We are running out of time and need to leave the Perigord and make our way to Provence so we had to choose between seeing the Troglodyte Village or Cave Paintings. We went for the Paleolithic cave paintings that are 15k -17k years old. The former Troglodyte Village was like an outdoor wax museum according to the pamphlet and we were afraid of the selfies that people would be attempting.
Most folks know the story of how the cave paintings in Lascaux were discovered. In 1940, some teenage boys were looking for buried treasure with their dog (Robot) and the dog fell in a hole and wound up in a cave. A few days later they rescued the dog and found the cave paintings. This is a pic of the original site of the cave (entrance on the left) with a plaster dog indicating where Robot fell.
The main cavern is 66 feet wide and 16 feet high. The walls of the cave are decorated with 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings. Archaeologists believe that the cave was used over a long period of time as a center for hunting and religious rites.
The cave was opened to the public in 1948 but was closed in 1963 because artificial lights and CO2 had caused the paintings to fade and grow algae. An exact replica of the cave, Lascaux II was opened in 1983, about 200 meters from the original site. They are now building a “Disney-like” Lascaux IV to be able to handle more visitors and accessibility concerns. It is funny, that the original purist complained the Lascaux II was ‘Disney-like’ since it was a replica and now, the neo-purists are bemoaning the new ‘fake’ version. Regardless, you need a reservation and it is well done.
History books do not do these paintings justice. The scale is massive- similar to paintings on the Sistine Chapel & very detailed but painted 15,000 years ago. This was an animal focused society and there is only one human with a bird head in all of the paintings.
After seeing a re-creation, we really wanted to view original cave paintings. On our way to Cahors, we stopped by The Pech Merle cave which is even older than Lascaux (over 29k years old) and is the real thing. Lots of mammoths, spotted horses, and outlines of human hands. Still no human bodies other than hands depicted. The actual cave itself was fascinating. It is only a matter of time before this cave is closed to the public, so make sure you get your reservation in advance and hurry up!
The cognitive and spatial skills required by early humans to observe the the physical world and then draw, paint and etch them into/onto cave walls in three dimensions while taking advantage of the contours of the cave walls is impressive.
