Modern Era · Europe · Exploration
1940
Cave paintings discovered at Lascaux
September 1940
Four boys following their dog into a hole in the Dordogne countryside found themselves in a chamber covered with paintings of bulls, horses, and stags. Seventeen thousand years old. The Lascaux cave would be one of the twentieth century's most important archaeological discoveries, forever changing how modern humans thought about their Ice Age ancestors.
In context
Also in 1940 (7 other events on record)
- Germany invades France and the Low Countries · Europe · War
- Battle of Britain · Europe · War
- Dunkirk evacuation · Europe · War
- The Blitz begins · Europe · War
- Germany invades Norway and Denmark · Europe · War
- Axis pact binds Germany, Italy, Japan · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Exploration
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.