Chauvet Cave: A Prehistoric Cathedral Sealed for 21,000 Years
In 1994, three French speleologists squeezed through a narrow cliffside tunnel near the Ardèche River—and stumbled into a cathedral of Ice Age art. Hidden from the world for over 21,000 years by a perfectly timed landslide around 19,000 BCE, the Chauvet Cave preserved some of the oldest known paintings ever created by humans. Its limestone walls pulse with life: over 400 animals rendered in charcoal and ochre—charging woolly rhinos, dueling cave lions, and a flowing, 10-meter panel of galloping horses that seems to move like a Paleolithic film strip. Ice Age Artists: Raw Skill, Timeless Genius Radiocarbon dating shook the…
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