Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The cave was created by the underground river. It's entirely natural, but it was much
shallower before the train-track bed was excavated. As you travel, imagine the motivation
and determination of the painters who crawled so deep into this dark and mysterious cave.
They left behind their art...and the wonder of people who crawled in centuries later to see
it all.
All along the way, you'll see crater-like burrows made by hibernating bears long be-
forethefirsthumanspaintedhere.Therearehundredsofthem—notbecausetherewereso
many bears, but because year after year, a few of them would return, preferring to make
their own private place to sleep (rather than using some other bear's den). After a long
winter nap, bears would have one thing on their mind: Cut those toenails. The walls are
scarred with the scratching of bears in need of clippers (look to the right as you ride).
Stop 1:
Theimagesofwoollymammothsetchedintothewallscanbeseenonlywhen
lit from the side (as your guide will demonstrate). As the rock is very soft here, these were
simply gouged out by the artists' fingers.
Stop 2:
Look for images of finely detailed rhinoceroses in black paintings. The rock
is harder here, so nothing is engraved.
Stop 3:
On the left, you'll see woolly mammoths and horses engraved with tools in
the harder rock. On the right is the biggest composition of the cave: a herd of peaceful
mammoths. A mysterious calcite problem threatens to cover the paintings with ugly white
splotches.
Off the Train:
Whenyougetoffthetrain,noticehowhightheoriginalfloorwas(the
bear-craterlevel),andimagineboththeprehistoricmakersandviewersofthisartcrawling
back here with pretty lousy flashlight-substitutes. Here, the ceiling is covered with a re-
markable gathering of animals. You'll see a fine 16-foot-long horse, a group of mountain
goats, and a grandpa mammoth. Art even decorates the walls far down the big, scary hole.
When the group chuckles, it's because the guide is explaining how the mammoth with the
fine detail (showing a flap of skin over its anus) helped authenticate the paintings: These
paintingscouldn'tbefakes,becausenooneknewaboutthisanatomicaldetailuntilthepre-
servedremainsofanactualmammothwerefoundinSiberianpermafrostinmoderntimes.
(The discovery explained the painted skin flap, which had long puzzled French prehistori-
ans.)
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La Roque St-Christophe
Five fascinating terraces carved by the Vézère River have provided shelter to people here
for 50,000 years. Although the terraces were inhabited in prehistoric times, there's no pre-
historic art on display—the exhibit (except for one small cave) is entirely medieval. The
official recorded history goes back to
A.D.
976, when people settled here to steer clear of
