1940 Discovery of Lascaux Cave: How a Dog-Led Accident Changed Art History
In 1940, four French teenagers, including 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat, discovered the Lascaux Cave after following a dog into a hole on a hillside. The site contained 17,000-year-old paintings of animals and geometric engravings. Public tourism later damaged the fragile environment, leading to its closure in 1963 and the creation of replicas like Lascaux IV.