deer , 10 bison , and 7 aurochs . There is also the more unusual depiction of 16 marine animals including 9 seals and 3 great auks as well as some jellyfish and various figures which could be either fish or cetaceans . Of

952-626: The 1st arrondissement of Paris on the Rue de Valois . It is headed by the Minister of Culture, a cabinet member. The current officeholder has been Rachida Dati since 11 January 2024. Deriving from the Italian and Burgundian courts of the Renaissance , the notion that the state had a key role to play in the sponsoring of artistic production and that the arts were linked to national prestige

1020-659: The Alpine ice sheet on the Alps . Scattered domes stretched across Siberia and the Arctic shelf. The northern seas were ice-covered. South of the ice sheets large lakes accumulated because outlets were blocked and the cooler air slowed evaporation. When the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, north-central North America was completely covered by Lake Agassiz . Over a hundred basins, now dry or nearly so, were overflowing in

1088-640: The National Centre of Cinema (Centre national de la cinématographie, CNC), a public institution. The Alliance française is run by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs . On the national level, the Ministry also runs: The Ministry of Culture is responsible for, or a major sponsor of, a number of annual cultural activities, including the Fête de la Musique , the Maison de la culture de Grenoble ,

1156-662: The Ruwenzori Range in east and central Africa were larger. Glaciers existed in the mountains of Ethiopia and to the west in the Atlas Mountains . In the northern hemisphere, many glaciers fused into one. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered the North American northwest; the east was covered by the Laurentide . The Fenno-Scandian ice sheet rested on northern Europe , including much of Great Britain;

1224-437: The calcareous nannofossils : Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster surculus . The Pleistocene covers the recent period of repeated glaciations. The name Plio-Pleistocene has, in the past, been used to mean the last ice age. Formerly, the boundary between the two epochs was drawn at the time when the foraminiferal species Hyalinea baltica first appeared in the marine section at La Castella, Calabria, Italy. However,

1292-477: The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago. Over 11 major glacial events have been identified, as well as many minor glacial events. A major glacial event is a general glacial excursion, termed a "glacial." Glacials are separated by "interglacials". During a glacial, the glacier experiences minor advances and retreats. The minor excursion is a "stadial"; times between stadials are "interstadials". These events are defined differently in different regions of

1360-599: The woolly rhinoceros , various giraffids , such as the Sivatherium ; ground sloths , Irish elk , cave lions , cave bears , Gomphotheres , American lions , dire wolves , and short-faced bears , began late in the Pleistocene and continued into the Holocene. Neanderthals also became extinct during this period. At the end of the last ice age, cold-blooded animals, smaller mammals like wood mice , migratory birds, and swifter animals like whitetail deer had replaced

1428-724: The "Tarantian"). In addition to these international subdivisions, various regional subdivisions are often used. In 2009 the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) confirmed a change in time period for the Pleistocene, changing the start date from 1.806 to 2.588 million years BP, and accepted the base of the Gelasian as the base of the Pleistocene, namely the base of the Monte San Nicola GSSP . The start date has now been rounded down to 2.580 million years BP. The IUGS has yet to approve

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1496-606: The "grandeur" ('greatness') of post-war France. To this end, he created numerous regional cultural centres throughout France and actively sponsored the arts. Malraux's artistic tastes included the modern arts and the avant-garde, but on the whole he remained conservative. Under President François Mitterrand the Minister of Culture was Jack Lang who showed himself to be far more open to popular cultural production, including jazz , rock and roll , rap music , graffiti , bande dessinées , fashion and food . His famous phrase "économie et culture, même combat" ('economy and culture: it's

1564-569: The Early Pleistocene Gelasian . Early Pleistocene stages were shallow and frequent. The latest were the most intense and most widely spaced. By convention, stages are numbered from the Holocene, which is MIS1. Glacials receive an even number and interglacials receive an odd number. The first major glacial was MIS2-4 at about 85–11 ka BP. The largest glacials were 2, 6, 12, and 16. The warmest interglacials were 1, 5, 9 and 11. For matching of MIS numbers to named stages, see under

1632-402: The Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations . Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences , the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with

1700-409: The Earth's surface is cyclical: climate, ocean currents and other movements, wind currents, temperature, etc. The waveform response comes from the underlying cyclical motions of the planet, which eventually drag all the transients into harmony with them. The repeated glaciations of the Pleistocene were caused by the same factors. The Mid-Pleistocene Transition , approximately one million years ago, saw

1768-479: The North American west. Lake Bonneville , for example, stood where Great Salt Lake now does. In Eurasia, large lakes developed as a result of the runoff from the glaciers. Rivers were larger, had a more copious flow, and were braided . African lakes were fuller, apparently from decreased evaporation. Deserts, on the other hand, were drier and more extensive. Rainfall was lower because of the decreases in oceanic and other evaporation. It has been estimated that during

1836-496: The Pleistocene's overall climate could be characterised as a continuous El Niño with trade winds in the south Pacific weakening or heading east, warm air rising near Peru , warm water spreading from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, and other El Niño markers. Pleistocene climate was marked by repeated glacial cycles in which continental glaciers pushed to the 40th parallel in some places. It

1904-805: The Pleistocene, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet thinned by at least 500 meters, and that thinning since the Last Glacial Maximum is less than 50 meters and probably started after ca 14 ka. During the 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene, numerous cold phases called glacials ( Quaternary ice age ), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in Europe and North America, occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and shorter interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold episode of

1972-411: The Pleistocene, the plates upon which they sit probably having moved no more than 100 km (62 mi) relative to each other since the beginning of the period. In glacial periods, the sea level would drop by up to 120 m (390 ft) lower than today during peak glaciation, exposing large areas of the present continental shelf as dry land. According to Mark Lynas (through collected data),

2040-633: The Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable depending on the glacial cycle, with the sea levels being up to 120 metres (390 ft) lower than present at peak glaciation, allowing the connection of Asia and North America via Beringia and the covering of most of northern North America by the Laurentide Ice Sheet . Charles Lyell introduced the term "Pleistocene" in 1839 to describe strata in Sicily that had at least 70% of their molluscan fauna still living today. This distinguished it from

2108-581: The Service régional de l'archéologie (Regional Archaeological Service) under the Ministry of Culture . An expedition took place from 18 to 20 September 1991, with the assistance of the DRASM vessel, the Archéonaute. It was conducted by Jean Courtin, a French prehistorian and experienced diver, and Jean Clottes , a French specialist in cave art. When the discovery was announced, doubts were raised about

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2176-535: The Younger Dryas is the official start of the current Holocene Epoch . Although it is considered an epoch, the Holocene is not significantly different from previous interglacial intervals within the Pleistocene. In the ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages , the Gelasian , Calabrian , Chibanian (previously the unofficial "Middle Pleistocene"), and Upper Pleistocene (unofficially

2244-706: The appearance of Homo sapiens about 300,000 years ago. Artifacts associated with modern human behavior are unambiguously attested starting 40,000–50,000 years ago. According to mitochondrial timing techniques, modern humans migrated from Africa after the Riss glaciation in the Middle Palaeolithic during the Eemian Stage , spreading all over the ice-free world during the late Pleistocene. A 2005 study posits that humans in this migration interbred with archaic human forms already outside of Africa by

2312-527: The articles for those names. Both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern but with many more large land mammals such as Mammoths , Mastodons , Diprotodons , Smilodons , tigers , lions , Aurochs , short-faced bears , giant sloths , species within Gigantopithecus and others. Isolated landmasses such as Australia , Madagascar , New Zealand and islands in the Pacific saw

2380-527: The arts (visual, plastic, theatrical, musical, dance, architectural, literary, televisual and cinematographic) on national soil and abroad. Its budget is mainly dedicated to the management of the Archives Nationales (six national sites and hundred decentralised storage facilities) and the regional Maisons de la culture (culture centres). Its main office is in the Palais-Royal in

2448-566: The authenticity of the figures. Various French prehistorians, such as Brigitte and Gilles Delluc or Denis Vialou, expressed reservations. In June 1992, a new mission allowed, among other things, the shooting of a film, The Secret of Cosquer Cave . From 2001 to 2005, five programmed archaeological research operations were organised under the responsibility of Luc Vanrell (IMMADRAS (Société de travaux sous marins) / DRAC PACA / LAMPEA (LAboratoire Méditerranéen de Préhistoire Europe Afrique)), then five others from 2010 to 2015 (no operation in 2012) under

2516-1062: The building of the Bibliothèque nationale , the new Louvre , the Arab World Institute , the Musée d'Orsay , the Opéra-Bastille , the " Grande Arche " of La Défense (the Parisian business quarter), the new seat of the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance , the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre , and the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie and Cité de la Musique , both in the Parc de la Villette . The Ministry of Jacques Toubon

2584-581: The cave. Henri Cosquer also claimed a reward and the recovery of part of the proceeds from the sale of books of photographs of the cave. Four-fifths of the cave were permanently or periodically submerged by sea water destroying any cave wall art in those locations. Nearly 500 instances of cave art remain which date back to two distinct periods during the Upper Paleolithic . The first phase, from around 27,000 years BP (the Gravettian Era),

2652-615: The cave. Three divers from Grenoble did not find the exit of the access gallery (175 m). Henri Cosquer and Yann Gogan participated in the recovery of the bodies of the three victims in the gallery. Two days later, on 3 September 1991, Cosquer declared the cave to the Maritime Affairs Department in Marseille . The file was transmitted to the Direction des recherches archéologiques sous-marines (DRASM) and then to

2720-411: The ceiling of the gallery to avoid lifting the particles of silt and fine clay sediments covering the floor in order to not compromise the underwater visibility (to avoid silt out ). They arrived at the underground lake topped by the air bell seen by Cosquer in 1985. Their guide line being too short, the brothers were forced to turn back in order to exit safely by following their guide line towards

2788-538: The climate variation more extreme. The Late Pleistocene witnessed the spread of modern humans outside of Africa as well as the extinction of all other human species. Humans also spread to the Australian continent and the Americas for the first time, co-incident with the extinction of most large-bodied animals in these regions. The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were continued in

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2856-419: The drowned entrance to the cave, which had been indicated to him by a diver friend in 1985. That same year, he progressively explored the submersed gallery alone and then with a friend and diving instructor from his club until he reached the " stratum " (the part where the gallery narrows and turns 90° to open into the underground lake). Cosquer returned alone once in 1985 and discovered the underground lake, but

2924-540: The end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology . The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος ( pleîstos ) 'most' and καινός ( kainós ; Latinized as cænus ) 'new'. At the end of the preceding Pliocene, the previously isolated North and South American continents were joined by the Isthmus of Panama , causing a faunal interchange between

2992-618: The entire surface of the Earth. During interglacial times, such as at present, drowned coastlines were common, mitigated by isostatic or other emergent motion of some regions. The effects of glaciation were global. Antarctica was ice-bound throughout the Pleistocene as well as the preceding Pliocene. The Andes were covered in the south by the Patagonian ice cap. There were glaciers in New Zealand and Tasmania . The current decaying glaciers of Mount Kenya , Mount Kilimanjaro , and

3060-418: The entrance of the gallery without being able to emerge in the bell. At this stage, the non-submerged part of the cave had still not been explored. In June 1991, Marc Van Espen returned to Cassis. On June 24, he dove again with Henri Cosquer, both of them determined to finally go to the end of this cave. On this occasion, Marc Van Espen achieved the installation of the last section of the guide line essential to

3128-782: The evolution of large birds and even reptiles such as the Elephant bird , moa , Haast's eagle , Quinkana , Megalania and Meiolania . The severe climatic changes during the Ice Age had major impacts on the fauna and flora. With each advance of the ice, large areas of the continents became depopulated, and plants and animals retreating southwards in front of the advancing glacier faced tremendous stress. The most severe stress resulted from drastic climatic changes, reduced living space, and curtailed food supply. A major extinction event of large mammals ( megafauna ), which included mammoths , mastodons , saber-toothed cats , glyptodons ,

3196-414: The glacial range, which have their own glacial history depending on latitude, terrain and climate. There is a general correspondence between glacials in different regions. Investigators often interchange the names if the glacial geology of a region is in the process of being defined. However, it is generally incorrect to apply the name of a glacial in one region to another. For most of the 20th century, only

3264-450: The historical terminology was established. Corresponding to the terms glacial and interglacial, the terms pluvial and interpluvial are in use (Latin: pluvia , rain). A pluvial is a warmer period of increased rainfall; an interpluvial is of decreased rainfall. Formerly a pluvial was thought to correspond to a glacial in regions not iced, and in some cases it does. Rainfall is cyclical also. Pluvials and interpluvials are widespread. There

3332-500: The human figures there are numerous sexual symbols but also one example of "the killed man" motif which can be seen in other caves such as at Lascaux . Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( / ˈ p l aɪ s t ə ˌ s iː n , - s t oʊ -/ PLY -stə-seen, -⁠stoh- ; referred to colloquially as the Ice Age ) is the geological epoch that lasted from c.  2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning

3400-622: The large amounts of material moved about by glaciers. Less common are cave deposits, travertines and volcanic deposits (lavas, ashes). Pleistocene marine deposits are found primarily in shallow marine basins mostly (but with important exceptions) in areas within a few tens of kilometres of the modern shoreline. In a few geologically active areas such as the Southern California coast, Pleistocene marine deposits may be found at elevations of several hundred metres. The modern continents were essentially at their present positions during

3468-537: The late Pleistocene, incorporating archaic human genetic material into the modern human gene pool. Ministry of Culture (France) The Ministry of Culture ( French : Ministère de la Culture ) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the monuments historiques . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of

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3536-470: The lower Palaeolithic they disappeared, and the only hominin species found in fossilic records is Homo erectus for much of the Pleistocene. Acheulean lithics appear along with Homo erectus , some 1.8 million years ago, replacing the more primitive Oldowan industry used by A. garhi and by the earliest species of Homo . The Middle Paleolithic saw more varied speciation within Homo , including

3604-478: The megafauna and migrated north. Late Pleistocene bighorn sheep were more slender and had longer legs than their descendants today. Scientists believe that the change in predator fauna after the late Pleistocene extinctions resulted in a change of body shape as the species adapted for increased power rather than speed. The extinctions hardly affected Africa but were especially severe in North America where native horses and camels were wiped out. In July 2018,

3672-581: The older Pliocene Epoch , which Lyell had originally thought to be the youngest fossil rock layer. He constructed the name "Pleistocene" ('most new' or 'newest') from the Greek πλεῖστος ( pleīstos ) 'most' and καινός ( kainós ( Latinized as cænus ) 'new'). This contrasts with the immediately preceding Pliocene ("newer", from πλείων ( pleíōn , "more") and kainós ) and the immediately subsequent Holocene ("wholly new" or "entirely new", from ὅλος ( hólos , "whole") and kainós ) epoch , which extends to

3740-465: The present time. The Pleistocene has been dated from 2.580 million (±0.005) to 11,700 years BP with the end date expressed in radiocarbon years as 10,000 carbon-14 years BP. It covers most of the latest period of repeated glaciation , up to and including the Younger Dryas cold spell. The end of the Younger Dryas has been dated to about 9700 BCE (11,700 calendar years BP). The end of

3808-417: The ratio of O to O (two isotopes of oxygen ) by mass (measured by a mass spectrometer ) present in the calcite of oceanic core samples is used as a diagnostic of ancient ocean temperature change and therefore of climate change. Cold oceans are richer in O , which is included in the tests of the microorganisms ( foraminifera ) contributing the calcite. A more recent version of

3876-570: The revised definition of the Quaternary , by pushing back the start date of the Pleistocene to 2.58 Ma, results in the inclusion of all the recent repeated glaciations within the Pleistocene. Radiocarbon dating is considered to be inaccurate beyond around 50,000 years ago. Marine isotope stages (MIS) derived from Oxygen isotopes are often used for giving approximate dates. Pleistocene non-marine sediments are found primarily in fluvial deposits , lakebeds, slope and loess deposits as well as in

3944-467: The safety for progression into the immersed part of the cave. Their incursion into the cave only lasted about thirty minutes and only allowed them to briefly explore the first room to which the sump gives direct access. A few days later, on July 9, 1991, Cosquer decided to explore the cave to estimate its extent with his friends and instructors of his diving club : Cendrine Cosquer (his niece), Yann Gogan and Pascale Oriol. During this dive, they conducted

4012-408: The same direction, with the collaboration of Michel Olive (DRAC PACA / LAMPEA). The Ministry of Culture and Henri Cosquer are involved in a dispute, which is based on the law on preventive archaeology of 17 January 2001, which grants the inventor compensation – a lump-sum payment or a 30-year profit-sharing scheme – paid by the operator on the basis of the evaluation of the archaeological interest of

4080-569: The same fight') is representative of his commitment to cultural democracy and to active national sponsorship and participation in cultural production. In addition to the creation of the Fête de la Musique and overseeing the French Revolution bicentennial (1989), he was in charge of the massive architectural program of the François Mitterrand years (the so-called Grands travaux ; 'Great Works') that gave permission for

4148-407: The sampling process makes use of modern glacial ice cores. Although less rich in O than seawater, the snow that fell on the glacier year by year nevertheless contained O and O in a ratio that depended on the mean annual temperature. Temperature and climate change are cyclical when plotted on a graph of temperature versus time. Temperature coordinates are given in the form of

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4216-649: The sole factor responsible for the variations in climate since they explain neither the long-term cooling trend over the Plio-Pleistocene nor the millennial variations in the Greenland Ice Cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger events and Heinrich events. Milankovitch pacing seems to best explain glaciation events with periodicity of 100,000, 40,000, and 20,000 years. Such a pattern seems to fit the information on climate change found in oxygen isotope cores. In oxygen isotope ratio analysis, variations in

4284-421: The study of cyclical climate changes. The glacials in the following tables show historical usages, are a simplification of a much more complex cycle of variation in climate and terrain, and are generally no longer used. These names have been abandoned in favour of numeric data because many of the correlations were found to be either inexact or incorrect and more than four major glacials have been recognised since

4352-764: The two regions and changing ocean circulation patterns, with the onset of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere occurring around 2.7 million years ago. During the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.8 Ma), archaic humans of the genus Homo originated in Africa and spread throughout Afro-Eurasia . The end of the Early Pleistocene is marked by the Mid-Pleistocene Transition , with the cyclicity of glacial cycles changing from 41,000-year cycles to asymmetric 100,000-year cycles, making

4420-543: Was a series of glacials and interglacials, stadials and interstadials, mirroring periodic climate changes. The main factor at work in climate cycling is now believed to be Milankovitch cycles . These are periodic variations in regional and planetary solar radiation reaching the Earth caused by several repeating changes in the Earth's motion. The effects of Milankovitch cycles were enhanced by various positive feedbacks related to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and Earth's albedo. Milankovitch cycles cannot be

4488-599: Was created by Charles de Gaulle in 1959 and the first officeholder was the writer André Malraux . Malraux was responsible for realising the goals of the droit à la culture ('right to culture'), an idea which had been incorporated in the Constitution of France and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), by democratising access to culture, while also achieving the Gaullist aim of elevating

4556-411: Was found in France from at least the 16th century on. During the pre-revolutionary period, these ideas are apparent in such things as the creation of the Académie française , the Académie de peinture et de sculpture and other state-sponsored institutions of artistic production, and through the cultural policies of Louis XIV 's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert . The modern post of Minister of Culture

4624-588: Was notable for a number of laws (the " Toubon Laws ") enacted for the preservation of the French language , both in advertisements (all ads must include a French translation of foreign words) and on the radio (35% of songs on French radio stations must be in French), ostensibly in reaction to the presence of English. The following people were appointed Minister of Culture of France: Since the French constitution does not identify specific ministers (merely speaking of "the minister in charge of" this or that), each government may label each ministry as they wish, or even have

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