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All sapiens:
mother and son

expression, she cross-references

Replicating cave art, quite a story!

all the data collected by
researchers while remaining in
11

LA GROTTE DE

space features a complete facsimile
of the cave and an overview of
international rock art that welcomes

constant dialogue with scientists.

visitors from around the world.

The final result presents the
12
The “Shaft
Scene”

13

9

most likely hypothesis of the

2. THE LASCAUX UNDERGROUND

The Lascaux
cave

subject’s physical appearance,

NETWORK

Entrance

specific moment in time. These

a synthesis of knowledge at a
hypotheses naturally evolve as

10

The Ateliers
des Fac-similés...

new discoveries are made and are
substantiated when necessary.

A

Partial 1/10 scale model of the

JORNEY INTO
THE PAST

Lascaux Cave
Made from the digital replica of
Lascaux, this remarkably accurate
model shows the first chamber

This is precisely the case for this

of the cave: the Hall of the Bulls.

group of men and women from

Nicknamed the Rotunda because

Lascaux: a recent study from

of its relatively circular shape, it

10. INTO THE ATELIERS DES FAC-

public. In the early 20 century,

2023 revealed that the skin of

measures 16 m (52.5 ft) long, 9

SIMILÉS…

the prehistorian Henri Breuil

Europeans in the Upper Paleolithic

m (29.5 ft) wide and 6 m (19.7 ft)

Lascaux replicas: behind the

established direct tracing

was still dark.

high. Its walls, covered with a film

scenes

as the standard method

Making copies of the Hall of the

before photography became

Bulls for the CIAP (International

predominant in the 1950s and

13. THE “SHAFT SCENE”

Center for Cave Art) in 2015, and for

served as a medium to conduct

The Shaft

1. DISCOVERY

the Lascaux International Exhibition

surveys. These many techniques

With a depth of 16 feet (5 meters),

Discovered in 1940

in 2024, at the Ateliers des Fac-

were used at Lascaux from the

the Shaft’s location makes access

One day in September

Similés du Périgord (Montignac,

time of its discovery.

difficult and seems to indicate that

1940, while walking in the

the painters reached it through

woods near the village

another entrance that has not

of Montignac in southwestern

12. ALL SAPIENS: THE MOTHER

been found to date. The “Shaft

France, four friends—Marcel

AND HER SON

Scene” comprises 3 painted

Ravidat (18), Jacques

th

France).

11. COPYING CAVE ART, QUITE A
STORY!

of hard, irregular calcite, provided
an ideal surface for the paintings,

animal figures and the only human

Marsal (15), Georges Agniel (16),

Early reproduction techniques:

A 2025 restoration reveals darker

figure of Lascaux. Four abstract

and Simon Coencas (13)—

bringing cave art to light

skin color

signs punctuate the scene. The

stumbled upon a hole that led to

Starting in the late 19th century,

Élisabeth Daynes is a visual artist

scene is punctuated by four signs.

a cave. Their discovery that day

prehistorians discovered cave

specializing in the representation

The Shaft Scene features a

changed their lives and had a global

art in southwestern France and

of human beings from the past.

human, a bison, a rhinoceros,

impact. The prehistorian Henri

northern Spain. To document and

For her, restoring a face and an

a bird and six dots. It is the only

Breuil, one of the first to arrive on

authenticate these works, they

identity to our distant ancestors is

human representation in Lascaux,

the scene, made the initial inventory

developed various reproduction

an artistic and scientific challenge.

and it is also the only scene that

and drawings of the images on

techniques: sight surveys,

She works directly from fossilized

suggests an event or a story. This

the walls, which already seemed

tracings, casts, drawings,

remains (skulls, teeth, post-cranial

drawing remains a mystery, with its

to constitute a masterpiece of

and photography. These

bones, and tools) using casts

figurative and abstract elements.

cave art. The Lascaux cave was

methods not only facilitated the

provided by paleoanthropologists.

The shaft is 5 metres deep and

immediately classified as an

study and documentation of

In order to recreate the soft tissue,

difficult to access, suggesting that

“historic monument” by the

prehistoric art but brought it to

body movements, musculature,

this space is more sacred than the

French government, then listed

the attention of the general

and particularly the gaze or facial

rest of the sanctuary.

in 1979 on the UNESCO World

semicircle. The natural shape of

was particularly sensitive to

this chamber probably played a key

the presence of humans and
proved to be fragile. On April 17,
1963, André Malraux, French

role in its decoration by prehistoric
artists. There are no engravings on
this type of limestone.

Minister for Cultural Affairs,
decided to close the cave to
the public. Construction of a first
facsimile a few meters from the

A
Some 20,00 years ago, the cave
opened up under an overhang.

original began in 1972. Lascaux

Under the effect of frost and

2 opened in 1983 and visitors
flocked back. In 2016, a new cultural
facility called Lascaux 4 or CIAP
(International Center for Cave

temperature fluctuations, this
gradually crumbled, while leaving a
wide passage. It was through this
opening that the artists entered the

Art) opened to the public. While

cave.

preserving the Lascaux hill, this

Life in the time
of Lascaux

The old Sapiens
and the young girl
The Black Cow

Draw Lascaux !

4

7

3

6

Heritage List, along with fifteen

8
5

other sites in the Vézère Valley.
Closed in 1963

which extend over a 25 m (82 ft)

its natural equilibrium. The cave

Virtual Reality

The guardians
of Lascaux

2

1

Officially opened to the public
in 1948, the Lascaux cave
MUSEU DE PREHISTÒRIA DE VALÈNCIA. Corona, 36

·

46003 València

·

www.museuprehistoriavalencia.es

·

Seguix-nos en

The Lascaux International Exhibition was produced by the Dordogne Department, in partnership with the French government, the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and the SEMITOUR. The world tour is managed by the SPL Lascaux.

attracted crowds that disrupted

The Lascaux
underground network
Discovery

Entrance

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B

4. THE GIRL AND THE OLD

5. THE GUARDIANS OF LASCAUX

the works: it also revealed details

6. DRAW LASCAUX!

method. However, objects found

Around 8,000 years ago, rubble

SAPIENS

André Glory’s 10 years: hand-

imperceptible to the naked

Touch the screen and reveal an

on the cave floor have been

from the porch eventually blocked

Sapiens in Upper Paleolithic

drawn reproductions on tracing

eye, such as hidden paintings,

image from Lascaux!

dated. In 1998, direct dating of

the entrance. This natural sealing

Europe: hyperrealistic sculptures

paper

using photographic techniques

Look at these drawings of

tools made from reindeer antler

explains the Lascaux paintings’

by E. Daynes

Between 1952 and 1963, André

based on various wavelengths

engravings and paintings from

yielded a result of 23,000 years,

exceptional state of preservation.

During the Upper Paleolithic in

Glory conducted the first

of the electromagnetic spectrum

Lascaux. Run your finger over the

whereas the graphic style of the

Europe, the features of Homo

comprehensive study of Lascaux

(ultraviolet, visible, infrared). He

images to reveal their outlines and

paintings and engravings was

C

sapiens were very similar to

at the behest of Henri Breuil, a

also used software to correct

choose the one you like best. Then

interpreted as being either more

In 1940, a tree uprooted during

ours: same cranial capacity, same

prominent French prehistorian of

image distortion caused by

take a sheet of paper and a pencil

recent (between 17,000 and

a storm opened a crack in the

brain, same morphology. They

that era. Under raking light, Glory

shooting constraints and the shape

and draw it. You’ll find almost all of

20,000 years old) or slightly older

debris at the entrance to the cave,

were aware of the world around

produced 117 m2 (1260 sq. ft)

of the walls. This photographic

the animals from Lascaux: horses,

(around 25,000 years old). In

revealing a hole 20 cm (8”) in

them, had mastered articulated

of tracings and counted close

approach became a comprehensive

deer, aurochs, bison, ibex, big cats,

2019, five reindeer remains were

diameter. After enlarging this hole,

language, and practiced funeral

to 1,500 animal figures and

tool, used both for documenting

rhinoceroses... and a few signs.

carbon-14 dated and suggest that

the four boys discovered Lascaux.

rites and artistic activities. They

signs. There were times when he

and producing digital records of

the cave was regularly visited

produced a wide range of tools from

had to set up scaffolding and even

cave art.

by groups of hunters between

Map of the Lascaux cave: 1

stone and animal bones. In their

labor alone at night or with a few

7. LIFE IN THE TIME OF LASCAUX

21,500 and 21,000 years ago.

Entrance 2 Hall of the Bulls 3 Axial

daily lives, they were observant of

dedicated assistants due to the

Entrance of the Lascaux cave at

Dated samples (reindeer’s

Gallery 4 Meander 5 Passage 6

nature, lived in small groups and

influx of tourists. During the day, he

the Palaeolithic period

bones), images taken from the

Apse 7 Shaft 8 Silted-up Chamber

practiced hunting and gathering for

assembled, copied, and corrected

The Cro-Magnon people were

research program of Mathieu

9 Nave 10 Mondmilch Gallery 11

their basic needs. The populations

his drawings on tracing paper. He

semi-nomadic and moved

Chamber of Felines

Langlais, Sylvain Ducasse

following

« Twenty years on, a new date
with Lascaux. Reassessing
the chronology of the cave’s

3. THE PANEL OF THE BLACK

Paleolithic occupations through

COW

new 14C AMS dating » 2019. ©

The monumental Black Cow

Xavier Muth, Get in situ.

(female aurochs) raises her slender
horns nearly 6 meters from the
8. VIRTUAL REALITY

ground, at the entrance of the Nave.
Her gaze plunges toward the back
of the cave. A red line extends from

were nomadic

her muzzle: could it be her breath?

or semi-nomadic and occupied

As everywhere in Lascaux, the

the entire European continent.

grumbled

animals appear alive. About twenty

They moved with the seasons

about the excessive

Today, the long-term

small horses accompany the

and exploited the resources

number of visitors and stood

conservation of Lascaux hinges

migrations of the animals they

sapiens painted and engraved

large cow, all facing in the opposite

within a given territory.

by powerlessly during the 1958

on maintaining the cave closed

hunted. They lived in wooden-

hundreds of animal figures and

direction. Two small ibex heads

The climate was generally cold

renovation work, which he believed

to the public and employing the

framed huts covered with hides

symbols on the walls of a small

are also engraved in the body of the

and dry, with little rainfall and

threatened the integrity of the

least intrusive methods possible.

fastened with animal-fiber ropes,

cave in southwestern France. This

rightmost horse.

more sunshine than today. The

paintings.

A rigorous protocol of climatic and

or under rock shelters. They rarely

masterful work is part of a vast

The cow was executed in 3 stages:

populations experienced climate

biological monitoring, coupled with

lived in caves, which were dark and

phenomenon known as “cave

engraved outline, filling with black

change between 40,000 and 13,000

Norbert Aujoulat’s 10 years

strictly controlled access and multi-

cold, and became full of smoke. At

art,” which spread across a vast

pigment by blowing or dabbing,

years ago, but sapiens knew how

at Lascaux: the largest

disciplinary research programs,

their encampments, they prepared

territory over tens of thousands of

then re-engraving of the contours.

to adapt to their environment. The

photographic collection

ensures the site’s preservation.

food and made tools and clothing.

years. The Lascaux Cave is now a

Some details are painted with a

landscape, in much of Europe at

Between 1976 and 1999, Norbert

Only a few experts (restorers and

Fire lengthened the day and kept

prehistoric site of fundamental

brush (like the black of the horns).

that time, was open, similar to

Aujoulat renewed the study

conservation biologists) are allowed

predators at bay.

importance to the history of art

Finally, 3 multicolored quadrangular

a grassy steppe or tundra, with a

of Lascaux with an innovative

access to observe, monitor and

signs complete this panel, they are

few forests. This environment was

photographic approach.

take samples essential to research.

Dating... through objects

for its magnificent paintings and

called «blazons».

home to herds of large herbivores,

Constrained to a few hours a

Decisions are made jointly by the

The paintings at Lascaux were

engravings as for its extraordinary

mainly horses, bison, aurochs, and

week in the cave, he developed

scientific council and the curator.

produced using mineral pigments,

history, its reproductions, and the

reindeer.

precise techniques for observing

Photos Muriel Mauriac, Lascaux

without any organic matter. It

ongoing efforts to preserve it.

9. THE LASCAUX CAVE
the

Twenty-one thousand years
ago in Western Europe, Homo

and humanity, renowned as much

and recording data. His method

is therefore impossible to date

was not restricted to documenting

them directly using the carbon-14

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