Cave Paintings of Lascaux
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Located in southwestern France Discovered by four teenage boys in 1940 They kept it secret for a week before telling their teacher Made around 20,000 BC Best known example of Paleolithic Art (Late Stone Age) 180,000 years after homo sapiens, 8,000 years before Egyptians Before agriculture, no images of plants Prior to a known language, an important building block towards communication Paint was made of available minerals Applied to cave walls with matted hair or blown on with hallowed out bones Cave Paintings of Lascaux
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Cave Paintings of Lascaux. Located in southwestern France Discovered by four teenage boys in 1940 They kept it secret for a week before telling their teacher Made around 20,000 BC Best known example of Paleolithic Art (Late Stone Age) - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of 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
