Stone Age Art: Lascaux Cave Paintings

The First Art The Lascaux Cave in France contains more than 600 wall paintings. They were discovered by a local teenager and his dog, Robot. The walls were painted around 17,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest collections of cave paintings in the world. Painters used red, yellow, and black paints made from colorful minerals. Sometimes they carved images into the walls. The paintings show humans, symbols, and animals, including horse-like creatures, stags, cattle, bison, a bear, and a rhinoceros. One cave, called the Hall of the Bulls, has a painting of a bull that is 5.2 meters long. It is the largest cave painting of an animal ever discovered. Another painting, called The Crossed Bison, shows a bison that looks like it is coming towards the viewer. Some experts think the walls depict successful hunting trips, perhaps to use when teaching their children how to hunt. Other experts have suggested that the cave paintings were painted to bring superstitious hunters good luck.