FRANCE

This cover from France features 2 stamps of the same type, celebrating the Lascaux Cave. Lascaux cave, in Montignac, was discovered in 1940. It is filled with around 600 polychrome paintings from about 17,000 years ago. It was opened to the public in 1948, but closed again in 1963 when it became clear that the paintings were being damaged by fungus and lichen growth caused by the changes in atmosphere brought along by the thousands of visitors. Exact reproductions can be visited since 1983 (Lascaux II, covering the two main chambers) and in 2016 Lascaux IV was opened, showing nearly all the paintings. Lascaux cave is a part of Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in France since 1979.

FRANCE

This amazing cover from France depicts 10 stamps, including 2 stamps of same type celebrating the Lascaux cave, in France. The Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in France since 1979. It specifically lists 15 prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley in the Dordogne department, mostly in and around Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, which has been called the "Capital of Prehistory". This valley is exceptionally rich in prehistoric sites, with more than 150 known sites including 25 decorated caves, and has played an essential role in the study of the paleolithicum and its art. Three of the sites are the namesakes for prehistoric periods; the Micoquien (named after La Micoque), Mousterian (after Le Moustier), and Magdalenian (after Abri de la Madeleine). Furthermore, the Cro-Magnon rock shelter gave its name to the Cro-Magnon, the generic name for the European early modern humans. Many of the sites were discovered or first recognised as significant and scientifically explored by the archaeologists Henri Breuil and Denis Peyrony in the early twentieth century, while Lascaux, which has the most exceptional rock art of these, was discovered in 1940.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

This cover from Bosnia & Herzegovina depicts 4 stamps of same type (issued in 2015), celebrating 75 years of the discovery of Lascaux cave, in France. The Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in France since 1979. It specifically lists 15 prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley in the Dordogne department, mostly in and around Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, which has been called the "Capital of Prehistory". This valley is exceptionally rich in prehistoric sites, with more than 150 known sites including 25 decorated caves, and has played an essential role in the study of the paleolithicum and its art. Three of the sites are the namesakes for prehistoric periods; the Micoquien (named after La Micoque), Mousterian (after Le Moustier), and Magdalenian (after Abri de la Madeleine). Furthermore, the Cro-Magnon rock shelter gave its name to the Cro-Magnon, the generic name for the European early modern humans. Many of the sites were discovered or first recognised as significant and scientifically explored by the archaeologists Henri Breuil and Denis Peyrony in the early twentieth century, while Lascaux, which has the most exceptional rock art of these, was discovered in 1940.