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 !

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 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 !

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 Cro-Magnon

Trip No.203  Entry No.82  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 4 Access 4

Log Text: Up a little track to the side of the Cro-Magnon hotel along the road to the railway station can be found this sad little UNESCO World Heritage site where the Cro-Magnon man was discovered in 1868 by Francois Berthoumeyron as they were clearing the way for the road to the railway station.

Despite all the hustle and bustle in Les Eyzies and all the attractions crying out for your visit this place does not even have a signpost. Its nothing much to see just a little rock shelter in the cliff face shaded by a couple of large chestnut trees with a little walled and fenced area around it. It looks a bit like a large garden feature or something from a cemetery tucked round the back and almost forgotten.

Once you have found it there is a sign in fact two the official UNESCO World Heritage site plate and a little plaque commemorating the discovery. I am surprised it is not a bit of a pilgrimage site like so many others around here in this village which thrives on its reputation as the home of Cro-Magnon man.

Musée National de Préhistoire

Trip No.203  Entry No.78  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Museum Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Access 4

Log Text: Recently completely rebuilt this is one of the must sees of the area. There are loads and loads of tools and lots of videos of people making and using them. On the second floor there are some nice finds and again more tools. I thought that there were too many tools on display and not enough other things it seemed to be an ancient tool museum rather than a complete prehistory museum but then again I guess that they are all we have to see. But there's nothing much from the bronze age onwards nothing at all concerning megalithic structures which was a bit of a shame. There was however one representation of a very early burial found nearby where the body of a girl was found in what it called a “proto-dolmen” where the body was placed in a stone lined cist and covered by two large stones.

I have to admit I was expecting better such as more artwork statuettes explanation of how the paintings were done etc but it was an enjoyable couple of hours before it shut for lunch. I did however buy myself a little replica of the Dame de Brassempouy a 25000 year old babe to keep me company on my travels round these ancient sites.

Dolmen de la Faille

Trip No.203  Entry No.80  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: An out of the way dolmen a kilometre or so to the west of the village of Rouffignac along the D6 then just south along a lane by the rubbish dump. It’s on a slope in a fenced off field not far from the lane and can be seen from there. There is a brown capstone sitting on a few support stones becoming enclosed by trees.

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 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 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.

Pierre des Justices

Trip No.203  Entry No.81  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Couldn't find on 19th May 2005

Log Text: Just off the main road from Perigueux to Les-Eyzies at the junction of the D32 west to Mauzens-et-Miremont is a little picnic and parking area. If you then follow this road west under the splendid railway viaduct after a few hundred metres pass the lavoir then take the little lane up to the left. Somewhere several hundred metres up the steep slope into these woods can be found the Pierre des Justices polissoir stone.

I was told by locals that unless you know exactly where to look then you will not find it. I had a quick look round and decided that there are better things to do than conduct a full search of a large steep overgrown wood.

Pierre du Diable (Vitrac)

Trip No.203  Entry No.93  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: What I found here was a tiny little dolmen right beside the road which is being incorporated into a garden wall a few kilometres south of Sarlat-le-Caneda on top of a hill towards Vitrac. The capstone is not 2 metres by 2 metres and sits on a couple of stones both less than a foot in size. Its probable that there was more to this dolmen which is now under some trees and in the garden wall.

Grotte de Lascaux

Trip No.203  Entry No.89  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005

Log Text: This world famous cave has not been opened for visitors since about 1962 after the paintings had started to seriously deteriorate. It was found in September 1940 by two boys out walking their dog which fell down a hole underneath the roots of a freshly uprooted tree. It is now fenced off and not even opened up to specialist groups since 2001. The fence of course has its UNESCO World Heritage site plaque proudly on display.

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.

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.

Source de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.87  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On a cliff face on the west side of the river Vézère near the village of Tursac is the Troglodytic village which has been inhabited since 50000 years ago and gave its name to an epoch the Madeleinian which was about 12000 years ago. What you mostly see now for your visit money is medieval with several cliff houses built into the terrace on the cliff. There is also a couple of chapels and a gatehouse which guards over where there was a sort of drop bridge which nowadays has a permanent footpath over it. Above the whole lot is the remains of a 12th century castle.

At the centre of the village near a sort of village square is a strange spring which only flows in times of great drought due to some sort of capillary action and the last time in which it flowed was summer 2001. This very strange effect has given the place a sort of magic throughout the millennia.

A bit further along the cliff and down at the base is the original abri shelter within which all the important prehistoric finds were made including the carved bison and the first harpoons.

Village de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.86  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On a cliff face on the west side of the river Vézère near the village of Tursac is the Troglodytic village which has been inhabited since 50000 years ago and gave its name to an epoch the Madeleinian which was about 12000 years ago.

What you mostly see now for your visit money is medieval with several cliff houses built into the terrace on the cliff. There is also a couple of chapels and a gatehouse which guards over where there was a sort of drop bridge which nowadays has a permanent footpath over it. Above the whole lot is the remains of a 12th century castle. At the centre of the village near a sort of village square is a strange spring which only flows in times of great drought due to some sort of capillary action and the last time in which it flowed was summer 2001. This very strange effect has given the place a sort of magic throughout the millennia.

A bit further along the cliff and down at the base is the original abri shelter within which all the important prehistoric finds were made including the carved bison and the first harpoons.

Puy de Bon Temps Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.91  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This dolmen can be found about a kilometre walk up a forest track from the D68 between Ajat and Cubjac just north of where it passes under the new motorway and opposite a quarry entrance. It is just about signposted from the road but they are very easy to miss and when the track gets to the top of the hill you need to turn left and then left again.

The dolmen is all a bit of a jumble with many of the stones fallen and broken but the main part of the capstone about 3 by 2 metres in size is still there in position although held up by what I can only assume are roof timbers from some old building.

Just beside the dolmen is one of the cute little drystone beehive shelters (Gariotte?) that they have round here (and you can buy guide books and coffee table picture books of). Its in excellent condition with a terrific roof all covered in moss. I assume its been made using stone from the cairn for the dolmen although there is no shortage of stone round here.

Peyrebrune megalith

Trip No.203  Entry No.92  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Couldn't find on 20th May 2005

Log Text: Near the hamlet of Rozas to the east of Saint-Orse is the farm called Peyre Brune where there are some megalithic remains. I understand it is a large menhir but with stories surrounding it that it is a meteorite which has crashed to earth. On the tiny roads in this area I could find nowhere to park or indeed turn round so gave up perhaps a bit too easily.