Visit the cave
In the text : BP means "before present"
M means that the item is shown in the Museum
F means that the item appears in the movie shown in the Museum
Photos : © R. Delon - Reproduction prohibited
1 - Entrance
The stairs were carved in 1923.
Downstairs, on the right, you can see the tunnel dug into the scree which
closed the palaeolithic entrance at about 10,000 ( BP, M )
2 -
The Black Frieze
Red marks : iron oxide, perhaps 25,000 BP. Black drawings : manganese
oxide (perhaps charcoal ?), perhaps 20,000 BP. 1 horse, 4 bison, 11
mammoths, 4 aurochs.
(M, F)
3 -
On the ledge
Right below : the dotted horses. Left, in black : 2 bison, 1 mammoth,
perhaps 20,000 BP. Downstairs, left, in black : bisons, mammoths, a
mammoth in natural relief, perhaps 20,000 ( BP )
4
- The ceiling
Finger drawings, (several periods). The ceiling was reached by climbing
the blocks. Open circle, mammoths, female human figures (M+F).
Right, on the blocks, in black : down : a mammoth ; up : a bison, perhaps
20,000 ( BP ).
5 - The hall of the discs
Each
disc is composed of two calcite slabs separated by a very small gap. They
were formed at a hairline crack in the rock.
The water, laden with calcium
carbonate, came up through capillary action and deposited the calcite on
the rim. The calcite crystallized in concentric circles.
Left : hyena bones and fossilized excrements. ( M ).
Right : a scratch made by a bear (M).
Right,
at the end of the hall, before going upstairs : a large disc ;
see the two slabs and the small gap.
6
- Footprints
A dozen prints, in two directions, of an adolescent boy.
The authenticity of these prints is guaranteed by the fact that the
prehistoric entrance was sealed off at the thawing of the last Ice Age,
about 10,000 BP. (M+F)
7 - The bear's gallery
End of the low level of the cave. This gallery has very old columns formed
in an early phase of concretion and eroded by later activity.
We are deep within the hillside and about 50 metres underground. The dome
is about 11 metres from
the floor of the cave.
8
- The bear's passage
Originally it was a crawling passage. The floor level was lowered for the
visits and the resulting rubble piled up on either side. Left, engraving :
a bear's head, perhaps 13,000
( BP, M )
9 - The wounded man
Left,
above : the discovery passage comes out. The "wounded man" : left, under
the dome, in red, drawing of a man with four lines on either side and a
sign. ( M + F )
Beside, in red : an auroch, some signs.
Left, in red, a mountain goat.
10 -
The
cave pearls
The water falls from an opening in the ceiling during heavy rainfalls.This
intermittent waterfall carries with it sand and gravels.
When these are trapped in small cavities in the pool, they are coated with
calcite while they are polished by the action of the running water. More
unusual is the "spinning-top". (F)
11 - The bison-woman
Right,
in red : a red deer's head.
Left, below, in red : a stencilled hand with 13 dots.
Left, below, in red : female figures, dots, mammoth. (M)
12 - The dotted horse
Left,
in black : a bison, perhaps 20,000 BP. The dotted horses about 25,000 BP
(radiocarbon dated) (M+F).
Right-hand horse : his small head is drawn in the natural cut of the rock,
resembling a horse's head. On his back : a large red fish (it seems to be
a pike) (M+F).
Six stencilled black hands all around the horses. Black dots inside and
outside. Red dots. Left-hand horse, in red : 7 hook-like signs (M).
14 - The Combel gallery
The
tunnel is dug through the scree which blocked the palaeolithic entrance.
The root of an oak-tree, still alive (upstairs when you go to the
tickets-office, three trunks with a white question mark).
Notice the bear's lairs dug in the clay.
Bones found in the cave are shown : bear, hyena, horse, bison, cervidae,
etc... (M).
14
bis - The Combel gallery (continuation)
The Combel gallery continues (no access during the tour) with paintings of
the old phase (about 25,000 BP) : dots, horses, lion, cervidae.
(M+F)
