Lascaux was discovered in the year 1940 in Dordogne, France by four young boys while they were innocently exploring with their dog. They noticed a depression in the ground, and realized there was a hole, which they thought led to a tunnel. After dropping a few rocks to measure depth, they decided to jump in, and ended up going down a total of 15 meters (“Finding Lascaux”). They noticed a white background with colorful drawings of various animals.
Lascaux dates back to about 15,000 B.C., and contains some of the earliest examples of art (Tedesco). The cave has many different drawings of several animals, both extinct and surviving. The list includes “horses, bulls, deer, ibex, cats, a rhinoceros, and even the legendary unicorn,” and even some humans. (“Scenes From The …show more content…
The colors that were used, which included “red, yellow, black, brown and violet” were extracted from various minerals (Tedesco). The tools were made from various bone, antler, hide and ivory (Fagan 108).
With this discovery, there are questions that arise about our ancestors. Why were they drawing? Was it to tell a story or was it just a pastime? Were they keeping records of some sort? It is lead to believe that Lascaux was a ceremonial place. It was also a clear time period where art and expression began. The drawing may have played a part in gender roles, but also showed us how they pictured themselves (Fagan 108).
Carbon dioxide, as well as the moisture that people were bringing in began to take a toll on the paintings. Lascaux was opened in 1948, but closed in 1963 due to preservation issues, and is now only open for select research purposes. (“Finding Lascaux”). Throughout the duration of its lifetime, the cave attracted over 1 million spectators (“Scenes from the Stone Age: The Cave Paintings Of
Lascaux dates back to about 15,000 B.C., and contains some of the earliest examples of art (Tedesco). The cave has many different drawings of several animals, both extinct and surviving. The list includes “horses, bulls, deer, ibex, cats, a rhinoceros, and even the legendary unicorn,” and even some humans. (“Scenes From The …show more content…
The colors that were used, which included “red, yellow, black, brown and violet” were extracted from various minerals (Tedesco). The tools were made from various bone, antler, hide and ivory (Fagan 108).
With this discovery, there are questions that arise about our ancestors. Why were they drawing? Was it to tell a story or was it just a pastime? Were they keeping records of some sort? It is lead to believe that Lascaux was a ceremonial place. It was also a clear time period where art and expression began. The drawing may have played a part in gender roles, but also showed us how they pictured themselves (Fagan 108).
Carbon dioxide, as well as the moisture that people were bringing in began to take a toll on the paintings. Lascaux was opened in 1948, but closed in 1963 due to preservation issues, and is now only open for select research purposes. (“Finding Lascaux”). Throughout the duration of its lifetime, the cave attracted over 1 million spectators (“Scenes from the Stone Age: The Cave Paintings Of