Site · France
Lascaux
Magdalenian, 17000–15000 BCE
Lascaux is the painted cave near Montignac discovered by teenagers in 1940, with the Hall of the Bulls and other galleries painted by Magdalenian people around 17,000 years ago. It was closed in 1963 to halt damage and is seen through replicas.
| Country | France |
|---|---|
| State / province | Dordogne |
| Dates | 17000–15000 BCE |
| Status | Monument historique and UNESCO World Heritage Site; original cave closed |
| Managed by | Ministère de la Culture with the Dordogne department |
| Access | The original cave is closed; the Lascaux IV replica and museum are open |
| Coordinates | 45.054, 1.17 (public site) |
What was found
The cave contains some six hundred painted animals and nearly 1,500 engravings, and excavation of the floor recovered flint blades, burins, bone points, lamps including a carved sandstone lamp, pigments and the debris of scaffolding. The finds are held by the National Prehistory Museum at Les Eyzies.
Rules
Nothing may be collected, dug, moved or removed at Lascaux; it is a protected archaeological site managed by Ministère de la Culture with the Dordogne department, and taking artifacts, stones or samples is an offence. French law protects the cave and all Palaeolithic material as state property; the site is closed to the public. This article is for study and context only and is not a collecting locality.
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Lascaux" (Site). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/sites/lascaux. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-lascaux,
title = {Lascaux},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/sites/lascaux}},
year = {2026},
note = {Site article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.