Today we went to the Grotto de Lascaux II to see the remake of a Cromagnon cave full of cave paintings. We got there a bit late so we only got 3/4 of the tour but we saw the caves. The walls were completely covered in paintings with everything from bulls to random signs the experts have no idea what they mean. It was fairly cool but it was a remake of the original cave (The real cave had to be shut down because the human bacteria was deteriorating the paintings) so it wasn't as cool as seeing a real painting that some one drew 17000 years ago. But I did learn that the Cromagnon were very smart. They got movement into the paintings by not attaching limbs but leaving a space (a technic still used today), they also used perspective in their drawings. They also developed a technique for making tallow candles using a Juniper wick, which burns with white rather than black smoke, to light up the caves.
This trip was very educational and interesting but it isn't a must do if you're in Europe (unless of course prehistoric history is your thing).
Lascaux is only one of the caves that this area is famous for. There are numerous areas were you can go to see examples of other prehistoric dwellings. Cromagnon man did not live in caves but rather on sheltered rock ledges. Below is an example of a rock ledge not far from our camp ground.
Jake
Location:Lascaux
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