How Did A Dog Discover The Lascaux Cave Paintings?

In the autumn of 1940, Robot the dog disappeared down a hole leading to the discovery of the Lascaux cave; where the walls had been covered in ... ANCIENTHISTORYARTARTISTSPHILOSOPHYMoreSTORIESANSWERSCOLLECTINGNEWSWriteforusAboutUsCorrectionsContactUsAncientHistoryArtArtistsPhilosophyStoriesAnswersCollectingNewsWriteforUsMediaRelationsAdvertisewithUsCorrectionsContactUsAboutUsAuthorsStaffTerms&ConditionsPrivacyHomeArtHowDidADogDiscoverTheLascauxCavePaintings?HowDidADogDiscoverTheLascauxCavePaintings?Intheautumnof1940,RobotthedogdisappeareddownaholeleadingtothediscoveryoftheLascauxcave;wherethewallshadbeencoveredinartworkscreatedbyitsPalaeolithicinhabitants,nearly20,000yearsago.Jun2,2020•ByJohnSewell,BA&MAArtHistory,UniversityofBirminghamInteriorofthecavesatLascaux,Dordogne,France,viaPhaidon   AsWorldWarIIragedthroughEurope,MarcelRavidattookhisdogforastrollalongtherivernearhishomeinthecountrysidetownofMontignac,France.EverythingseemednormaluntilMarcelrealizedthatRobothadfallendownahole.Heshoutedforhisfour-leggedfriendandeventuallyheardamuffledreplyfromdeepdowninsidetheground.Itwasthen,whenMarcelwentdowntofindRobot,thathealsofoundsomethingthatwouldprovetobeoneofthemostsignificantfindsinthehistoryofart.Thepairhadquiteliterallystumbledacrosstheoneoftheearliestknownexamplesofman-madeart–theLascauxcavepaintings.   UncoveringtheLascauxCave MarcelRavidat,secondfromleft,attheLascauxcaveentrancein1940   Initially,Marcelthoughtthathe’dfoundthelegendarysecrettunnelthatnearbyvillagersclaimedledtoalong-lostburiedtreasuretrove.Instead,thenarrow,50-footshaftledtoanenormouscavedeepbelowthesurface.   Thankstothedimlightfromasmalloillamphehadwithhim,Marcelwasabletomakeoutanumberofanimalfiguresdottedaroundtheceilingofthecave.Hedidn’tknowitatthetime,butthesepaintingswereover17,000yearsoldandhewasmostlikelythefirstpersontohavelaideyesonthemforasimilaramountoftime.   Withtheoilinhislamprunningout,heandRobotscrambledbackoutofthecavesandwenttosharethenewswithhisfriendsJacques,GeorgesandSimon.Theboyslatersaidthattheyweremesmerisedbythe‘cavalcadeoflargerthanlifeanimals’whichappearedtodancealongthewalls.    KeepingitQuiet Georges,JacquesandMarcelRavidatwiththeirteacherLeonLaval,viaFrenchMinistryofCulture Areyouenjoyingthisarticle?SignuptoourFreeWeeklyNewsletterJoin!Loading...Join!Loading...PleasecheckyourinboxtoactivateyoursubscriptionThankyou!  Thefriendskeptthediscoverysecretforawhileandsoonchargedotherchildrenfromthevillageasmalladmissionfeetotakeapeek.Eventually,however,theymanagedtoconvincealocalhistorianthattheyhadgenuinelyfoundthesepaintingsbelowthesurface.Headvisedthemtopreventanyonegoingdowntothecave,soastoavoidanydamageorvandalismtotheartworks.   TheboystookthisadviceseriouslyandJacques,attheageofjust14,persuadedhisparentstoallowhimtosetupcampbytheentrancetokeepwatchofthecave24/7inordertowardoffanyunwantedvisitors.Hedidsoallthroughthewinterof1940-41andwouldgoontobeafaithfulwardenoftheLascauxcaves,helpingvisitorsandmaintainingthesite,untilhisdeathin1989.    Itwasnotuntileightyearsaftertheirdiscoverythatthecaveswereofficiallyopenedtobeviewedbymembersofthepublic.GermanforceshadoccupiedtheareawhenMarcelmadehisdiscovery,anditwasonlyafterthewarhadendedandarchaeologistshadbeenabletorecordeverydetailofthecaveandtheartworkwithin,thattouristswouldbeabletoventureintothedepthsofthecavethemselves.   ATouristHot-Spot Marcel,bottomright,accompaniesanearlytourofthecave   Itgoeswithoutsaying,thatthecavesbecameago-todestinationfortouristsaspeacereturnedtoEurope.Visitorsflockedtothesiteinhugenumbers.By1955overathousandtouristswouldenterthecaveseachday! However,thetruthwasthatthecave’spopularitywouldultimatelyleadtotheirclosurefromthepublicin1963,justfifteenyearsaftertheyhadopened.   Thelevelsofcarbondioxideproducedbythevisitors,whocameintheirthousandstogawpattheancientartworks,eventuallybegantoleadtotheirdeterioration.Thecondensationtheirbreathproducedalsoencouragedthegrowthofmouldandfungusonthewalls;andthepowerfulspotlightsthathadbeenputinthecavetomakethepaintingsvisibleactuallybegantocausethepigments–whichhadtothatpointheldupforalmost20,000years–tofade.   Thedamagedoneduringtheseyearsisstillbeingaddressedtothisdaythankstotheworkofover300historians,archaeologistsandscientistshiredbytheFrenchGovernmentin2009,withtheaimofestablishinghowtopreservethepaintingsatLascauxforfuturegenerations.    AnImportantDiscovery DetailsoftheLascauxcavepainting,includingstags,horsesandanauroch,viaHistory   Onereasonwhythefindwassosignificantwasthesheernumberandscaleoftheartworksthatwerecontainedinthecave.Oneofthebullspaintedonthewallisthoughttobethelargestsingleimageeverfoundinpre-historiccaveart.What’smore,alongsidethe600paintedelementstherewerealso1,500carvingsandengravingsetchedintothelimestonewalls.   Theanimalsdepictedonthecavewallsincludedoxen,horses,stagsandthenowextinct,auroch–along-hornedcattle.However,oneofthemostsignificantelementsofthepaintingsatLascauxarethatthereareevenhumanfiguresamongtheanimals.Oneofthemendepictedactuallyisshownwiththeheadofabird. Asignificantfindforhistoriansofpre-historywhonowbelievethatthisindicatesthepracticebyshamanswhowoulddressastheirdeitiesforreligiousceremonies.    Theartworksalsogiveaninsightintotheadventurousnatureofthepeoplewhomadeittheirhome.Oneofthemostsignificantdetailsoftheanalysisofthepigmentsusedtomakethepaintingswasthattheyincludedmanganeseoxides.Archaeologistsestimatethatthenearestsourceofthismineralisalmost250kmSouthofLascaux,inthecentralregionofthePyrenees.   ThisindicatesthatthepeoplewhopaintedthecaveseitherhadaccesstotraderoutesthatspreadthroughouttheSouthofFrance,orthattheyhadtravelledthisincredibledistanceforthesolepurposeofobtainingthepigmenttocreatetheirpaintings.Bothoftheseideasdemonstratesomethingofthesophisticationofthepeoplewhoinhabitedthecavessome17,000yearsago.      ReopeningtheCaves InteriorreplicaofthecavesatLascauxII,viaCityofLascaux   Preparationsweremadetoprotectthecaveanditsartworksinthefuture,asthesitewasannouncedasaUNESCOworldheritagesitein1979,whichguaranteedtheirpreservationandstipulatedonlylimitedaccesstotheoriginalcaveswouldbeallowedfromthereonin.   Aftertwentyyearsofclosure,touristswereabletoreturntotheareainsimilarnumberstoexperienceLascauxII–anexactreplicaofthetwolargestsectionsofthecavehousedjust200mfromthesiteoftheoriginalentrancediscoveredbyMarcelandRobot.   Priortoopeningontheoriginalsite,LascauxIIwasfirstdisplayedin1980attheGrandPalaisinParis,beforeitwaspermanentlyrelocatedtoasitejust200mfromtheoriginalcavesin1983.Ithasremainedopentothepubliceversinceandnowattractsover30,000visitorsfromaroundtheglobeeachyear.   Despitebeingmadebythehandsofmodernartists,ratherthanthepre-historichumanbeingswhoroamedtheearthmanymillenniaago,thefacsimilesthatmakeupLascauxIIarehardtodiscernfromtheoriginals.   ThepaintingsinLascauxIIwerecreatedusingwhathistoriansbelievetobethesametools,methodsandpigments,andexecutedtoreplicatetothenearestmillimeterthesizeandshapeofeachoftheartworks.   Theonlydifferenceisthattheyarehousedinclimatecontrolledspaces,allowingpeoplethechancetoexperiencetheLascauxcavepaintingsinalltheirdetailandmajesty,whilealsopreservingtheoriginalswhichallowsforthecontinuedresearchintothelivesofthepeoplewhomadethem17,000yearsago.   LascauxIV InteriorofLascauxIV   LascauxIII,anotherversionofthereplicas,nowtoursmuseumsaroundtheworld;whileLascauxIVwasopenedin2016.Thisenormouscomplex,builtintothemountainside,overlooksthesiteandthetownofMontignacandcomprisesofanewmulti-mediamuseumandanumberofreproductionsoffurthertunnelsandentrancestotheoriginalcave.    LascauxIVanditshigh-techtouchscreensareafar-cryfromthecavesthatRobotthedogfoundhimselflostinonthatSeptembermorningin1940.However,thesiteremainsanenduringmonumenttoexploration,discoveryandtheperennialimportanceofart.    MarcelandRobotafterTheLascauxCaveDiscovery Fromlefttoright:Marcel,Simon,GeorgesandJacques(friends)reunited,infrontoftheentrancetoLascaux,1986   Marcelworkedatthecavesuntiltheirinitialclosurein1963.Atwhichpoint,hereturnedtoworkasamechanic–thevocationhehadbeentrainingforwhenhemadehisearth-shatteringdiscoverytwenty-threeyearsearlier.Heworkedatalocalpaper-millfortheremainderofhisprofessionallifeand,eventually,hediedofaheart-attackin1995attheageof72.   LittleisknownastoRobot’sfateintheyearsthatfollowed–despitehissupposedlysignificantroleinthediscoveryofthecaves.However,theAmericanauthorGuyDavenportpennedashortstorynamed‘Robot’tohonourthefamouscaninein1974.    ThisfictionalisedaccountofRobot’sdescentintothecavehighlightedthejuxtapositionoftheterribleconflictthatragedthroughFranceonthesurface,andtheapparentlyeternalbeautythatwasfoundhiddenbelow.   However,theirdiscoveryoftheLascauxcavesin1940was,quiteliterally,aground-breakingmomentinthehistoryofart;andonethatservesasanenduringreminderoftherolethatarthasplayedinhumanlifeforwellover17,000years.      ByJohnSewellBA&MAArtHistory,UniversityofBirminghamJohnholdsbothaBAandanMAinArtHistoryfromtheUniversityofBirmingham,UK.Hisacademicresearchfocussedonnineteenthandearly-twentiethcenturydepictionsofnarcoticsuse,addictionandrace-relations.However,hisinterestsextendfarbeyondthis;andhisworkcoversanarrayoftopicsfrommanydifferentperiodsandlocationsaroundtheworld.Alongsidewriting,heisalsothefounderofEazyl-anonlineartmarketplaceforemergingartistswhichchargesnocommissionfees.ReadmorebyJohnSewellGustaveCourbet:WhatMadeHimTheFatherofRealism?ByJohnSewell,inArtistsJacques-LouisDavid:PainterAndRevolutionaryByJohnSewell,inArtistsPopularArticlesinArtWhoistheancientGorgonMedusa?ByKayleeRandall,inArtHowDidtheByzantinesInfluencetheItalianRenaissance?ByDusanNikolic,inArt