Old Stone AgeCulture & Arts Lascaux cave paintings c. 17,000 BCEMajor Hundreds of animals painted in a French cave become the most famous Ice Age artwork. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → Habitual fire and cooking → Homo sapiens appears → Pigments and symbols → Oldest known figurative art → Chauvet Cave paintings → Lascaux cave paintings Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentwhc.unesco.orgPrehistoric sites and decorated caves of the Vézère Valley (UNESCO World Heritage) ↗Editor's pickBookNorbert AujoulatLascaux: Movement, Space and Time ↗Editor's pickBookGregory CurtisThe Cave Painters ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubeLascaux cave paintings explained ↗Editor's pick