The collection of paintings in Lasc

The collection of paintings in Lascaux is among some 150 prehistoric sites dating from the Paleolithic period (旧石器时代) that have been documented in France’s Vezere Valley. This corner of southwestern Europe seems to have been a hot spot for figurative art. The biggest discovery since Lascaux occurred in December 1994, when three cave explorers laid eyes on artworks that had not been seen since a rockslide 22,000 years ago closed off a large deep cave in southern France. Here, by unsteadily shining firelight, prehistoric artists drew outlines of cave lions, herds of rhinos (犀牛) and magnificent wild oxen, horses, cave bears. In all, the artists drew 442 animals over perhaps thousands of years, using nearly 400,000 square feet of cave surface as their canvas (画布). The site, now known as Chauvet-Pont-1’Arc Cave, is sometimes considered the Sistine Chapel of prehistory.