Font-de-Gaume is a cave near

Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (; oc, Las Aisiás de Taiac e Siruèlh) is a former commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Les Eyzies.Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

départment of south-west

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The cave contains prehistoric polychrome

cave paintings In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are mor ...

and engravings dating to the

Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madele ...

period. Discovered in 1901, more than 200 images have been identified in Font-de-Gaume. Along with other nearby prehistoric archeological sites, Font-de-Gaume was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

in 1979 as the

Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley The Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in France since 1979. It specifically lists 15 prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley in the Dordogne department, mostly in and around Les Eyzies-d ...

History

The paintings were discovered by Denis Peyrony, a local schoolmaster, on 12 September 1901. The cave had been known to the general public before this, but the significance of the paintings had not been recognised. Four days earlier Peyrony had visited the cave at

Les Combarelles Les Combarelles is a cave in Les Eyzies de Tayac, Dordogne, France, which was inhabited by Cro-Magnon people between approximately 13,000 to 11,000 years ago. Holding more than 600 prehistoric engravings of animals and symbols, the two galleries ...

, a short distance away, with the archaeologist

Henri Breuil Henri Édouard Prosper Breuil (28 February 1877 – 14 August 1961), often referred to as Abbé Breuil, was a French Catholic priest, archaeologist, anthropologist, ethnologist and geologist. He is noted for his studies of cave art in the Somme a ...

, where he saw its prehistoric engravings. The paintings in the cave at Font-de-Gaume were the first to be discovered in the

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; oc, Peiregòrd / ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is div ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

. Prehistoric people living in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

Valley first settled in the mouth of Font-de-Gaume around 25,000 BC. The cave mouth was inhabited at least sporadically for the next several thousand years. However, after the original prehistoric inhabitants left, the cave was forgotten until the nineteenth century when local people again began to visit the cave. The paintings date from around 17,000 BC, during the

period. Many of the cave's paintings have been discovered in recent decades. The cave's most famous painting, a frieze of five bison, was discovered accidentally in 1966 while scientists were cleaning the cave.

Present day

As of 2007, Font-de-Gaume was the only site in France with polychrome cave paintings that is still open to the public. To date, 230 figures have been recorded in the cave, and it is thought that more are still to be revealed. Font-de-Gaume holds over 200

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

paintings. These engravings are considered the best examples of polychrome painting other than

Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...

, which is now closed to the public. The rock art in Font-de-Gaume includes depictions of more than 80

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

, approximately 40

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s, and more than 20

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

Notable visitors

In August 1919, the poet T. S. Eliot visited Périgueux. As part of his walking tour, he explored the then already famous Font-de-Gaume cave.

Gallery

File:Font de gaume bison.jpg , Outline of one of the bison in the ''Galerie des Fresques'' at Font-de-Gaume, showing the preliminary etching or engraving preparatory to the polychrome fresco painting. After Breuil. File:Tectiforms_font_de_gaume.jpg , 'Tectiforms'—schematic drawings in lines and dots believed to represent huts and larger shelters built of logs and covered with hides. After Breuil. File:Collection_font_de_gaume.jpg , Primitive painted outlines of animals from the cavern walls, attributed by Breuil to the early Aurignacian. The outlines represent the horse, ibex, cave-bear, wild cattle, and reindeer. After Breuil. File:Woolly_rhino_font_de_gaume.jpg , The woolly rhinoceros, painted in red ochre with shading and partial representation of the hair. Attributed by Breuil to the late Aurignacian. Possibly Magdalenian. After Breuil. File:Mammoth font de gaume.jpg , Engraved outlines and hair underlying the painting of one of the mammoths, from the wall of the Galerie des Fresques. After Breuil. File:Lion font de gaume.jpg , Outlines of a lioness and a small group of horses of the Celtic or Arab type, a delicate wall engraving in the ''Diverticule final'' of the cavern of Font-de-Gaume. After Breuil. File:Galloping_horse_font_de_gaume.jpg , Galloping horse of the Celtic or of the steppe type painted in black and white. After Breuil. File:Procession font de gaume.jpg , Plan of a portion of the left wall decoration in the ''Galerie des Fresques'', showing reindeer and the procession of bison. After Breuil.

Notes

References

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External links

* Fiche technique (PDF) de
Monuments Nationaux
sur la Grotte de Font de Gaume * Photo du site d

{{Authority control 1901 archaeological discoveries Show caves in France Caves containing pictograms in France Art of the Upper Paleolithic Tourist attractions in Dordogne Caves of Dordogne Archaeological sites in France Stone Age sites in France Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley