On September 12, 1940, one of the best examples of paleolithic art was revealed to the world.
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After rescuing their dog from a small cavern in the woods, four French teenagers decided to explore further. They found a vast cavern, its walls adorned with images of animals and humans.
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The Lascaux cave paintings date back 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, and were made with natural pigments like red and yellow ochre and black magnesium oxide.
Here are 7 pictures of these ancient paintings from inside the Lascaux cave.
Cave Painting of Black Bull, Lascaux, France.
Universal History Archive / Contributor
Bull and Cattle. Detail of a cave painting. Franco-Cantabrian, Upper Palaeolithic period, 15,000-10,000 BC. Left wall of the rotunda in the cave at Lascaux (Dordogne), France.
Universal History Archive / Contributor
Cave Painting of Chinese Horse, Lascaux, France.
Universal History Archive / Contributor
France - Aquitaine - Decorated Caves of the Vezere Valley (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1979). Lascaux Cave, restoration intervention on upper Paleolithic cave painting.