Galleries that suggest continuity, context or simply represent a cavern were given names. The teenagers discovered that the cave walls were covered with depictions of animals. They entered the cave through a 15-metre-deep (50-foot) shaft that they believed might be a legendary secret passage to the nearby Lascaux Manor. On 12 September 1940, the entrance to the Lascaux Cave was discovered on the La Rochefoucauld-Montbel lands by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat when his dog, Robot, investigated a hole left by an uprooted tree (Ravidat would embellish the story in later retellings, saying Robot had fallen into the cave.) Ravidat returned to the scene with three friends, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas. History since rediscovery Modern entrance to the Lascaux cave The original caves have been closed to the public since 1963, as their condition was deteriorating, but there are now a number of replicas.

Because of the outstanding prehistoric art in the cave, Lascaux was inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979, as an element of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley. They are the combined effort of many generations and, with continued debate, the age of the paintings is now usually estimated at around 17,000 years (early Magdalenian). The paintings represent primarily large animals, typical local contemporary fauna that correspond with the fossil record of the Upper Paleolithic in the area. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of the cave. Lascaux ( English: / l æ ˈ s k oʊ/ la- SKOH, US also / l ɑː ˈ s k oʊ/ lah- SKOH French: Grotte de Lascaux, 'Lascaux Cave') is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France.

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