{"id":2291,"date":"2014-05-06T23:46:19","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T15:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegallivantpost.com\/?p=2291"},"modified":"2017-03-10T17:30:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T09:30:06","slug":"snapshot-go-back-prehistoric-time-lascaux-caves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegallivantpost.com\/snapshot-go-back-prehistoric-time-lascaux-caves\/","title":{"rendered":"Snapshot: Go back in prehistoric time at the Lascaux Caves"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hunting scenes splashed across the wall, richly colored and detailed drawings of human-like figures stabbing spears into life-like animals, telling stories of life in primitive times.<\/p>\n
This is no movie set, but prehistoric masterpieces of art in the Lascaux Caves of the V\u00e9z\u00e8re valley near Montignac in Southwestern France. A labyrinth of caves, its Paleolithic cave paintings was estimated to be over 17,000 years old.<\/p>\n
Four teenagers made an accidental discovery of the cave back in 1940, when they followed their dog into the narrow cavern entrance. The subterranean grotto has a main cavern with walls covered in paintings of animals, symbols and engravings. There are over 2,000 figures that can be divided into three main categories- humans, animals and abstract signs. Each painting is remarkable in details. There are horses, stags, bison, deers, bovines and even mythical creatures. The images are painted using mineral pigments; some are incised into the stone. Archaeologists believed that the cave was most likely used as a gathering place for hunting and religious rites over a long period of time.<\/p>\n