It seems appropriate that the Lascaux caves in southwestern France, with their ancient paintings of animals, should be discovered by one – a dog called Robot.

On 12 September 1940, Robot began curiously investigating a hole by an uprooted tree. His companion, 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat, followed his cue – and the profound discovery was made.

In most cave art, while the paintings of animals are wonderswept and awestruck, the humans are portrayed as haphazard little stick people. It is the animals who are the route to the spirit world, and from earliest times animals have been considered as gods ...

 

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