Moolah-la	Volume 54 Number 4, July/August 2001
by Kristin M. Romey

Who said there is no money in archaeology? Three families who had their land expropriated by the French government following the sensational discovery of Chauvet Cave, which contains paintings over 30,000 years old, were recently awarded a total of $12 million. An appeals court ruled that the government should compensate the families, who owned the land directly above the caves, for the loss of revenue they would have received from admission fees to the site and commerical license of the paintings. To quash further payouts, the French government has since amended the country's rescue archaeology law, stipulating that landowners no longer own the ground below the surface of their property.

© 2001 by the Archaeological Institute of America archive.archaeology.org/0107/newsbriefs/chauvet.html