The Cave Painters by Gregory Curtis was a fine companion to have along on my trip to the Dordogne region last summer. He walks you through a history of how scientists and amateurs discovered, interpreted, and sometimes mishandled these amazing works of art.
When the newest of the known caves were painted, the pyramids at Giza were still 10,000 years in the future. We mostly know how the images were created, but we're still almost entirely in the dark on their meaning. Curtis introduces you to the boys (and their dog) who found Lascaux, to the cantankerous chain-smoking priest who contorted his body to sketch the images, and to the academic battles over their interpretation.