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Dordogne (24)Departement
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6 posts
The Lascaux caves Cave / Rock Shelter |
News |
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Six months to save LascauxToday's Independent* reports that - "Unesco, the world cultural body, has threatened to humiliate France by placing the Lascaux caves – known as the "Sistine Chapel of prehistory" – on its list of endangered sites of universal importance... continues... |
Posted by Littlestone12th July 2008ce Edited 15th June 2009ce |
Folklore |
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Perhaps someone knows the stone to which this daft story refers.On the Causse above Terrasson, in Dordogne, is a dolmen with a cuplike hollow in the capstone. A friend of mine living near learned that the peasants were wont to place either money or meal or grapes in it. So one night he concealed himself within the cist. Presently a peasantess came and deposited a sou in the cavity, when my friend roared out in patois: "Ce n'est pas assez. Donnez moi encore!" whereupon the woman emptied her purse into the receptacle and fled.Well I hope he was proud of himself. From p64 of Sabine Baring-Gould's 1911 'Book of Folklore'. |
Posted by Rhiannon15th January 2008ce Edited 15th January 2008ce |
Latest posts for Dordogne (24) |
The Lascaux caves (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Images (click to view fullsize) |
  
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Posted by Chance21st February 2011ce |
The Lascaux caves (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Links |
The Lascaux Caves - Virtual tourOfficial Web site from the French Ministry of Culture - English version |
Posted by Chance 21st February 2011ce |
Save LascauxOfficial website of the International Committee for the Preservation of Lascaux |
Posted by Chance 21st February 2011ce |
The Lascaux caves (Cave / Rock Shelter) — Miscellaneous |
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Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne département. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old. They primarily consist of primitive images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley. The cave was discovered on September 12, 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas, as well as Marcel's dog, Robot. The cave complex was opened to the public in 1948. By 1955, the carbon dioxide produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art. After the cave was closed, the paintings were restored to their original state, and were monitored on a daily basis. Rooms in the cave include The Hall of the Bulls, the Passageway, the Shaft, the Nave, the Apse, and the Chamber of Felines. Lascaux II, a replica of two of the cave halls — the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery — was opened in 1983, 200 meters from the original. Reproductions of other Lascaux artwork can be seen at the Centre of Prehistoric Art at Le Thot, France. Since 1998 the cave has been beset with a fungus, variously blamed on a new air conditioning system that was installed in the caves, the use of high-powered lights, and the presence of too many visitors. As of 2008, the cave contained black mold which scientists were and are still trying to keep away from the paintings. In January 2008, authorities closed the cave for three months even to scientists and preservationists. A single individual was allowed to enter the cave for 20 minutes once a week to monitor climatic conditions. Now only a few scientific experts are allowed to work inside the cave and just for a few days a month but the efforts to remove the mold have taken a toll, leaving dark patches and damaging the pigments on the walls. |
Posted by Chance 21st February 2011ce |
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