Prehistoric Cave Paintings

An Exploration of the Discovery at Lascaux, and Themes of Paleolithic

Era Cave Paintings

Cave Paintings: The Prehistoric Novel

• As you may already know, before man had a written language, stories and history were passed down in other ways. We will explore cave paintings today as the prehistoric way of recording important events.

The Discovery at Lascaux

• On September 12, 1940, four teenagers stumbled upon a major discovery. When an old pine tree fell down, it showed a hole in the ground under its roots. The teenagers discovered the hole, went down inside of it, and found the historic cave paintings at Lascaux. It was thought that these paintings had been done originally more than 17,000 years ago.

The Exploration Continues

• Over the next days and weeks, months and years, the caves were explored, and several separate themes and caves were found. They are The Great Hall of the Bulls, The Painted Gallery, The Lateral Passage, The Chamber of Engravings, The Main Gallery, The Chamber of Felines, and the Shaft of the Dead Man.

A Painting From the Hall of the Bulls at Lascaux

An Image From the Painted Gallery at Lascaux

The Closing of the Cave

• In 1955, mold and plant life was noticed growing on the cave walls, which was dangerous for the cave paintings. In 1963, after several studies were done, it was decided that the cave would be closed to visitors. Once the visits to the cave had been cancelled, the causes of the changes were eliminated, and the original climate was restored. The Lascaux cave art returned to the state it was in on the day of its discovery. A life sized model, Lascaux II was to be opened, so visitors could still experience the cave. It remains open today.

Interpreting Cave Paintings

Cave Painting Themes

• Most cave paintings have these major themes: – Animals

– Human representations

– signs

What Do You See in This Picture?

• People• Animals• Spears/Weapons• What do you think

this picture might represent?

What Story Do You See in This

Painting?

Other Cave Painting at Lascaux

More Images From Lascaux

Resources

• This slide show was compiled using the resource:

• http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/index.html

• For more information and great activities, as well as extra credit, visit this website, and write a one page summary of what you learned, in your own words.