Standing at 



The 



Welhprings 



of the 



WORLD'S ART 



By Maidi Wiebe, Geology Artist 



NEAR the little River Vezere, in the 

 rocky hills of the Dordogne in south 

 central France, is the entrance to one of 

 the most beautiful and significant caves 

 of the Ice Age: Lascaux. Here, drawings 

 have been found that rank with the 

 finest artistic creations of man. My long- 

 standing dream of seeing them was ful- 

 filled last summer, when I visited the 

 prehistoric caves of France and Spain. 

 The Lascaux cave has been known 



Page U 



only since the autumn of 1940, when 

 four boys from the nearby village of 

 Montignac discovered and explored a 

 hole in the ground from which cold air 

 was streaming. The first ones to descend 

 through this aperture in modern times, 

 they soon found themselves in a gigan- 

 tic grotto with walls covered over and 

 over with paintings. 



They reported their strange discovery 

 to their teacher, Laval. Realizing its 



significance, he immediately informed 

 the well-known archaeologist, Abbe Pro- 

 fessor Breuil from Paris, who just at that 

 time happened to be in Brive, less than 

 thirty miles away. Under his guidance, 

 the cavern was systematically explored. 

 Because of its narrow, hidden entrance, 

 the cave's treasures had remained un- 

 known till our day, undisturbed and 

 unaffected by cold, heat and damp. The 

 paintings appear as fresh as if the un- 

 known artist had finished them just yes- 

 terday. 



In order to open the marvelous grotto 

 of Lascaux to the world, it was necessary 

 to build a new, less tortuous entrance. I 

 made my way easily down the steps that 

 now lead to the cave's earthen thresh- 

 hold. Two thick, steel doors protect the 

 inner vault and help to maintain a con- 

 stant temperature between 50° and 57° 

 Fahrenheit. The moment these doors 

 opened and closed behind me, the earth 

 I knew seemed far away. Before me was 

 a subterranean world. Dim lamps, well 

 hidden behind rocks, threw a soft light 

 upon the walls and ceiling of a great 

 hall, nearly ninety feet long by thirty 

 feet wide. Everywhere, animals marched 

 and galloped in long processions: wild 

 horses, cows, bulls, and deer. Some 

 were small — not larger than a foot; 

 others were larger than life. 



It seems natural to think that the be- 

 ginnings of art would somehow be stiff 

 — but these paintings seemed to be alive, 

 to breathe, to speak. What made them 

 so impressive was not their age, nor the 

 fact that they had been created dur- 

 ing the awakening process of human life, 

 but the paintings themselves — their 

 form, color, and masterly art — which 

 rank them among the greatest that man 

 has ever created. 



The cave of Lascaux dates from the 

 period between the Aurignacian and 

 Magdalenian cultures, and corresponds 

 to that of Cro-Magnon man, about 

 20,000 years ago. Such caves were 

 never used by paleolithic men for liv- 

 ing quarters, but only for ceremonial 

 meetings and religious purposes. The 

 artists portrayed hunting scenes with 

 animal traps and flying arrows. The 

 many paintings of pregnant animals 

 suggest that fertility rites were prob- 

 ably performed. 



In order to light their caves, the artists 



