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France Celebrates 16,000-Year-Old Prehistoric Treasure – Lascaux Cave

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By Georgina Hutchinson

September 27, 2020
10:40 pm
Los Angeles, CA

The “Sistine Chapel of prehistory” – one of the world’s most astonishing archaeological discoveries occurred 80 years ago this month when four French teenage boys led by their dog, stumbled upon a hole in the ground in the woods near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region of France. The boys entered what revealed itself as a narrow shaft about 15 meters deep (approx 50 ft) to a cave whose walls were covered with incredible paintings of animals, like nothing they had ever seen. The extraordinary discovery of the Lascaux cave paintings links us with a prehistoric world, one whose art seemed to point to the mysterious and holy. The paintings, now known as some of the most important Upper Palaeolithic art, are estimated to be around 20,000

The boys entered what revealed itself as a narrow shaft about 15 meters deep (approx 50 ft) to a cave whose walls were covered with incredible paintings of animals, like nothing they had ever seen.

The extraordinary discovery of the Lascaux cave paintings links us with a prehistoric world, one whose art seemed to point to the mysterious and holy. The paintings, now known as some of the most important Upper Palaeolithic art, are estimated to be around 20,000 years old.

Frech-Lascaux Cave-Original — The 1,200 visitors per day threatened the 20,000-year-old paintings. They were therefore closed to visitors in 1963.

This ancient artwork shows numerous depictions of beasts such as horses, deer, and oxen and the now extinct species of aurochs. Drawings of human figures are much less common and appear as anthropomorphic figures or anatomical segments. The paintings hold a mythical and mysterious quality and the cave was dubbed the “Sistine Chapel of prehistory” by Abbe Breuil, the first expert to enter and examine the artwork soon after its discovery.

The Palaeolithic illustrations found in the Lascaux cave represent the most unique of their kind in the world in terms of quantity, color, and quality and are a key element in our attempts to understand what life was like for prehistoric humans.

The Lascaux cave became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 but has been closed to the public since 1963 due to serious preservation concerns for the wall paintings. In 1983 replicas of the site were built near the caves allowing close to 300,000 visitors a year to appreciate the reproduction of this important prehistoric artwork.

To mark the 80 years since the discovery of the Lascaux cave on 12th September 1940, celebrations were held in the village of Montignac this September with reduced attendance due to coronavirus.

The trail where the boys, Simon Coencas, Marcel Ravidat, Georges Agniel, and Jacques Marsal, first discovered the cave was commemorated with the inauguration of a 4.5 km-long walking loop following the path they took before they came across the prehistoric treasure.

Tributes were paid to the four friends and in particular Simon Coencas, the youngest and last surviving member of the group, as well as Monique Peytrial, the artist who spent over a decade copying the ancient cave art, both of whom passed away this year. Monique Peytrial’s paintings were included in the first Lascaux II facsimile built in 1983.

Frech-cave-paintings-Full — From the flat roof, a path leads down the hill to the entrance of an artificial cave, eight meters (26 feet) under the earth, which reproduces the famous Lascaux Caves.

To mark the anniversary of the discovery, The Musée national de la Préhistoire des Eyzies is also showing an exhibition of objects from the Lascaux cave as well as showcasing a gathering of testimonies surrounding the discovery and its history from September through to the end of March 2021.

The current health endemic has reduced the number of visitors to the site by almost half this year however, the life-size replica of Lascaux IV is now open to the public again under precautions.