The Cave of Lascaux.Pdf

Fascinating Place

Looking for Treasure In early September 1940, four teenagers in the Vézère Valley in southwestern France were in search of a lost treasure. According to the legends, the treasure was in the woods in a secret underground tunnel that linked two wealthy estates. While the teens searched for the tunnel, their dog raced ahead of them to a large depression in the earth. This dent in the ground had been created when a tree fell. The depression in the ground was covered with vines, but the teens saw a large hole. Using penknives, they made the hole big enough for them to slide into. Jacques Marsal, the youngest of the four, was only 14. He later recalled that going down into the hole was terrifying.

Once all four were safely down, one lit an oil lamp. The walls were covered with animals painted with reds, browns, and blacks. The animals looked so real that they seemed to be moving. The teens could see that there was more to discover, but they were running out of lamp oil. They climbed out and swore to keep the paintings a secret. The next day, they This drawing is similar to those found returned with ropes for further exploration. in the caves at Lascaux.

By the third day, they decided to share their discovery with a few friends. They enlarged the entry and charged admission! Before long, the whole village wanted to see this cave. The teens told a teacher, Leon Laval, about it. He recognized the importance of the find and suggested putting a guard at the cave to protect it, so young Jacques Marsal took on the task. In fact, Marsal worked at the cave, first as a guard and later as a guide, until his death more than 40 years later.

What They Saw The boys had discovered Lascaux Cave, known today as the location of some of the best-preserved prehistoric art. When the boys slid into the cave, they landed in what is now called the Hall of the Bulls. It is named for the many bulls portrayed on the walls. This hall of the cave is sort of U-shaped, a total of 55 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 19 feet high. The figures are high above the ground, 11 to 13 feet above the floor. The largest painting in the hall is of an aurochs, a now- extinct animal that resembled an ox with long horns and is an ancestor of the cattle we are familiar with today. The painting is 18 feet long and is the largest figure known in prehistoric art. From the Hall of the Bulls, a short passageway leads to a few paintings of horses. Then a long passageway leads to the Chamber of the Felines, where many pictures of big cats are located.

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The Art of Lascaux

Fascinating Place

The cave contains hundreds of paintings, and all but one of them depict animals. The animals, including aurochs ibex, horses, bears, and lions, once lived in the area. The different species were hunted by the people of the time. The animals stand alone, with backgrounds of trees or other plants.

Most of the paintings are far into the cave. The longest passageway is 88 feet. Archaeologists believe this space was used for ceremonies, not for shelter. Perhaps hunters met there before leaving on a hunting expedition.

Creating the Paintings The prehistoric people who painted the walls of Lascaux about 17,000 years ago developed several techniques to create their art. At some point in early human history, people discovered that minerals could make different pigments, or colors. Black, brown, red, yellow, and violet are all used in the paintings. Some of the minerals were gathered from as far as 25 miles away! Then they were ground and mixed with liquid to form paint. Hematite made red, for example, whereas charcoal and manganese made black. The people knew that burning some minerals, especially ones that contained both iron and oxygen, changed the colors, so they were able to create yellow and red-purple.

No brushes have been discovered in the cave, but scientists think the prehistoric people applied paint to the walls using sponge-like mats made of hair or moss. They have found hollowed animal bones stained by color. These suggest the artists blew paint through the bones onto the cave walls. Some people even used their hands as stencils. They would blow paint onto a hand as it was held against A person’s hand could be used as a stencil, as the cave wall. When the hand was shown in this image. removed, the paint outline remained.

The ground at the cave site has sunk several feet over thousands of years. Originally, most of the paintings were probably easy to reach. The artists, however, would have needed scaffolding to reach the highest parts of the walls. Scaffolding is a structure built for the purpose of reaching greater heights, not unlike a ladder, but much wider. Researchers have found holes that they believe held the scaffolding, which was held in place with clay. Because the interior of the cave was so dark, archaeologists believe that the artists learned to burn animal fat as a source of light.

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The Art of Lascaux

Fascinating Place

Save the Cave! When it was first discovered, the cave was on private property owned by a count. He began charging admission to see the cave art. By 1948, as many as a thousand people a day were touring the cave.

Prior to its discovery by the four boys in 1940, the cave had remained undisturbed by humans for centuries. Suddenly, people were walking through, bringing in dirt on their shoes and breathing out carbon dioxide. This changed the air in the cave and caused a green growth to form on the walls. The cave was closed in 1963 to everyone except researchers. The French government, in an attempt to satisfy curiosity about the then-closed cave, created a replica of the cave. It is called Lascaux II, and it is just a short distance away from the actual cave. Even without people touring the original Lascaux, however, the cave continued to show signs of damage. In 1998, the first lichens appeared in the cave, followed by mold, fungi, and bacteria. Several attempts to fix the problem have only made it worse.

Since 1979, the site has been declared a World Heritage Site, a place that has great cultural and/or geographic significance and value. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been working with France to preserve the incredible cave paintings of Lascaux.

The Art of Lascaux

Fascinating Place

After reading the passage, answer the following questions:

1. What were the four teenagers searching for in 1940? A. a lost dog B. cave paintings C. a lost treasure D. hidden animal traps

2. What contributed to the damage of the cave paintings? A. Vandals tried to remove one of the paintings. B. Natural erosion forced the closing of the cave. C. Carbon dioxide from human visitors changed the air quality. D. Wild animals used the cave for a den.

3. What is Lascaux II? A. a cave that was discovered after Lascaux B. a replica of the original Lascaux cave C. the museum where all of the paintings were moved D. the name of the organization working to save the cave

4. The cave artists did not have modern equipment or supplies, yet they created amazing paintings. What were some of the tools and techniques they used? Provide details and evidence to support your answer.