The Lascaux Cave Paintings


By

Jill Herndon

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The caves are located near a village called Montignac, that is located in southwestern France. Inside the caves, are found the most famous Paleolithic paintings. These paintings are about 17,000 years old.  Therefore, they are the earliest examples of art work made by man.

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The cave was discovered on September 12, 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas, as well as Marcel's dog, Robot. They were walking in the woods, when all of the sudden their dog disappeared. He had fallen into a hole in the ground. There had been a storm several days before and the high winds had blown down many trees. The exposed roots of the trees created an opening into the ground below.One of the boys climbed down inside the hole and discovered the paintings.

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The most famous section of the cave is The Great Hall of the Bulls. One of the bulls is 17 feet long and is  the largest animal discovered so far in cave art. The bulls  also appear to be painted in Motion.


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The cave has almost 2,000 figures. They can be placed in three different groups. The groups are animals, human figures and abstract signs. The images were painted onto the walls using mineral pigments, charcoal from burned wood or scraped into the walls using stone, shells and bones. The halls of the caves were illuminated using candles that were made from animal fat.

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In 1998, no longer were visitors allowed to tour the cave. The high powered lights and air contitioning system created a new climate for fungus and mold to grow. As of 2008, scientists were and are still trying to keep the black mold from damaging the fragile paintings pigments. Scientists and preservationists are only allowed inside the cave to monitor climate conditions for short periods of time. A replica of the inside of the cave was built for tourists to visit and is called Lascaux Two. Lascaux two, is a copy of two of the cave halls called the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery . It was opened in 1983 and if about 175 yards from the original.


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Credits

Text:

www.visual-arts-cork.com/.../lascaux-cave-paintings.

www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0837340.html

Images:

http://www.francethisway.com/history/prehistoricfrance1.php

  http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterOne/LascauxCave.htm

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