Dawn of Art, The Chauvet Cave: The Oldest Known Paintings in the World

Jean-Marie Chauvet, Eliette Brunei-Deschamps and Christian Hillaire discovered the Chauvet Cave above France's Ardeche River Gorge. The cave is now titled with the team leaders surname in their honor. The 94 color photographs in the book were taken by the team, themselves, as they explored their discovery. These photos are the first reports of the startling cave drawings in 30,000 years. The unearthing of Chauvet's painted walls is a unique finding, arguably rivaling the uncovering of the Dead Sea Scrolls or even King Tut's lost tomb in cultural and scientific importance.

Jean-Marie Chauvet's book tells, in his own words, how his team detected the caves, what they did to preserve the cave and it's treasures, and more importantly, what it was like to be the first set of eyes in 30,000 years to be at the dawn of art.