Lascaux cave, a map of the prehistoric sky
The marvellous cave of Lascaux which is 17000 years old and possesses a wealth of dozens of horses, bisons and bulls painted on its dark walls was not just a sacred temple where the men of the times, called by the specialists the prehistoric equivalents of Michelangelo, represented their myths and beliefs. It appears they were already capable of astronomical observations and they inscribed them on the rock walls of the cave. They may have indeed tried to represent the constellations of the Superior Paleolithical sky, but also the sun and moon positions at precise moments, 15000 years before Christ, when they left their mark for ever and became Mankind's first astronomers. Such is the astonishing statement made by Chantal jègues-Wolkiewiez, an ethno-astronomer after a marathon 2-year research work. With the help and support of Jean-Michel Geneste, an archaelogist and curator of the Lascaux cave, she undertook to measure and calculate the orientation of numerous paintings and comparing them to the positions of several constellations, she managed to relate them in an almost unquestionable way to the positions of several constellations in the sky as it appeared back then to the prehistoric artists, at certain crucial times of the year, particularly summer solstices. Thus, the magnificent bulls that can be admired on the cave's walls could be the representation of the Taurus constellation which tends to prove that this particular constellation had already been discovered 17000 years ago. And the very entrance of the cave itself must have been decisive for the men of Lascaux when they chose it because it directly faced the setting sun in the summer. These astonishing revelations were first made public on November 10 during the International Conference on cave art held at Valcamonica in Italy.