Illustrator signature must be included in all reproductions Illustration of the discovery of stone age cave paintings in Lascaux, France. The younger man is Marcel Ravidat, who in 1940 at 18 years old discovered the entrance to the cave whilst walking his dog. The older man is Leon Laval, a local archaeologist who explored the caves. The caves contain over 600 paintings, primarily of large animals, that date to around 17,000 years ago in the Upper Palaeolithic (stone age). Red, brown and yellow ochre, and black manganese dioxide were used for the paintings.