cave paintings of lascaux

Located in southwestern FranceDiscovered by four teenage boys in 1940

They kept it secret for a week before telling their teacherMade around 20,000 BCBest known example of Paleolithic Art (Late Stone Age)

180,000 years after homo sapiens, 8,000 years before Egyptians

Before agriculture, no images of plantsPrior to a known language, an important building block

towards communicationPaint was made of available mineralsApplied to cave walls with matted hair or blown on with

hallowed out bones

Cave Paintings

of Lascaux

Cave contains over 2000 paintings and engravings of animals, human figures, and abstract signs

Most animals are horses or cattleOne bull painting is 17 feet long, the largest

cave painting found to dateThe painting shown depicts early attempts of

creating perspective.Various interpretations:

Ritual paintings, celebration or accounts of hunting trips, to improve future hunting trips

The cave complex was opened to the public in 1948. By 1955, the carbon dioxide produced by 1,200

visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art.

Tour the caves and see their current condition: http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/00.xml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jk8TAY5T8Mo