Array ( [0] => {{Short description|Caves in France with Paleolithic cave paintings}} [1] => {{For|Lascaux in the Corrèze department|Lascaux, Corrèze}} [2] => {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} [3] => {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site [4] => | WHS = Lascaux [5] => | image = Lascaux painting.jpg [6] => | caption = Depiction of aurochs, horses and deer [7] => | Part_of = [[Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley]] [8] => | Location = [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]], [[France]] [9] => | Criteria = Cultural: i, iii [10] => | ID = 85-011 [11] => | Year = 1979 [12] => | locmapin = France Dordogne#France [13] => | map_caption = Location in the Dordogne [14] => | relief = 1 [15] => | area = {{convert|34.34|ha|acre|frac=16|abbr=on}} [16] => | coordinates = {{coord|45|03|13|N|1|10|12|E|region:FR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} [17] => }} [18] => {{infobox cave [19] => | name = Lascaux [20] => |map = [21] => | map_width = [22] => | map_alt = [23] => | map_caption = [24] => | mapframe = yes [25] => | mapframe-zoom = 14 [26] => | coordinates = {{coord|45|03|13|N|1|10|12|E|region:FR_type:landmark|display=inline}} [27] => }} [28] => '''Lascaux''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|l|æ|ˈ|s|k|oʊ}} {{respell|la|SKOH}},{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/lascaux |title=American English Dictionary: Definition of Lascaux |publisher=Collins |access-date=18 August 2013}} {{IPAc-en|USalso|l|ɑː|ˈ|s|k|oʊ}} {{respell|lah|SKOH}};{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/en/definition/Lascaux |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416233947/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/Lascaux |url-status=dead |archive-date=2021-04-16 |title=Lascaux |dictionary=[[Lexico]] US English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}} {{lang-fr|Grotte de Lascaux}} {{IPA-fr|ɡʁɔt də lasko|}},{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/lascaux |title=English Dictionary: Definition of Lascaux |publisher=Collins |access-date=18 August 2013}} "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]], in the [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Dordogne]] in southwestern France. Over 600 [[Parietal art|parietal]] [[cave painting|wall paintings]] cover the interior walls and ceilings of the cave. The paintings represent primarily large animals, typical local contemporary fauna that correspond with the fossil record of the [[Upper Paleolithic]] in the area. They are the combined effort of many generations. With continued debate, the age of the paintings is now usually estimated at around 17,000 years (early [[Magdalenian]]).{{cite web |url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/lascaux-cave-paintings.htm |title=Lascaux Cave Paintings: Layout, Meaning, Photographs - Dating - Chronological questions about the age of Lascaux's cave paintings, over what period they were created, and the identity of the oldest art in the complex, are still being debated... |publisher=Visual arts cork com |access-date= 28 December 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/871930.stm |title=Ice Age star map discovered - thought to date back 16,500 years |publisher=BBC |date= 9 August 2000 |access-date= 27 December 2016}}{{cite book |url=http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/francelascaux.htm |title=Lascaux, France. These paintings are estimated to be around 17,300 years old. |date=9 August 2000 |publisher=Ancient-wisdom |access-date= 27 December 2016}} Because of the outstanding prehistoric art in the cave, Lascaux was inducted into the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]] in 1979, as an element of the ''[[Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley]]''.{{cite web|title=Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/85|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=30 December 2012}} [29] => [30] => The original caves have been closed to the public since 1963, as their condition was deteriorating, but there are now a number of replicas. [31] => [32] => ==History since rediscovery== [33] => [[File:Lascaux entrance.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Modern entrance to the Lascaux cave]] [34] => On 12 September 1940, the entrance to the Lascaux Cave was discovered on the [[House of La Rochefoucauld|La Rochefoucauld-Montbel]] lands by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat when his dog, Robot, investigated a hole left by an uprooted tree (Ravidat would embellish the story in later retellings, saying Robot had fallen into the cave.){{Cite book |last=Curtis |first=Gregory |title=The Cave Painters |publisher=Anchor Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4000-7887-5 |pages=82–88}} Ravidat returned to the scene with three friends, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas. They entered the cave through a {{convert|15|m|ft|adj=mid|-deep|abbr=off|-1}} shaft that they believed might be a legendary secret passage to the nearby Lascaux Manor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/how-a-dog-called-robot-helped-reveal-lascauxs-prehistoric-art-gallery/news-story/717e1cb7dc68c1302f2575e5cdc67fe9|title=Lascaux's prehistoric cave of wonders discovered by a dog|date=10 September 2015|website=www.dailytelegraph.com.au|language=en|access-date=21 December 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Lascaux_Cave/|title=Lascaux Cave|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=21 December 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/discovery-lascaux-cave-paintings|title=Discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings {{!}} History Today|website=www.historytoday.com|access-date=21 December 2018}} The teenagers discovered that the cave walls were covered with depictions of animals.{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Robert McG. Jr.|title=Marcel Ravidat is Dead at 72; Found Lascaux Paintings|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/31/obituaries/marcel-ravidat-is-dead-at-72-found-lascaux-cave-paintings.html|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=31 March 1995}}{{cite book|last=Bahn|first=Paul G.|title=Cave Art: A Guide to the Decorated Ice Age Caves of Europe|year=2007|publisher=Frances Lincoln|location=London|isbn=978-0711226555|pages=81–85}} Galleries that suggest continuity, context or simply represent a cavern were given names. Those include the ''Hall of the Bulls'', the ''Passageway'', the ''Shaft'', the ''Nave'', the ''Apse'', and the ''Chamber of Felines''. They returned along with the [[Henri Breuil|Abbé Henri Breuil]] on 21 September 1940; Breuil would make many sketches of the cave, some of which are used as study material today due to the extreme degradation of many of the paintings. Breuil was accompanied by Denis Peyrony, curator of Les eyzies (Prehistory Museum) at [[Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil|Les Eyzies]], Jean Bouyssonie and Dr Cheynier. [35] => [36] => The cave complex was opened to the public on 14 July 1948, and initial archaeological investigations began a year later, focusing on the Shaft. By 1955, [[carbon dioxide]], heat, humidity, and other contaminants produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. As air condition deteriorated, fungi and [[lichen]] increasingly infested the walls. Consequently, the cave was closed to the public in 1963, the paintings were restored to their original state, and a monitoring system on a daily basis was introduced. [37] => [38] => ===Replicas=== [39] => [[File:Lascaux-IV 01.jpg|thumb|Part of Lascaux IV]] [40] => Conservation problems in the original cave have made the creation of replicas more important. [41] => [42] => ====Lascaux II==== [43] => ''Lascaux II'', an exact copy of the ''Great Hall of the Bulls'' and the ''Painted Gallery'' was displayed at the [[Grand Palais]] in Paris, before being displayed from 1983 in the cave's vicinity (about {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}} away from the original cave), a compromise and attempt to present an impression of the paintings' scale and composition for the public without harming the originals. A full range of Lascaux's parietal art is presented a few kilometres from the site at the ''Centre of Prehistoric Art'', Le Parc du Thot, where there are also live animals representing [[Prehistoric animals|ice-age fauna]].[http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/nouvelle-aquitaine/dordogne/au-thot-24-retour-loups-prehistoriques-1259593.html le retour des loups "préhistoriques"] [44] => [45] => The paintings for this site were duplicated with the same type of materials (such as [[iron oxide]], [[charcoal]], and [[ochre]]) which were believed to be used 19,000 years ago.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/lascaux-cave-170323|title=The Beautiful and Famous Lascaux Cave|last1=Hirst |first1=Kris|website=ThoughtCo|access-date=21 December 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://labos.ulg.ac.be/cipa/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2015/07/25_eshleman.pdf|title=Lectures on the Ice-Age Painted Caves of Southwestern France}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ferrier|first1=Catherine|last2=Debard|first2=Évelyne|last3=Kervazo|first3=Bertrand|last4=Brodard|first4=Aurélie|last5=Guibert|first5=Pierre|last6=Baffier|first6=Dominique|last7=Feruglio|first7=Valérie|last8=Gély|first8=Bernard|last9=Geneste|first9=Jean-Michel|date=28 December 2014|title=Heated walls of the cave Chauvet-Pont d'Arc (Ardèche, France): characterization and chronology|url=http://journals.openedition.org/paleo/3009|journal=PALEO. Revue d'archéologie préhistorique|language=en|issue=25|pages=59–78|doi=10.4000/paleo.3009 |s2cid=192897888 |issn=1145-3370|doi-access=free}} Other [[facsimile]]s of Lascaux have also been produced over the years. [46] => [47] => ====Lascaux III==== [48] => '' Lascaux III'' is a series of five exact reproductions of the cave art (the Nave and Shaft) that, since 2012, have traveled around the world allowing knowledge of Lascaux to be shared far from the original. [49] => [50] => ====Lascaux IV==== [51] => ''Lascaux IV'' is a new copy of all the painted areas of the cave that forms part of the International Centre for Parietal Art (Centre International de l'Art Pariétal). Since December 2016 this larger and more accurate replica which integrates digital technology into the display is presented in a new museum built by [[Snøhetta (company)|Snøhetta]] inside the hill overlooking [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]].[https://www.lascaux.fr/en Lascaux IV International Centre for Cave Art], official website.[https://snohetta.com/projects/322-lascaux-iv-the-international-centre-for-cave-art Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art], Snøhetta projects, website snohetta.com. [52] => [53] => ==Geographic setting== [54] => [[Image:Lascaux II.jpg|thumb|Reproduction of Lascaux artwork in Lascaux II]] [55] => In its sedimentary composition, the [[Vézère]] drainage basin covers one fourth of the ''département'' of the Dordogne, the northernmost region of the [[Périgord|Black Périgord]]. Before joining the [[Dordogne (river)|Dordogne River]] near Limeuil, the Vézère flows in a south-westerly direction. At its centre point, the river's course is marked by a series of meanders flanked by high limestone cliffs that determine the landscape. Upstream from this steep-sloped relief, near [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]] and in the vicinity of Lascaux, the contours of the land soften considerably; the valley floor widens, and the banks of the river lose their steepness. [56] => [57] => The Lascaux valley is located some distance from the major concentrations of decorated caves and inhabited sites, most of which were discovered further downstream.{{cite book|last=Nechvatal|first=Joseph|title=Immersion into Noise |year=2011 |publisher=Open Humanities Press|location=Ann Arbor |isbn=978-1-60785-241-4 |url=http://openhumanitiespress.org/immersion-into-noise.html|access-date=30 December 2012|pages=74–76}} In the environs of the village of Eyzies-de-Tayac Sireuil, there are no fewer than 37 decorated caves and shelters, as well as an even greater number of habitation sites from the Upper Paleolithic, located in the open, beneath a sheltering overhang, or at the entrance to one of the area's [[karst]] cavities. This is the highest concentration in Europe. [58] => [59] => ==Images== [60] => [[File:Lascaux, Megaloceros.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Megaloceros]]'' with line of dots]] [61] => The cave contains nearly 6,000 figures, which can be grouped into three main categories: animals, human figures, and abstract signs. The paintings contain no images of the surrounding landscape or the vegetation of the time. Most of the major images have been painted onto the walls using red, yellow, and black colours from a complex multiplicity of mineral pigments{{cite book|first=D. Bruce |last=Dickson |title=The Dawn of Belief: Religion in the Upper Paleolithic of Southwestern Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNr5YIygjMMC&pg=PA110 |isbn=978-0816513369|year=1992 |publisher=University of Arizona Press }}{{rp|110}}Chalmin E, Farges F, Vignaud C, ''et al''. ''[http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12224.pdf Discovery of Unusual Minerals in Paleolithic Black Pigments from Lascaux (France) and Ekain (Spain)]''. including iron compounds such as iron oxide ([[ochre]]),{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmKvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|title=Archaeomineralogy|year=2013|first=George R.|last= Rapp|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3662050057}}{{rp|204}} [[hematite]], and [[goethite]],{{cite web|url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/lascaux-cave-paintings.htm|title=Lascaux Cave Paintings: Layout, Meaning, Photographs|work=visual-arts-cork.com}} as well as manganese-containing pigments.{{rp|208}} Charcoal may also have been used{{rp|199}} but seemingly to a sparing extent. On some of the cave walls, the colour may have been applied as a [[Suspension (chemistry)|suspension]] of pigment in either animal fat or calcium-rich cave [[groundwater]] or [[clay]], making [[paint]], that was swabbed or blotted on, rather than applied by brush. In other areas, the colour was applied by spraying the pigments by blowing the mixture through a tube. Where the rock surface is softer, some designs have been incised into the stone. Many images are too faint to discern, and others have deteriorated entirely. [62] => [63] => Over 900 can be identified as animals, and 605 of these have been precisely identified. Out of these images, there are 364 paintings of [[Equus (genus)|equines]] as well as 90 paintings of [[Deer|stags]]. Also represented are cattle and bison, each representing 4 to 5% of the images. A smattering of other images includes seven felines, a bird, a bear, a rhinoceros, and a human. There are no images of reindeer, even though that was the principal source of food for the artists.{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Gregory|title=The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists|year=2006|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=1400043484|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cavepaintersprob00curt/page/96 96–97, 102]|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/cavepaintersprob00curt/page/96}} Geometric images have also been found on the walls. [64] => [65] => The most famous section of the cave is The Hall of the Bulls where bulls, equines, [[aurochs]], stags, and the only bear in the cave are depicted. The four black bulls, or aurochs, are the dominant figures among the 36 animals represented here. One of the bulls is {{convert|5.2|m|ftin}} long, the largest animal discovered so far in cave art. Additionally, the bulls appear to be in motion. [66] => [67] => A painting referred to as "The Crossed Bison", found in the chamber called the Nave, is often submitted as an example of the skill of the Paleolithic cave painters. The crossed hind legs create the illusion that one leg is closer to the viewer than the other. This visual depth in the scene demonstrates a sophisticated form of perspective which disappeared with the Magdalenian culture and would not re-emerge until the Italian Renaissance. {https://www.vulture.com/2015/01/most-powerful-artwork-i-have-ever-seen.html} [68] => [69] => ===Parietal representation=== [70] => [71] => The Hall of the Bulls presents the most spectacular composition of Lascaux. Its calcite walls are not suitable for engraving, so it is only decorated with paintings, often of impressive dimensions: some are up to five metres long. [72] => [73] => Two rows of aurochs face each other, two on one side and three on the other. The two aurochs on the north side are accompanied by about ten [[horse]]s and a large enigmatic animal, with two straight lines on its forehead that earned it the nickname "unicorn". On the south side, three large aurochs are next to three smaller ones, painted red, as well as six small deer and the only bear in the cave, superimposed on the belly of an aurochs and difficult to read. [74] => [75] => The Axial Diverticulum is also decorated with cattle and horses accompanied by deer and [[ibex]]. A drawing of a fleeing horse was brushed with manganese pencil 2.50 metres above the ground. Some animals are painted on the ceiling and seem to roll from one wall to the other. These representations, which required the use of scaffolding, are intertwined with many signs (sticks, dots, and rectangular signs). [76] => [77] => The Passage has a highly degraded decoration, notably through air circulation. [78] => [79] => The Nave has four groups of figures: the Empreinte panel, the Black Cow panel, the Deer swimming panel, and the Crossed Buffalo panel. These works are accompanied by many enigmatic geometric signs, including coloured checkers that H. Breuil called "coats of arms". [80] => [81] => The Feline Diverticulum owes its name to a group of felines, one of which seems to urinate to mark its territory. Very difficult to access, one can see there engravings of wild animals of a rather naive style. There are also other animals associated with signs, including a representation of a horse seen from the front, exceptional in Paleolithic art where animals are generally represented in profiles or from a "twisted perspective". [82] => [83] => The Apse contains more than a thousand engravings, some of which are superimposed on paintings, corresponding to animals and signs. There is the only reindeer represented in Lascaux. [84] => [85] => The Well presents the most enigmatic scene of Lascaux: an [[ithyphallic]] man with a bird's head seems to lie on the ground, perhaps knocked down by a buffalo gutted by a spear; at his side is represented an elongated object surmounted by a bird, on the left a rhinoceros moves away. Various interpretations of what is represented have been offered.Eshleman, Clayton, ''Juniper Fuse: Upper Paleolithic Imagination & the Construction of the Underworld'', pp. 35–36, 2003, Wesleyan University Press, {{ISBN|978-0819566058}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XqYBYmq-esIC&pg=PA36 google books] A horse is also present on the opposite wall. Two groups of signs are to be noted in this composition: [86] => * between man and rhinos, three pairs of digitized punctuation marks found at the bottom of the Cat Diverticulum, in the most remote part of the cave; [87] => * under man and bison, a complex barbed sign that can be found almost identically on other walls of the cave, and also on paddle points and on the sandstone lamp found nearby. [88] => [89] => ===Interpretation=== [90] => The interpretation of [[Art of the Upper Paleolithic|Palaeolithic Art]] is problematic, as it can be influenced by our own prejudices and beliefs. Some anthropologists and art historians theorize the paintings could be an account of past hunting success, or could represent a mystical ritual in order to improve future hunting endeavors. The latter theory is supported by the overlapping images of one group of animals in the same cave location as another group of animals, suggesting that one area of the cave was more successful for predicting a plentiful hunting excursion.{{Cite web|url=http://www.karstworlds.com/2010/12/lascaux-cave-history.html|title=Lascaux cave: History|website=www.karstworlds.com|language=en|access-date=26 November 2018}} [91] => [92] => Applying the iconographic method of analysis to the Lascaux paintings (studying position, direction and size of the figures; organization of the composition; painting technique; distribution of the color planes; research of the image center), Thérèse Guiot-Houdart attempted to comprehend the symbolic function of the animals, to identify the theme of each image and finally to reconstitute the canvas of the myth illustrated on the rock walls.{{cite book|first=Thérèse|last=Guiot-Houdart|title=Lascaux et les mythes|location=Périgueux|year=2004|publisher=Pilote 24|language=fr|isbn=2-912347-39-4}}{{elucidate|reason=her conclusions?|date=December 2012}} [93] => [[Image:Lascaux2.jpg|thumb|left|Cave painting of a [[Dun gene|dun]] horse ([[Equus (genus)|equine]]) at Lascaux]] [94] => Julien d'Huy and Jean-Loïc Le Quellec showed that certain angular or barbed signs of Lascaux may be analysed as "weapon" or "wounds". These signs affect dangerous animals—big cats, aurochs, and bison—more than others and may be explained by a fear of the animation of the image.Julien d'Huy et Jean-Loïc Le Quellec (2010). [https://independent.academia.edu/JuliendHuy/Papers/980367/Les_animaux_fleches_a_Lascaux_nouvelle_proposition_dinterpretation._-_Prehistoire_du_Sud-Ouest_18_2_2010_161-170 "Les animaux 'fléchés' à Lascaux: nouvelle proposition d’interprétation"] ''Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest'' 18(2): 161–170 Another finding supports the hypothesis of half-alive images. At Lascaux, bison, aurochs, and ibex are not represented side by side. Conversely, one can note a bison-horses-lions system and an aurochs-horses-deer-bears system, these animals being frequently associated.Denis Tauxe (2007)."L’organisation symbolique du dispositif pariétal de la grotte de Lascaux", ''Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest'', 15: 177–266 Such a distribution may show the relationship between the species pictured and their environmental conditions. Aurochs and bison fight one against the other, and horses and deer are very social with other animals. Bison and lions live in open plains areas; aurochs, deer and bears are associated with forests and marshes; ibex habitat is rocky areas, and horses are highly adaptive for all these areas. The Lascaux paintings' disposition may be explained by a belief in the real life of the pictured species, wherein the artists tried to respect their real environmental conditions.Julien d'Huy (2011). "[https://independent.academia.edu/JuliendHuy/Papers/1304532/La_distribution_des_animaux_a_Lascaux_refleterait_leur_distribution_naturelle._-_Bulletin_de_la_Societe_Historique_et_Archeologique_du_Perigord_CXXXVIII_4_2011_493-502 La distribution des animaux à Lascaux reflèterait leur distribution naturelle]", ''Bulletin de la Société Historique et Archéologique du Périgord'' CXXXVIII, 493–502 [95] => [96] => Less known is the image area called the ''Abside'' (Apse), a roundish, semi-spherical chamber similar to an [[apse]] in a Romanesque basilica. It is approximately 4.5 metres in diameter (about 5 yards) and covered on every wall surface (including the ceiling) with thousands of entangled, overlapping, engraved drawings.Leroi-Gourhan, André. ''The Art of Prehistoric Man in Western Europe''. London: Thames and Hudson. 1968. p. 315 The ceiling of the Apse, which ranges from 1.6 to 2.7 metres high (about 5.2 to 8.9 feet) as measured from the original floor height, is so completely decorated with such engravings that it indicates that the prehistoric people who executed them first constructed a scaffold to do so.Mario Ruspoli, ''The Cave of Lascaux: The Final Photographic Record'' (New York: Abrams, 1983) pp. 146–147 [97] => [[File:Lascaux 01.jpg| thumb|The famous shaft scene of Lascaux: a man with a bird head and a bison]] [98] => [99] => According to [[David Lewis-Williams]] and [[Jean Clottes]] who both studied presumably similar art of the [[San people]] of Southern Africa, this type of art is spiritual in nature relating to visions experienced during ritualistic [[trance|trance-dancing]]. These trance visions are a function of the human imagination and so are independent of geographical location.{{cite book|author=Harry Francis Mallgrave|title=Architecture and Embodiment: The Implications of the New Sciences and Humanities for Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4tU8mmwh8cC&pg=PA190|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-09424-9|pages=190–}} [[Nigel Spivey]], a professor of classical art and archeology at the University of Cambridge, has further postulated in his series, ''[[How Art Made the World]]'', that dot and lattice patterns overlapping the representational images of animals are very similar to hallucinations provoked by sensory-deprivation. He further postulates that the connections between culturally important animals and these hallucinations led to the invention of image-making, or the art of drawing.{{cite web|url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=5404&context=theses |title=The cartographic paradigm in contemporary Australian landscape painting|year=2014|author=Gray, S. W.}} [100] => [101] => [[André Leroi-Gourhan]] studied the cave from the 1960s; his observation of the associations of animals and the distribution of species within the cave led him to develop a [[Structuralism|Structuralist]] theory that posited the existence of a genuine organization of the graphic space in Palaeolithic sanctuaries. This model is based on a masculine/feminine duality – which can be particularly observed in the bison/horse and aurochs/horse pairs – identifiable in both the signs and the animal representations. He also defined an ongoing evolution through four consecutive styles, from the Aurignacian to the Late Magdalenian. Leroi-Gourhan did not publish a detailed analysis of the cave's figures. In his work Préhistoire de l'art occidental, published in 1965, he nonetheless put forward an analysis of certain signs and applied his explanatory model to the understanding of other decorated caves. [102] => [103] => ==Threats== [104] => [[File:Lascaux operations room.jpg|thumb|upright|The conservation room at Lascaux]] [105] => The opening of Lascaux Cave after World War II changed the cave environment. The exhalations of 1,200 visitors per day, presence of light, and changes in air circulation have created a number of problems. Lichens and crystals began to appear on the walls in the late 1950s, leading to closure of the caves in 1963. This led to restriction of access to the real caves to a few visitors every week, and the creation of a replica cave for visitors to Lascaux. In 2001, the authorities in charge of Lascaux changed the air conditioning system which resulted in regulation of the temperature and humidity. When the system had been established, an infestation of ''[[Fusarium solani]]'', a white [[Mold (fungus)|mold]], began spreading rapidly across the cave ceiling and walls.{{cite journal [106] => | title = Invasion of the French Paleolithic painted cave of Lascaux by members of the Fusarium solani species complex [107] => | journal = Mycologia | volume = 99 | issue = 4 | year = 2007 | pages = 526–533 [108] => | doi = 10.3852/mycologia.99.4.526 [109] => |author1=Joëlle Dupont |author2=Claire Jacquet |author3=Bruno Dennetière |author4=Sandrine Lacoste | pmid = 18065003 [110] => }} The mold is considered to have been present in the cave soil and exposed by the work of tradesmen, leading to the spread of the fungus which was treated with [[quicklime]]. In 2007, a new fungus, which has created grey and black blemishes, began spreading in the real cave. [111] => [112] => As of 2008, the cave contained [[Stachybotrys|black mold]]. In January 2008, authorities closed the cave for three months, even to scientists and preservationists. A single individual was allowed to enter the cave for twenty minutes once a week to monitor climatic conditions. Now only a few scientific experts are allowed to work inside the cave and just for a few days a month, but the efforts to remove the mold have taken a toll, leaving dark patches and damaging the pigments on the walls.{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Molly|title=Debate Over Moldy Cave Art Is a Tale of Human Missteps|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063002363.html|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1 July 2008}} In 2009 the mold problem was pronounced stable.{{Cite book|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429226939|title=The Conservation of Subterranean Cultural Heritage|last=Saiz-Jimenez|first=C.|date=24 October 2014|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-429-22693-9|language=en}} In 2011 the fungus seemed to be in retreat after the introduction of an additional, even stricter conservation program.{{cite web |url=http://phys.org/news/2011-06-lascaux-hands-off-approach-threatened-art.html |title=Lascaux's 18,000-year-old cave art under threat |publisher=Phys.org |access-date= 28 December 2016}} Two research programs have been instigated at the CIAP concerning how to best treat the problem, and the cave also now possesses a climatisation system designed to reduce the introduction of bacteria. [113] => [114] => Organized through the initiative of the French Ministry of Culture, an international symposium titled "Lascaux and Preservation Issues in Subterranean Environments" was held in Paris on 26 and 27 February 2009, under the chairmanship of [[Jean Clottes]]. It brought together nearly three hundred participants from seventeen countries with the goal of confronting research and interventions conducted in Lascaux Cave since 2001 with the experiences gained in other countries in the domain of preservation in subterranean environments.At the [[Takamatsuzuka Tomb]] in Japan, and [[Cave of Altamira|Altamira]] in Spain, for example. The proceedings of this symposium were published in 2011. Seventy-four specialists in fields as varied as biology, biochemistry, botany, hydrology, climatology, geology, fluid mechanics, archaeology, anthropology, restoration and conservation, from numerous countries (France, United States, Portugal, Spain, Japan, and others) contributed to this publication.Coye, N. dir. (2011), ''Lascaux et la conservation en milieu souterrain: actes du symposium international (Paris, 26–27 fév. 2009) = [http://www.editions-msh.fr/livre/?GCOI=27351100548910 Lascaux and Preservation Issues in Subterranean Environments: Proceedings of the International Symposium] (Paris, 26 and 27 February)'', Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme, 360 p. In french and english. [115] => [116] => In May 2018 ''[[Ochroconis lascauxensis]]'', a species of fungus of the [[Ascomycota]] phylum, was officially described and named after the place of its first emergence and isolation, the Lascaux cave. This followed on from the discovery of another closely related species ''[[Ochroconis anomala]]'', first observed inside the cave in 2000. The following year black spots began to appear among the cave paintings. No official announcement on the effect or progress of attempted treatments has ever been made.{{cite journal|last1=Martin-Sanchez|first1=Pedro Maria|last2=Nováková|first2=Alena|last3=Bastian|first3=Fabiola|last4=Alabouvette|first4=Claude|last5=Saiz-Jimenez|first5=Cesareo|year=2012|title=Two new species of the genus ''Ochroconis'', ''O. lascauxensis'' and ''O. anomala'' isolated from black stains in Lascaux Cave, France|journal=[[Fungal Biology]]|publisher=[[Elsevier]]|volume=116|issue=5|pages=574–89|doi=10.1016/j.funbio.2012.02.006|pmid=22559918}} [117] => [118] => The problem is ongoing, as are efforts to control the microbial and fungal growths in the cave. The fungal infection crises have led to the establishment of an International Scientific Committee for Lascaux and to rethinking how, and how much, human access should be permitted in caves containing prehistoric art.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/world/europe/09cave.html?_r=1&ref=world |title=Fungus Once Again Threatens French Cave Paintings |author=Simons, Marlise |date=9 December 2007 |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=15 October 2010}} [119] => [120] => ==See also== [121] => {{div col|colwidth=30em}} [122] => * [[Art of the Upper Paleolithic]] [123] => * [[Cave of Altamira]] [124] => * [[Chauvet Cave]] [125] => * [[Cave painting]] [126] => * [[List of archaeological sites by country]] [127] => * [[List of caves]] [128] => * [[List of Stone Age art]] [129] => * [[Prehistoric art]] [130] => * ''[[The Thread of Art]]'', 2012 and 2015 book [131] => {{div col end}} [132] => [133] => ==References== [134] => {{Reflist}} [135] => [136] => ==Further reading== [137] => * {{Cite book |first=Mark |last=Dubowski |title=Discovery in the Cave (Children's early reader) |publisher=Random House |location=New York|year=2010 |isbn=978-0375858932 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/discoveryincave0000dubo }} [138] => * {{Cite book |first=Gregory |last=Curtis |title=The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=2006 |isbn=1-4000-4348-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/cavepaintersprob00curt }} [139] => * {{Cite book |first=David |last=Lewis-Williams |title=The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=0-500-28465-2 |year=2004 }} [140] => * {{Cite book |first=Georges |last=Bataille |author-link=Georges Bataille |title=The Cradle of Humanity: Prehistoric Art and Culture |publisher=Zone Books |location=New York |year=2005 |isbn=1-890951-55-2 }} [141] => * — (1980) ''Prehistoric Painting: Lascaux or the Birth of Art''. Trans. Austryn Wainhouse. Geneva: Skira [first published, 1955]. [142] => * [[Joseph Nechvatal]], ''Immersive Excess in the Apse of Lascaux'', Technonoetic Arts 3, no3. 2005 [143] => * B.et G. Delluc (dir.), ''Le Livre du Jubilé de Lascaux 1940–1990'', Société historique et archéologique du Périgord, supplément au tome CXVII, 1990, 155 p., ill. [144] => * B. et G. Delluc, 2003: ''Lascaux retrouvé. Les recherches de l'abbé André Glory'', Pilote 24 édition, 368 p., ill. [145] => * B. et G. Delluc, 2006: ''Discovering Lascaux'', Sud Ouest, nouvelle édition entièrement revue et très augmentée, 80 p., ill. plans et coupe. [146] => * B. et G. Delluc, 2008: ''Dictionnaire de Lascaux'', Sud Ouest, Bordeaux. Plus de 600 entrées et illustrations. Bibliographie (450 références). {{ISBN|978-2-87901-877-5}}. [147] => * B. et G. Delluc, 2010: ''Lascaux et la guerre. Une galerie de portraits'', Bull. de la Soc. historique et arch. du Périgord, CXXXVI, 2e livraison, 40 p., ill., bibliographie. [148] => * A. Glory, 2008: ''Les recherches à Lascaux (1952–1963). Documents recueillis et présentés par B. et G. Delluc'', XXXIXe suppl. à Gallia-Préhistoire, CNRS, Paris. [149] => * [[Joseph Nechvatal]], 2011: ''Immersion into Noise'', [[University of Michigan]] Library's Scholarly Publishing Office. Ann Arbor. [150] => * {{cite magazine|title=Art Treasures from the Ice Age: Lascaux Cave|first=Jean-Philippe|last=Rigaud|magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]|pages=482–499|volume=174|issue=4|date=October 1988|issn=0027-9358|oclc=643483454}} [151] => [152] => ==External links== [153] => {{commons category|Lascaux}} [154] => * {{Official website|http://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/lascaux/en}} [155] => * [http://www.microbiologyresearch.org/docserver/fulltext/micro/156/3/644.pdf?expires=1482882244&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=4E36727CD95EB56C9A346C4B0CC7121B The microbiology of Lascaux Cave] [156] => * [http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/index.php Lascaux Cave Art Symposium] The Bradshaw Foundation [157] => * [http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive Human Timeline (Interactive)] – [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]], [[National Museum of Natural History]] (August 2016). [158] => * Discussion of paintings by [[Janina Ramirez]] and [[Alice Roberts]]: [https://www.acast.com/artdetective/thecaveartpaintingsofthelascauxcave-withprofessoraliceroberts Art Detective Podcast, 8 February 2017] [159] => [160] => {{Human Evolution}} [161] => {{Navbox prehistoric caves}} [162] => {{Prehistoric technology|state=collapsed}} [163] => {{Authority control}} [164] => {{portal bar|Evolutionary biology|Painting}} [165] => [166] => [[Category:1940 archaeological discoveries]] [167] => [[Category:Stone Age sites in France]] [168] => [[Category:Caves containing pictograms in France]] [169] => [[Category:Caves of Dordogne]] [170] => [[Category:Tourist attractions in Dordogne]] [171] => [[Category:World Heritage Sites in France]] [172] => [[Category:Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley]] [173] => [[Category:Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe]] [] => )
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Lascaux

Lascaux is a complex of caves located in southwestern France that contains some of the most famous prehistoric cave paintings in the world. The caves were discovered in 1940 by a group of French teenagers and were immediately recognized for their exceptional artistic value.

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The caves were discovered in 1940 by a group of French teenagers and were immediately recognized for their exceptional artistic value. The paintings, estimated to be over 17,000 years old, depict a variety of animals such as horses, deer, and bulls, as well as abstract symbols and human figures. The detailed and vibrant artwork provides valuable insights into the lives and beliefs of our distant ancestors. The Lascaux caves quickly gained global recognition and attracted a large number of visitors. To protect the fragile paintings from damage caused by human activity, the caves were closed to the public in 1963. To provide access to the iconic art while preserving the original site, a replica of the cave, known as Lascaux II, was constructed nearby and opened to visitors in 1983. Over the years, the original Lascaux caves have faced several challenges, including the growth of black mold that threatened the preservation of the artwork. Efforts have been made to mitigate these issues and ensure the long-term survival of the paintings. In recent years, a high-tech replica, known as Lascaux IV or the International Centre for Cave Art, was built, offering an immersive experience that combines faithful reproductions of the artwork with modern technology. The Lascaux cave paintings are considered a masterpiece of prehistoric art, providing invaluable evidence of the creative capabilities and cultural richness of early humans. These ancient artworks continue to inspire and captivate visitors, making Lascaux a significant site in the study of human history and artistic expression.

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