Life is full of dramaticcontrasts, none more fascinating than dealing with Indiana Jones one week andvisiting Les Eyzies in the Dordogne during the next. I spent three days there,surviving comfortably with my execrable French and visiting as many sites as Icould, including the excavation at Abri Pataud and Font de Gaume. The paintingsseemed more faded than they were when I was last there nearly years ago, whichgave a visit to Lascaux II a peculiar fascination.

I was lucky enoughto see the original in the late 1950s before it was closed to visitors—andrightly so, too. Now the tourist visits Lascaux II instead, a replica thatencompasses over 90% of the paintings in the cave. Situated only about 200meters (650 feet) from the original, the copy is, quite simply, a masterpiece,which has deservedly become a smash hit with tourists. It was pouring with rainthe day I visited. However, the tours, which you book ahead of time—it’s easyto do—were fully subscribed. The chambers are an exact copy of the originals,rock faces and all, are light softly, but give you a far better impression ofthe paintings than the originals. Why, I don’t know, but you seem to get abetter overall impression of the friezes of horses and huge bulls, the fearsomeBos primigenius, the aurochs. Therewas a sense of movement I had never noticed before, partly because my memoriesof the original visit have faded, but also because I looked at the paintings asa whole as a time. Was it better than the original. For 95% or more of visitors,I could say as good if not better, for they not only get a very accurateimpression of the original, but also feel good when they leave, as they havecontributed to the long-term preservation of what has quite rightly been calleda “Sistine Chapel” of Stone Age art. About the only people who really need tosee the original are rock art specialists, and even they should only go therewhen they have to.

Replicas aredefinitely an idea whose time has come—at Altamira and Niaux, and one wondersif the French will invest the money to create a replica of the Grotte deChauvet, once the study of it is complete. No tourist will ever set foot in thecave, but, judging from Lascaux, a Chauvet replica would be good investment.

By the way, if youwant to see a reconstituted aurochs, visit the Le Thon Cro-Magnon park, orexperience, depending on how you feel about it. There are a couple ofreconstructions of Cro-Magnon life and more Lascaux copies, but the big appealis the park with its animals that are close relatives to late Ice Age forms. Bos primigenius became extinct in Poland in 1627, butfortunately a close approximation of the breed has been bred—nice lookingbeasts with magnificent horns that are said to be fierce and lively. Theylooked like domestic oxen to me, but I wouldn’t like to get up close and personwith the adult male that stared at me! My respect for the Cro-Magnons (oranatomically modern humans if you prefer), rose many notches.