SEP 12, 1940, In France during WWII, the Lascaux network of caves are discovered revealing over 600 wall & ceiling paintings of the Upper Paleolithic era, consisting largely of animals such as horses, cattle, deer, bears & feline, and of handprints. With an age dated back to 22,000yrs old, the artistic technique used early forms of brushes (hair, moss) & tubes (hollow bones, reeds), with the paint being from mineral pigments (iron oxides & charcoal) mixed with animal fat, plant sap, groundwater, and possible also spit, urine & blood. With the colors primarily red, yellow, brown, black & white, the sheer complexity and scale of the sophisticated works stands as one of the finest examples of insight into the social & spiritual lives of primitive peoples. The caves were first discovered by an 18yr old boy whose dog had crawled through a hole by an uprooted tree. He returned with 3 friends and they entered a tunnel system which they intitially thought might be a secret passage to a nearby Manor. All 4 returned again on Sep 21 with a local Catholic Priest who made many personal sketches, and himself informed the curator of a National Museum in a neighboring village. From galleries that were given names to 6 caverns representing a visual context, the cave complex opened to the public in Jul 1948 but after problems were detected in 1955 such as carbon dioxide, heat & humidity damage, and deteriorating conditions from too many visitors, Lascaux was permanently closed in May 1963. In Dec 1979, it was placed by UNESCO on its World Heritage conservation list for the preservation of prehistoric sites. Today, a full-scale high-quality replica of the exhibition in a 3D reconstruction are available as an interactive experience for tourists.
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