When another old cave is discovered in the south of France, it is not usually news. Rather, it is an ordinary
event. Such discoveries are so frequent these days that hardly anybody pays heed to them.
However, when the Lascaux cave complex was discovered in 1940, the world was amazed. Painted
directly on its walls were hundreds of scenes showing how people lived thousands of years ago. The
scenes show people hunting animals, such as bison or wild cats. Other images depict birds and, most
noticeably, horses, which appear in more than 300 wall images, by far outnumbering all other animals.
Early artists drawing these animals accomplished a monumental and difficult task. They did not limit
themselves to the easily accessible walls but carried their painting materials to spaces that required
climbing steep walls or crawling into narrow passages in the Lascaux complex. Unfortunately, the
paintings have been exposed to the destructive action of water and temperature changes, which easily
wear the images away. Because the Lascaux caves have many entrances, air movement has also damaged
the images inside.
Although they are not out in the open air, where natural light would have destroyed them long ago, many
of the images have deteriorated and are barely recognizable. To prevent further damage, the site was
closed to tourists in 1963, 23 years after it was discovered.
The word depict is closest in meaning to _______