Jacques Marsal; Found Cave Paintings

Jacques Marsal, who discovered the famed prehistoric paintings of the Lascaux cave in 1940 and became the cave’s guardian for life, has died. He was 63.

Marsal died Saturday in a Bordeaux hospital after a long illness, his family said. The cause of death was not disclosed.

On Sept. 12, 1940, the 14-year-old Marsal was playing in an oak forest outside the village of Lascaux, along with a neighbor and two 12-year-old Parisians who had fled to the region 300 miles south of Paris at the outbreak of World War II.

Their dog disappeared into a hole and began barking furiously, and the boys attached Marsal’s neighbor to a rope and lowered him down. When they lifted him out, he was filthy and shaken, and claimed to have seen ghosts.

The other boys were skeptical and they returned the next day to explore. They found a vast cave whose walls were decorated with colorful paintings of leaping stags, buffalo and horses.

Archeologists determined the paintings dated from about 14,000 B.C. The artwork drew visitors from around the world until 1963, when it was determined that carbon dioxide in their breath was harming the paintings.

Marsal was a guide at the cave when it was open to the public, and he became its guardian after it closed. He lived at the site and escorted chiefs of state and other distinguished visitors on special tours.