Abri de Ruth

Trip No.203  Entry No.76  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 18th May 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Just to the south of the village of Le Moustoir on the west bank of the Vézère is found this collection of caves and a museum of artefacts. .Supposedly a very important place from where the stratigraphy of the various eras was determined. But getting on in the evening very tired after a long hilly bike ride when its shut it looks just like a cave in a cliff face in a garden to me !

Gisement du Pataud

Trip No.203  Entry No.68  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 17th May 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: There’s a museum built into the cliff face here and a covered area which looks like some sort of exhibition of an archaeological dig. Its between Cro Magnon and the Les Eyzies museum halfway up the cliff face.

La Roque-Saint-Christophe

Trip No.203  Entry No.74  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 18th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: In the gigantic cliff face on the opposite side of the river Vézère to the delightful village of Le Moustoir is found this World Heritage Site. It's an entire troglodytic city which was inhabited continuously from 50000 years ago until a few centuries ago. It's massive. Even knowing it is five levels high and having visited it 27 years ago doesn’t stop it being mind blowing. It's really awe inspiring.

I guess most of what is seen today dates back to the middle ages with all the rock hewn staircases and houses but even so the basic layout of the cliff face city hasn’t changed in millennia. It even has its own little harbour in the river.

Abri de Lartet

Trip No.203  Entry No.84  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This cliff shelter was discovered by Lartet in 1863 and is classed as a National Historic Monument. Its just a few metres up the valley side from its more famous neighbour Abri du Poisson.

Abri de Laugerie-Haute

Trip No.203  Entry No.77  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 18th May 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Just to the northwest of Les Eyzies on the west bank of the river Vézère is found the ancient cliff settlement of Laugerie Haute. This was one of the biggest rock shelters anywhere and was inhabited since 50000 years ago. But much of the cliff roof fell down about 10000 years ago and wrecked the place. This had the effect of burying all the archaeology hence preserving it to the present day and preventing it being rebuilt and reused in the millennia past or being plundered in the last few centuries.

Abri de Laugerie-Basse

Trip No.203  Entry No.66  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Just to the northwest of Les Eyzies on the west bank of the river Vézère is found the ancient cliff settlement of Laugerie Basse. Gisements and shelters in the cliff face which have been inhabited since Cro Magnon man right up to this day.

Grotte de Grand Roc

Trip No.203  Entry No.67  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 17th May 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Don’t know whether theres any prehistoric stuff in here but its supposed to have lots of natural wonders. In the same cliff face as Laugerie Basse.

Grotte de Bara-Bahau

Trip No.203  Entry No.219  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This cave (cave of the bears) was only discovered in 1951 features many engravings dated to 14000 years ago and also many bear claw marks. Up the hillside and well signposted from Le Bugue it was closed for lunch when I visited.

Grotte de Rouffignac

Trip No.203  Entry No.79  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a strange cave its all very bare and rectangular and seems more like a stone mine than a natural cave although it is completely natural and of which there are 10 kilometres of passage. The guided visit takes place in little electric trains which take you a kilometre underground. There are no stalagmites or stalactites to be seen anywhere but lots and lots of graffiti through the ages as this has always been an easy to access cave.

Of the prehistoric graffiti dated to about 13000 years ago we first see a couple of mammoths engraved into the soft side walls on the left and then some more on the right. The train then moves on to where there are some painted rhinoceros before getting to the frieze of many mammoths walking one behind the other just as elephants do perhaps even holding tails in trunks. The bottom part of the picture has become a bit obscured with calcitic build up but the heads and bodies are fantastic.

Then its back out of that passage and down deeper into the cave where there is a large chamber with a massive flat ceiling absolutely covered in the most magnificent animal paintings. There are horses goats deer reindeer cows bison rhinoceros and of course mammoths. Its not the prettiest cave I have seen recently and I think the train ride spoils the atmosphere a bit so I cant give it full marks for ambience but if you like seeing these ancient paintings then it is a must.

Abri du Cap-Blanc

Trip No.203  Entry No.73  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 18th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: In this now walled up cliff shelter, there is a massive frieze of sculpted animals. It was discovered in about 1909, and still bears the scars of the picks used in the excavations, and some of the animals were destroyed. There are horses, bison and the main event, a 2 metre long horse and bison combined, the bison looking to the left, while the horse looks to the right.

This is a fantastic place to visit, but to be honest there is not so much to see as I thought there would be. And it was all spoiled by a coachload of geriatric Americans who would not shut up and listen, and went on and on and on..... I pretended to be French so that they would not try and talk to me, and so I could express my disgust at them !

Grotte de la Mouthe

Trip No.203  Entry No.218  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 2nd Jun 2005

Log Text: Now closed to the public this cave was discovered in 1895 and was pivotal in the argument for the decorations being of ancient origin. Apparently there are artworks from many different periods of the prehistoric past in here from the Gravettian through Mousterian to the Magdelenian. This cave is up a very windy rough track from Les Eyzies which I very nearly got stuck up due to a narrowing of the track on the way down the other side between a couple of farm buildings through which a camper van won’t fit. I just about managed to turn round using a farm lawn and got to go back down the way I had come up!

Abri du Poisson

Trip No.203  Entry No.83  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Located in an open garden type area where there is a gap in the cliff face at the bottom of the Gorge D’Enfer on the south west side of the road out of Les Eyzies towards Périgueux about 1 kilometre after the bridge over the river and before Laugerie Basse. These days the abri is walled up and locked shut to enable people to pay to see inside and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apart from the traffic going past this is a nice quiet little place with a stream coming out from the cliff nearby and trickling down towards the river.

A typical little Abri at the bottom of the cliffs it was discovered in about 1912 that there is a life sized carving of a salmon on the ceiling. It has been dated to about 25000 years ago and is the oldest known representation of a fish in the world and one of only 10 known in cave art anywhere. It is thought that the ceiling was once completely painted over due to pigment found in cracks in the rocks and there is also a handprint part of a horse and some strange symbols to be seen.

Roc de Cazelle

Trip No.203  Entry No.217  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This place has been inhabited since 40000 years ago right up until the 1960’s when the last farmer and his wife moved on. It is an overhanging cliff with several levels of caves and shelters and these days is a little visitor park showing life in the troglodytic fashion since prehistoric times with many little scenes recreated and artisans demonstrating their trades and crafts.

Grotte de Bernifal

Trip No.203  Entry No.216  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This was closed to visitors when I arrived but nevertheless it was a nice walk through splendid woodland with a little stream running nearby up to the entrance. The cave was discovered in 1905 and contains engravings of humans as well as the more usual animals.

Le Rigourdou

Trip No.203  Entry No.88  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 20th May 2005

Log Text: Within this cliff shelter just a bit up the hillside from Lascaux found in March 1954 had the discovery made on 22 September 1957 of a complete Neanderthal skeleton in it. Not only this but also several burials of at least 5 bears were found suggesting some strange bear cult or activity. These days its fenced off with a little visitor centre and bears.

Abri de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.85  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 2

Log Text: You don’t actually really get to see the Abri de la Madeleine where all the prehistoric finds were made which gave their name to an epoch including the carved bison and the first harpoons. I guess to see this best you would need to canoe down the river but you can see the overhang and bits of it from the village and there is some display material in the visitor centre.

Pierre Plantée (Lisle)

Trip No.203  Entry No.62  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: As I was driving south along the D78 road coming into Lisle I saw a sign saying Pierre Plantée and there was a stone about a metre high stood just by the roadside. I cant be sure whether this is the actual Pierre Plantée referred to or indeed whether it is ancient but it isn’t new !

Dolmen de Palus

Trip No.203  Entry No.63  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: In a field of Barley just beside the country lane from Douchapt to Ségonzac near the hamlet of Margot can be found the remains of this dolmen. Its not much more than a collection of four large brownish black rocks which I would guess are a capstone and three fallen supports. There’s still enough room underneath for the local wildlife to enjoy its shelter despite being ploughed right up to the stones.

Grotte de Lascaux 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.90  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It’s obviously not the same as seeing the real thing but this copy of the two main chambers of Lascaux cave (which contains 90% of all the paintings) is pretty impressive. OK so it’s a concrete corridor built on the site of an old quarry a couple of hundred metres down hill from the real Lascaux but they tell you that it is nowhere more than 5 millimetres in error from the real thing and at least you can get to see it. It took about 20 years to build and the paintings were recreated using the same methods and materials as the ancient people estimated to have been 17000 years ago.

In the first room with a rounded ceiling there are four massive bulls one being 5.5 metres long and also lots of horses cows and some exquisite reindeer. Three colours are used here red black and yellow and the whole thing is quite magnificent. There is also a frieze on one of the walls with 4 or 5 large horses painted on it with the legs of each all in different positions which when seen one after the other make a perfect representation of a horse galloping across the room. There is also a weird animal at the entrance end of the chamber which seems to consist of the head of a lion the body of a bison and horse and the aft legs of a human and with a couple of long horns and strange markings.

The second chamber is more like a corridor with paintings along both sides. There are lots of little horses following one another with a big brown cow jumping over them. On the other side is a scene where there are several bulls painted one on top of the other which gives the impression o a large herd. Further toward the end of the chamber is a jumping horse and at the bottom of the chamber a fallen horse on its back legs in the air.

As with many of the other caves with paintings or engravings in them the artists have used the natural shapes of the rocks upon which to base their animals. They also have several animals merging into each other and using the same lines for more than one animal. And every animal in Lascaux is depicted in motion none are stationary. There are also lots of strange markings which are referred to as “enigmatic symbols” which again seem to appear in all the painted caves. Fantastic.

Cayra Levada

Trip No.203  Entry No.98  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just beside a little road northwest of Belvès but fenced in a garden and becoming overgrown this 1.5 metre high dolmen had several polished axes found within it. There’s a raised capstone on a couple of supports but its difficult to make out much more.

While sitting making notes here I got overrun and attacked by a lot of vicious little ants and am still paying the price for sitting down carelessly 12 hours later. Bastards !