Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
▲▲ Grotte de Rouffignac Etchings and paintings of prehistoric creatures such
as mammoths in a large cave accessible by little train. Hours: Daily July-Aug
9:00-11:30 & 14:00-18:00, April-June and Sept-Nov 10:00-11:30 & 14:00-17:00,
closed Dec-March. Reservations: Not available. Arrive in summer (mid-July-Aug)
by 8:00. Allow about 60 minutes to visit (audioguide included). See here .
La Roque St - Christophe Terraced cliff dwellings where prehistoric people
lived. Hours: Daily July-Aug 10:00-20:00, Sept-Dec and Feb-June 10:00-18:00,
Jan 14:00-17:30. Reservations: Not available or necessary. Allow 45 minutes to
visit on your own (good English handout). See here .
▲▲ Grottes de Cougnac Oldest paintings (14,000-25,000 years old) open to pub-
lic, showing rust-and-black ibex, mammoths, giant deer, and a few humans. Hours:
July-Aug daily 10:00-18:00; April-June and Sept daily 10:00-11:30 & 14:30-17:00;
Oct Mon-Sat 14:00-16:00, closed Sun; closed Nov-March. Reservations: Not
available. Arrive 10 minutes before it opens. Required 1.5-hour tour (with minimal
English explanation). See here .
▲▲ Grotte du Pech Merle Brilliant cave art of mammoths, bison, and horses,
plusCro-Magnonfootprint. Hours: DailyMarch-mid-Nov9:30-17:30,closesearli-
eroff-season. Reservations: Bookaweek ahead insummer (fewer visitors allowed
onweekends),orarriveby9:30.Allowtwohoursforacompletevisit(goodEnglish
information). See here .
It's no mystery that hunters would paint animals, the source of their existence. The
firstscholartostudythecaves,AbbéHenriBreuil,thoughtthepaintedanimalsweremagic
symbols made by hunters to increase the supply of game. Or perhaps hunters thought that
if you could “master” an animal by painting it, you could later master it in battle. Some
scholarsthinkthepaintingsteachtheartofhunting,butthere'sverylittleapparenthunting
technique shown. Did they worship animals? The paintings definitely depict an animal-
centered (rather than a human-centered) universe.
The paintings may have a religious purpose, and some of the caverns are large and
special enough that rituals and ceremonies could have been held there. But the paintings
show no sacrifices, rituals, or ceremonies. Scholars writing on primitive art in other parts
of the world speculate that art was made by shamans in a religious or drug-induced trance,
but France's paintings are very methodical.
The order of paintings on the walls seems random. Could it be that the caves are a
paintedcollageofthehistoryoftheMagdalenians,witheachsuccessivegenerationadding
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