The Cave of Lascaux It was Thursday, September 12,1940.Four French teens were out exploring in the woods off the northern slopes of the Pyrenees.Many years before, an old pine tree fell and left a large hole in the ground.The teenagers were curious and they started to explore the area and fell into one of the most important archeological  finds of the twentieth century! There are over a hundred limestone  caves in this region of France.Some were _ by humans thousands and thousands of years ago.Between 15,000 and 17,000 years ago, humans painted lively creatures such as cows, bulls, horses, and even cats on the walls of the caves. Why did they mark these walls? Was it to tell a story? Was it to record a famous battle? There are many mysteries and ancient secrets still waiting to be discovered in the cave of Lascaux.There were dots in many of the paintings.What do these dots mean? Were they meant to record time, a calendar? Deep in the cave, there is a drawing of a "birdman".What does this mean? Was it a place for sacred ceremonies? No one knows for sure. The actual cave of Lascaux was closed in 1963 due to the overabundance of tourists visiting the site.The carbon dioxide that people were breathing out was causing damage to the fragile  cave paintings.Up till now the Lascaux cave is still closed for tourists.Only a specialist can visit the cave by a special order that must be made out almost a year in advance.Not more than six persons can enter the cave per day.Two days a week, the cave is completely closed.Due to the great interest of numerous tourists, in 1983 Lascaux IIwas opened for tourism.It is an exact replica of the cave of Lascaux. In the author's opinion, the cave paintings are   _  .
old beautiful easily damaged interesting