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Okla-homey
9/12/2006, 05:53 AM
September 12, 1940: Lascaux cave paintings discovered

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3052/bbbbbbbbbbbbbuntitledlb7.png (http://imageshack.us)

Sixty-six years ago today, during WWII near Montignac, a collection of prehistoric cave paintings are discovered by four flashlight bearing teenagers who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog down a narrow entrance into a cavern.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4523/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb01p02xtk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings, among the very oldest human artwork every found, consist mostly of animal representations, and are among the finest examples of art from the Upper Paleolithic period.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4716/bbbbbbbbbbbbcavepaintinglrt1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

First studied by the French archaeologist Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil, the Lascaux grotto consists of a main cavern 66 feet wide and 16 feet high. The walls of the cavern are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8967/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb453pxbreuilwe3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Henri Breuil (and his cat)

The pictures depict in excellent detail numerous types of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, cattle, cats, and what appear to be mythical creatures. There is only one human figure depicted in the cave: a bird-headed man with an erect hoo-hoo. Archaeologists believe that the cave was used over a long period of time as a center for hunting and religious rites.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2673/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbblascauxwellscenere6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Only human figure depicted at Lascaux. The humanoid obviously really enjoyed being around buffalo

The Lascaux grotto was opened to the public in 1948 but was closed in 1963 because artificial lights had faded the vivid colors of the paintings and the light combined with moisture from the tourists breath caused algae to grow over some of them.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5896/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbmontignacat7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Montignac

A replica of the Lascaux cave was opened nearby in 1983 and receives tens of thousands of visitors annually.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/515/insane7zozw3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

StoopTroup
9/12/2006, 06:46 AM
Those French were funny looking back then too.

12
9/12/2006, 09:39 AM
I thought that second pic was a sculpture of the human.

OCUDad
9/12/2006, 10:00 AM
Can't be French. There's no white flag.