Today in History—September 12: The Discovery of the Lascaux Caves

On this day in 1940, four teenage boys stumbled upon one of the world’s most significant archaeological finds—through a fox’s den, 50 feet down to an underground passageway, and into a network of caves. Like you do.

On the walls of the caves in Lascaux, Dordogne, France, they found complex and fantastical paintings and engravings of animals (and one lone human figure). More than 600 creatures are pictured, including horses, bison, deer, and aurochs, making the Lascaux caves one of the most concentrated showcases of cave art in existence.

The detailed scenes highlight hunting rituals and feature realistic depictions of the animals. There are also some scenes whose meanings are still not understood.

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The boys promptly told their teacher, who was next to check out their discovery—once they convinced him that it wasn’t a teenage prank and that they weren’t trying to trap him in a giant hole.

One of the boys (with his parents’ permission) set up a tent near the entrance to guard the find until proper help could arrive. (The boy would grow up to become an official guide for the site.)

Father Henri Breuil, the world’s leading expert on cave art, happened to be visiting the region and was quickly summoned. It turned out that the boys had found one of the most wondrous displays of prehistoric art humanity had ever seen. (That remains true today.)

Many of the chambers in the caves are hard to reach, and it’s not known why the artists ventured into such inaccessible places to create art. But it is known that it’s special: The work shows serious sophistication, with complex layers, colors (red, yellow, black, and brown), and retouching. It changed how people thought about prehistoric art.

It’s believed that most of the art dates from about 17,000 years ago—but some sections might be much older. Dating the art is difficult, and it was made more so by the number of tourists who entered the cave in the decade after its discovery. Condensation and carbon dioxide from human breath contributed to the growth of algae, and the added artificial lighting washed out the colors. (And please don’t ask what happened when air conditioning was installed.)

These days, nearby replica caves allow visitors to experience the wonder without damaging the original.

Famous Birthdays

1887: Simon Kimbangu—Congolese religious leader who founded a separatist church

1930: Suzuki Akira—Japanese chemist who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for Chemistry

1966: Anousheh Ansari—Iranian-born American businesswoman who was the first female space tourist

1973: Tarana Burke—American activist and business executive who founded the Me Too movement