Prehistoric Cave Art In France

The bas relief sculptures of animals, mostly horses, at Cap Blanc are the finest examples of sculptured Palaeolithic art still in situ and open to the public in France. The highlight of the frieze is a carved horse, the body of which measures over two metres in length. In the deposit in front of the carved panel lies the body (now a cast) of a young female. The archaeological deposit also revealed tools that must have been used to carve the animals. Today the shelter is enclosed within a building that also houses a very good museum.

Abri Pataud is one of a very few prehistoric sites open to the public  to see ongoing excavations. An important site, both for prehistory  it has revealed and the history of archaeology. Many techniques of excavating cave deposits were first used here. A suspended walkway allows visitors to walk through the excavation, and see the successive layers of prehistoric periods, from the Aurignacian to the Solutrean. See the remains of fire from thousands of years ago in context. After a tour of the site, don’t miss the adjacent museum, with its carved ibex on the ceiling and many of the artefacts found here.

Located deep in the cave on a sloping, soft limestone wall are a number of engraved animals and geometric patterns, including horses, bisons, bears and deer. Before the cave was occupied by Palaeolithic communities, bears hibernated in the cave and scratched the walls with their claws. As at other caves, the artists here made use of some of these scratch marks. The original prehistoric finely incised depictions are difficult to see. To help visitors better experience this cave, line drawing of the images have been placed on light-boxes in front of the panel.

Font de Gaume is the only decorated cave in France that has polychrome paintings that has remained open to the public. Although access is very restricted, and why tickets are highly sort after. In a narrow gallery there are over 230 animal engraved and painted depictions. Not only are some of the painted bisons polychrome, they are also both engraved and painted. One of the many highlights of the site is a frieze of 5 bison, where the artist(s) made use of the contours of the rock face to give shape to the painted bison.

Lascaux II opened to the public in 1983, situated about 200 m from the entrance to Lascaux. About 90% of the original cave is reproduced in this the first replica. With the opening of Lascaux IV, Lascaux II has remained open, itself a historical monument. Visitors now get a very different experience to what was offered before, an what is on offer at Lascaux IV. Long gone are the groups of 25 being rushed through so that as many groups can make it as possible – that is now Lascaux IV. A guided tour starts above ground and takes you to the entrance of the famous cave, before heading into the replica where you are treated to seeing the Hall of Bulls by candle light. An experience for those who have a deeper interest in cave art and prehistory.

Lascaux IV opened to the public in December 2016. The first replica and the original cave was in effect becoming a victim of Lascaux II’s success. A new replica was installed in a start-of-the-art interpretation centre was constructed at the base of the hill in which the cave of Lascaux is found; just outside the town of the town of Montignac. Visitors get a guided tour through an almost complete reproduction of the cave and are then left to explore various interpretative galleries.  The experience is very high tech, this is not just a more complete and better replica. The emphasis is on imparting what we know about prehistoric art as opposed to building an amazing replica.

Les Combarelles, unlike most of the other caves open to the public in the Les Eyzies area, is notable for its many exquisitely engraved depictions along a windy, narrow passage of about 240 metres in length. Although the usual range of animals were engraved, such as horses, bison, mammoth, reindeer, bears, and lions, there are also a number of representations of humans. Depictions of humans in European cave art are relatively rare, but there are exceptional examples here: stylized outlines of female bodies.

With over 8 km of underground tunnels, the cave of Rouffignac is the largest of the decorated caves in the Vézère Valley currently open to the public. The cave has both paintings and engravings, an these are located deep in the cave. Visitors are taken to a number of the panels on an electric train. Besides some extraordinary examples of prehistoric art, there are also ancient bear pits, as well as historical graffiti that indicates this cave has been known about in the Modern period for a few hundred years at least.

In a small rock shelter in the limestone cliffs above the quaint and picturesque hamlet of Saint-Cirq is an extraordinary and rare incised engraving of a male human figure – which has for along time been called the ‘sorcerer’. Although there are not many other images in the cave this is still a good cave to visit. Not only for the rare depiction of the human figure and the human head, but also to see that not all decorated caves are as visually striking as some of the more well known caves in the Dordogne. The setting of the shelter makes the visit all the more worthwhile. The site stays open longer than others, so can be left to the end of the day.