The document summarizes the discovery and exploration of the Lascaux cave paintings in France. In 1940, four teenagers discovered the cave when a fallen tree revealed an entrance. Over the following years, archaeologists explored the cave and found several galleries decorated with Paleolithic art dated to be over 17,000 years old. The paintings depicted various animal and human figures. However, in 1963 the cave had to be closed to visitors due to harmful mold growth caused by changes in air quality from tourism. A replica cave was opened to allow the public to experience the prehistoric art. The cave paintings provide insight into the culture and beliefs of the Paleolithic people who created them over 17,000 years ago.

1. Prehistoric Cave Paintings
An Exploration of the Discovery at
Lascaux, and Themes of Paleolithic
Era Cave Paintings
By Shivang Mehta

2. 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.
By Shivang Mehta

3. 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.
By Shivang Mehta

4. 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.
By Shivang Mehta

5. A Painting From the Hall of the
Bulls at Lascaux
By Shivang Mehta

6. An Image From the Painted
Gallery at Lascaux
By Shivang Mehta

7. 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.
By Shivang Mehta

8. Interpreting Cave Paintings
By Shivang Mehta

9. Cave Painting Themes
• Most cave paintings
have these major
themes:
– Animals
– Human
representations
– signs
By Shivang Mehta

10. What Do You See in This
Picture?
• People
• Animals
• Spears/Weapons
• What do you think
this picture might
represent?
By Shivang Mehta

11. What Story Do
You See in This
Painting?
By Shivang Mehta

12. Other Cave Painting at Lascaux
By Shivang Mehta

13. More Images From Lascaux
By Shivang Mehta

14. 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.
By Shivang Mehta