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The History of the
Exploration of the cave
| Summary by Serge Roussel Centre de Préhistoire du Pech Merle, Cabrerets, Lot, France. First publication in French in July 2005 by quercy.net, on the website www.quercy.net English translation by Linda Wilson |
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Local history tells of a priest who refused to swear allegiance to the State hiding in the pot-hole (iga) of Pech Merle during the period which followed the French Revolution (after 1790) |
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1906 Victor David, accompanied by Mr. Garrigou (the keeper of the chateau of Cabrerets and a geologist entered the pot-hole (iga) which led to the upper levels of the cave. |
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1906 October Youngsters, from families invited to dine with Victor David explored around 100 m of passage in either direction from the pot-hole (iga) (amongst them Joseph, of Tour de Faure, who was the uncle of André) 1906 December : the birth of André David |
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1916 Easter Henri Redon and André Touzery discover the "White Room" and the "Red Room" : they were both 16 years old. In June 1914, Abbé Lemozi had discovered both cave art and portable art in the rock-shelter of Murat in Rocamadour. |
| 1919 October : Amédée Lemozi became parish priest in Cabrerets. |
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1922 April (on three separate occasions) André David and Henri Dutertre explore the "White Room". André David and Henri Dutertre explore the "Red Room". Amédée Lemozi visits the "White Room" with Pierre Colonge. |
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1922 August Amédée Lemozi visits the "Red Room" and the "Precipice", with Messrs. Maurel and Marcenac (Town councillors) and André David as well as some others. At the same time, André David, Amédée Lemozi and Mr. Maurel discover and explore in the region of 60 m of narrow passage. |
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1922 around 4 September André David, his sister Marthe, Henri Dutertre and a farm worker forced their way through the tight passage and discovered the "Hall of Paintings" and the "Ossuary". (A. David was under 16, H. Dutertre was 15, Abbé Lemozi 40) |
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1922 19 September and 22 September Amédée Lemozi, André David and some adults (including the Canon of Albe and Victor David) discover the other galleries of the lower levels of the cave (the "Room of the Disks", the "Bear Gallery" and the "Bear Passage"). |
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Abbé Lemozi, helped by André David, immediately undertook the study
of the cave art in Pech Merle and the mapping of the cave passages. He meet the patrons who financed the first development of the cave for visitors (the construction of the road, the making of an artificial access to the lower levels). The cave is opened to the public in 1924. |
André David, photographed in the pot-hole which leads to the upper levels of the cave of Pech Merle (1922 or 1923)
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1949 December André David and Henri Vinel broke through a loose choke of earth and frost shattered rock which led to the galleries of the lower levels, close to the man-made entrance and discovered and explored the passages of Combel.. Abbé Lemozi studies the prehistoric paintings of the Combel Galleries. |
| Notes iga (f) : an Occitan term for a deep hole in the surface of the limestone upland (another term with the same meaning, also derived from Occitan is "aven") The nearest English equivalent is pot-hole. Victor Louis David : a farmer from Pech del Mas, in the commune of Cabrerets, who owned the wood over the cave of Pech Merle where the pot-hole was found which allowed access to the upper levels of the cave; the father of André (Cabrerets, 17/09/1873 - 02/10/1952). Henri Redon : brought up at the grammar school "Gambetta" in Cahors in 1916. He then studied medicine in Toulouse then Paris and became a brilliant surgeon in Paris (Tour de Faure 24/06/1899 - 01/06/1974). André Touzery : the cousin of Henri Redon, he lived in Paris, and visited the area on holiday (his family was originally from Loubaresse in the Cantal region, near the viaduct of Garabit). He died of an illness aged 20 (Paris around 1899 - around 1919) André David : the son of Victor David, a shepherd at the time of the explorations (Cabrerets 11/12/1906 - 03/09/1977. Henri Dutertre : between 1920 - 1922 he was working as a valet and shepherd for the David family of Pech del Mas (Cabrerets 05/11/1907 after 1977). His mother, whose maiden name was Riols, was born in Cabrerets and the couple settled in Vincennes. Henri Dutertre left Cabrerets a little after 1922 and moved to the Paris area. Amédée Lemozi : a churchman, skilled prehistorian, the first scientist of the cave of Pech Merle (Lentillac 11/01/1882 - Gramat 15/06/1970). See his biography at quercy.net Edmond Albe : a churchman, palaeographer and historian of Quercy, he was teaching the students in the theological college (with Amédée Lemozi) and caved as well (1861 - 1926). See his biography at quercy.net Henri Vinel : His father was a church chorister. Later he became a farmer and helped with works to develop the cave for visitors (Cabrerets 31/01/1910 - 31/06/1999). |
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