Some of the first footsteps in our history

Entrance to the cave of Lascaux II

View of the Vezere valley - more gorgeous
countryside.

 Well we found our caves and grottos in Montignac another charming little French village. There we discovered Lascaux – the site of amazing Cro-Magnon era cave art dating back some 17 000 years. The cave was discovered by 4 teenagers in 1940 when their dog fell down a hole created by a fallen tree. We entered Lascaux 2 a completely artificial reproduced replica of the original cave. The original cave was closed to the public in 1963 after it was discovered the carbon dioxide from our breath was destroying the images on the limestone cave walls. Over a period of 20 years a copy of the most of the cave and the art was reproduced about 200m away from the cave. The paintings were all reproduced but much of the etchings are not in Lascaux 2. Next year Lascaux 4 will open as the current site is not coping with the number of visitors. The detail of the paintings depicting Aurochs, stags, cave bears and cave lions was astounding. Given that the culture has not continued the experts are unsure of the reason for some of the art and its purpose. The animals depicted were not ones that were hunted and Cro-Magnon people did not live in the cave but rather went to the cave to paint on ladders and scaffolding. No wonder the French Professor when he first saw the cave described it as the Prehistoric Sistine Chapel.

They were certainly artists using the structure and curves of the limestone to create aspects of the creatures’ bodies. It was interesting to compare it to Aboriginal Rock art in the Northern Territory. The aboriginal art was not about recreating the look of the animals but rather functional and conveying the story. Given that the Aboriginal culture continues the advantage is that the ‘story’ can be told of the art – the reason for it and the meaning conveyed. This is lost with the Lascaux artwork and is simply open to interpretation and hypothesis.

Auroch and baby - very cute

After Lascaux 2 we headed out to Le Thot (apparently well signposted – well it was apart from one important turn at a round-a-bout) to see a museum where they ‘recreated’ some of the animals of the time of Cro-Magnon. We eventually got on the right road and headed out to the ‘farm’. The Auroch no longer exists but some scientists set about trying to breed backwards from a series of old breeds and now have is the ‘reconstructed auroch’ which is a registered breed in France. We hadn’t noticed flies in France but once around the aurochs, mountain goats, deer, bison and horses they were well and truly present. We also had the experience of sitting through a great animation where mammoths, bison, deer etc from the Cro-Magnon era appeared entirely in French. Understood the odd word here and there but it was certainly entertaining. Another group of school kids – everywhere we have been whether in town or at the museums etc we have seen at least one group of students – we joke about bring along your 2 euro for the bus and we will go to the Vatican, Cro-Magnon paintings, Leonardo Da Vinci’s house etc. Just amazing opportunities but we have also seen them walking around the villages – the teachers probably want to get them out of the cooped up school buildings because there does not seem to be anywhere to play.

We then headed off to Amboise in the Loire valley.

Love to all
S&E