History Lesson Tuesdays: Dog Unearths Cave of Antiquity
by Ray Setterfield September 12, 1940 — A French teenager took his dog for a walk on this day – a simple everyday event, but it was to lead to one of the most stunning archaeological discoveries of all time. Marcel Ravidat, an 18-year-old apprentice garage mechanic, took his dog, Robot, into hills near his home at Montignac in the Dordogne region of southwestern France. There, the story goes, Robot ran into a hole created by a fallen tree. Ravidat threw some stones into the hole and was surprised that they seemed to travel a long, long way down. Returning with some friends and a teacher he climbed down the hole and began to explore. The boys discovered what were to become known famously as the Lascaux cave paintings – estimated to be between 17,000 to 20,000 years old and excitedly described by experts as “the cradle of art”. In a cave complex arranged around a main cave about 20 metres long and five metres high were what turned out to be more than 2,000 painted and engraved...
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