According to Mauriac, there are three primary theories revolving around the pre-historic paintings on the walls of the caves (Muriel, 2011: 14).įirst, the prehistoric man may have created the paintings and etchings on the walls as decorations, with preference of figures of animals that were vital to human survival. ![]() The quality of the cave paintings is high and the concerted efforts applied to such work, including the extent of applying scaffolding to get to the apex of the walls, may be an indication that the caves were holy sites fit for rituals. The absence of recorded information makes it hard to determine the primary objective of the cave paintings. For instance, studies suggest that the Dead Man scene in Lascaux, was aimed at preventing the image from taking the soul of its creator. One of the interesting questions that are raised by scientists revolves around the need for humans to paint images or etch figures of either humans or animals on the walls of the caves. There are two hundred replica paintings occupying over 128 feet in length (Huppatz 2010: 137). It is found in a cement bunker, and copies the two major chambers of the original Lascaux Caves. Lascaux II is 200 meters away from Lascaux I. There is a rare explanatory scene pointing to a hunting outing or a shamanistic ritual, crowned by exciting geometrical designs, which include rectangles and ragged lines. Some of the animals etched on the walls are horses with minute heads, and cloven with round stomachs, which are representative of the Przewalski horses from Asia as well as horses common in Chinese paintings (Huppatz 2010), as well as deer, which are graceful beasts with excellent groups of antlersThere are also six cats in the paintings, two bison of male species and some unclear two-horned beasts. Most of the paintings depict both live and extinct animals. This is the original cave, which has 600 paintings decorated on its wall and close to 1,500 engravings. Lascaux I is made up of a main cave, which is 66 feet in width and 16 feet in height. Learn More Presentation of the Lascaux cave Replication took ten years as Monique Peytral, a local artist, reproduced the paintings with incredible attention to detail (Sacred Destinations 2010). In 1983, cautiously completed replica referred to as Lascaux II began receiving visitors. In 1979, UNESCO included Lascaux cave and various other decorated caves in the Vézère Valley into the list of World Heritages Sites. The authorities carried out constant monitoring as the caves remained closed to the public. This arrested the development of crystals and reversed the development of algae and bacteria (Muriel 2011:10). Ultimately, the authorities banned further public visits to the caves and initiated revival efforts. Worse still, devastating algae layers of bacteria and dark calcite crystals appeared on the walls of the cave. Consequently, significant archeological data disappeared as the lackluster of the paintings decreased. The huge number of visitors and artificial lighting caused considerable destruction to the historical site. ![]() The caves received over 100,000 visitors yearly (Muriel 2011:8). Authorities opened the caves to the public in 1948 disregarding conservation and preservation issues. In December of the same year, the caves received statutory historic memento protection. The Lascaux cave was discovered in 1940 by a group of boys who were looking for their lost dog. The scholars and archeologists also propose that the paintings came into being within a period of several centuries. ![]() Most archeologists and scholars agree that paintings found in the cave can be dated around 15,000 BC, based on radiocarbon analysis of various artifacts and charcoal discovered in the cave. The painting in the Shaft of the Dead Man also presents a particular interest due to the unusual proportion of the human figures (Lacanette 2009: 2544). The most appealing of these chambers is the Hall of the Bulls, which presents the pictures of horses, bulls, and stags. Based on the multiple cover paintings on the Lascaux caves, researchers believe that for many centuries those caves have been populated by different tribes. There are seven sections of the Lascaux caves namely: “the Great Hall of the Bulls, the Painted Gallery, the Lateral Passage, the Chamber of Engravings, the Main Gallery, the Chamber of Felines, and the Shaft of the Dead Man” (Lacanette 2009: 2538).
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