A remarkable archaeological discovery. The Cave of Lascaux A remarkable archaeological discovery.

ARE THESE PICTURES FORMS OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION? Through the use of images, young children can communicate their thoughts without the use of words or sentences. How do we know so much about early humans during the time period when there was no formal written language?

In September 1940, four boys and a dog set out on an adventure in southwestern France. They were intrigued by an old legend about a tunnel running under the Vezere River. As they walked through the woods the little dog, Robot, ran ahead toward a deep depression in the ground covered with overgrowth and began sniffing the sunken hole. The depression had originally been created by an uprooted tree. The boys hurried to catchup with Robot. When they saw the deep hole, they immediately thought it might lead them to the legendary tunnel where hidden treasure was said to be found. After trying to determine the depth of the hole by tossing rocks in the opening and listening for contact with the bottom, they decided to explore it. They enlarged the opening by removing a few stones around the edges. Each of the four boys slid through the hole in turn and went down 15 meters into a dark underground chamber. They used their oil lanterns to light up the darkness inside. What they found changed what we knew about history.

The paintings found inside the vast cavern date back 20,000 years The paintings found inside the vast cavern date back 20,000 years. These are the early forms of written history. The paintings tell a story of our ancient ancestors. The Cave at Lascaux is truly one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of all time. https://vimeo.com/40849516 http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/

IN YOUR NOTEBOOK, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AND DISCUSS WITH YOUR PARTNER What seems to be the main idea of the cave images? What colors are mostly used? What colors are not seen? Why do you think so few colors are used? What insights can you make as to the life of the people who created these drawings (what was their life like)? Caves like Lascaux have been discovered all over the world. In what ways do you think the images from different caves would be similar or different?