By John Lichfield

Paris - A remarkable new gallery of prehistoric cave paintings has been discovered in south-west France, including a drawing of a 4m bison and a number of erotic sketches of women.

The find, at Cussac, in the valley of the river Dordogne, is regarded as almost as important as the celebrated Lascaux cave paintings in the same area of France.

The discovery was made by an amateur archaeologist in September but the extent and richness of his finds were not revealed until Wednesday.

Discovery made by an amateur archaeologist

Altogether the caverns - about 3m wide and 12m high, in two branches, extending for about a kilometre - are thought to contain up to 200 separate drawings.

Norbert Aujoulat of the National Prehistory Centre of the Ministry of Culture said there were drawings of creatures rarely represented in prehistorical paintings, such as birds and bizarre creatures with long horns and open mouths.
Continues Below ↓