Robot, a canine explorer, unearths one of the most stunning works of ancient art
In the Dordogne region of France on September 12, 1940, 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat was out walking his dog, Robot.
Robot discovered a hole in an uprooted tree while on the La Rochefoucauld-Montbel family's property and informed his owner.
Ravidat was intrigued and later returned with Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas.
The four people entered the cave through a 15-meter-deep hole, which they thought led to the adjacent Lascaux Manor.
Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil (L) joins Jacques Marsal, Marcel Ravidat and Georges Agniel, three of the four teenage "inventeurs" of the caveJerome CHATIN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
They instead discovered cave walls adorned in pictures of animals, people, and abstract symbols.
Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil, a French archaeologist, researched the ancient artworks after the youngsters informed the authorities of their discovery. He learned that the main cavern, which is 20 meters broad and 5 meters high, is what makes up the Lascaux grotto.
About 600 paintings and almost 1,500 engravings are displayed on the walls.
Breuil (L) examines the cave art shortly after its discovery alongside Count Begouen, prehistory professor at the University of ToulouseJerome CHATIN/Gamma-Rapho/Getty
Numerous species of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, cattle, cats, and what appear to be mythological creatures, are shown in the images.
There is only one human figure in the cave, and it is not the modern-day version of a person.
A man with a bird-like head and an upright phallus is depicted.
This image of bird-headed man with an erect phallus, apparently dead, alongside a bison and rhinoceros has intrigued researchers since it was discovered in 1940JT Vintage / Glasshouse Images / Getty
Archaeologists now think that the cave was used for hunting and religious rituals for a very long time because of this and other discoveries.
Although the Upper Paleolithic paintings are frequently dated to be between 15,000 and 17,000 years old, scientists now think Lascaux is far more problematically dated.
A replica of one of the Lascaux 'galleries' in Montignac, FrancePatrick Aventurier/Getty Images
That period of time was established by radiocarbon dating. It's now more widely accepted that the images in the cave date from a few centuries before and after that time and are mostly uniform. Some experts assert that the art has existed for even longer.
In 1948, the public was allowed access to the Lascaux cave, but it was only open for 15 years.
A section of the Great Hall of the Bulls - one of the most impressive 'galleries' on showJerome CHATIN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Experts had discovered that the bright colors of the paintings had faded and that a significant portion of them had become covered in lichen, fungi, and algae as a result of artificial lighting.
By 1955, the paintings had also been clearly harmed by the carbon dioxide, heat, and humidity caused by the roughly 1,200 visitors every day, forcing them to close in 1963.
Replicas of the cave have been exposed since the 1980s and continue to draw tens of thousands of curious tourists each year.
In this image from 1983, visitors marvel at the inside Lascaux II Grotto - one of the cave replicasPierre VAUTHEY/Sygma via Getty Images
Replicas of the Hall of the Bulls, the Passageway, the Shaft, the Nave, the Apse, and the Chamber of Felines are among the exhibition galleries.
Millions of people throughout the world have been captivated by the artwork since its discovery.
As part of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley in southwest France, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 due to its exceptional, largely well-preserved prehistoric images.