Discovered by four French teenagers in 1940, the Lascaux cave paintings are among the oldest paintings in the world. The paintings are divided up based on their location in the cave system and consist of over 6000 figures, mostly animals, as well as some abstract images. The animals primarily consist of horses, stags, aurochs and bison. Interestingly, there is only one depiction of a human within the paintings although there are positive and negative images of hands among others.
The paintings started deteriorating, particularly due to the growth of algae and fungi due to increased carbon dioxide and too many visitors. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 and a replica for tourists, Lascaux II, was opened in 1983. The deterioration of the original cave is still an issue, particularly after the installation of a new climate control machine in 2000. You can take a virtual tour of the caves at http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/00.xml/.
The paintings started deteriorating, particularly due to the growth of algae and fungi due to increased carbon dioxide and too many visitors. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 and a replica for tourists, Lascaux II, was opened in 1983. The deterioration of the original cave is still an issue, particularly after the installation of a new climate control machine in 2000. You can take a virtual tour of the caves at http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/00.xml/.
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