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Agence France-Presse

Deep inside a labyrinth cave in southwestern France, ancient humans who lived around 30,000 years ago carved horses, mammoths and rhinoceroses into the walls, a fabulous prehistoric menagerie that has rarely been seen – until now.
Discovered in 2000 by an amateur cave explorer, the Grotte de Cussac in the Dordogne department, holds ancient human remains, traces of long-extinct bears and stunning, fragile artworks its custodians go to great lengths to preserve.
Typically, the French authorities restrict access to the cave to researchers, who are only allowed to enter it four weeks per year.
Authorities are anxious to avoid a repeat of the damage done to France’s Lascaux caves by microorganisms brought in by visitors.


The Lascaux caves – which are also located in Dordogne, though their artworks are estimated to be thousands of years younger than the Cussac carvings – were closed to the public in 1963 to save their precious frescoes.
The Cussac cave is accessed via a narrow passage through boulders that have closed off its inner chambers for thousands of years.
Lighting the way with headlamps, visitors cross vast chambers of stalactites and stalagmites, following the same narrow path as Marc Delluc, the late amateur speleologist who discovered the cave in September 2000.
Delluc, who died in 2017, noticed a draught blowing from within the rocks, picked his way through the limestone and uncovered a path of around 100 metres (110 yards) leading to the engravings.
It was probably closed off very soon after it was occupied, which protected the soil and vestiges inside
Emeline Deneuve of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region’s cultural affairs department
He described the “rush of adrenaline” he felt when he saw the curved figures and silhouettes carved into the rock overhead.
“I realised the privilege I’d been granted, to enter a place that had been consecrated since the dawn of time,” he said.
The cave, which is 1.6km (1 mile) long, has more than 1,000 carved figures, both animals and stylised feminine forms.


Scientists have dated them to between 26,000 and 35,000 years ago, the time of the ancient Gravettian culture in Europe.
“The Grotte de Cussac is exceptional for its well-preserved state. It was probably closed off very soon after it was occupied, which protected the soil and vestiges inside,” said Emeline Deneuve, chief heritage conservationist for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region’s cultural affairs department.
Claw marks and signs of burrowing show it was also used by cave bears, prehistoric relatives of the brown bear.

Inside their hibernation chambers, researchers have found the remains of six human bodies, dating to the same period as the engravings.
It is the only known example of a cave used by prehistoric humans for both burials and artworks, said the site’s lead archaeologist, Jacques Jaubert.
The site was a “sanctuary”, not a dwelling, he said. “The group lived outside, in the open or in shelters under the rocks.”
Jaubert thinks the cave may have been used for initiation ceremonies, “a rite of passage for adolescents to join the adult world” – a practice often observed in primitive hunter-gatherer groups.


It would also have been seen “as a place of passage between the world of the living and the world of the dead”, he said.
The carvings, which he calls “fragments of mythology”, were made with flint, wood and bone.
They depict bison, ibex, geese and other animals, as well as women, often with giant heads and tiny feet.
“After testing the wall of the cave, leaving traces with his fingers, the artist carved the first animal figures, which were followed by others superimposed over them,” said researcher Valerie Feruglio, who uses 3D imaging to study the artworks, seeking to decipher their stories.


The cave has still not been fully explored.
But authorities are extremely cautious in protecting the site, which was named a historic monument in 2002.
“We are the guardians responsible for preserving and documenting the site,” said Deneuve, the conservation chief.
“We support the research carried out there, as long as it is in line with conservation and heritage requirements. Documenting the cave and digitising it in 3D is also part of our goal to bring it to the public.”
In October, a free exhibit on the cave opened in Buisson-de-Cadouin, a town in Dordogne, with reproductions of its artworks.
But authorities say there are no plans to open the cave to the public.


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An ancient engraving in Cussac cave, France. Photo: AFP

Reseearchers study the art in the Grotte de Cussac in southwest France. The cave is kept closed to protect the more than 1,000 ancient carvings within. The public can enjoy reproductions of the artworks at an exhibit in a nearby town. Photo: AFP

The entrance of the Cussac cave, in Dordogne, southern France. Photo: AFP

A man-made engraving dating back about 30,000 years deep inside the cave. Photo: AFP

Scientists make their way through the Cussac cave along a narrow path. Photo: AFP

Researchers pass stalactites and stalagmites on their way to the engravings. Photo: AFP

Bear claw marks show the cave was also used by prehistoric relatives of the brown bear. Photo: AFP

The carvings inside the cave were made with sharp tools made of flint, wood and bone. Photo: AFP

The carvings date back to the time of the Gravettian culture in Europe 26,000 to 35,000 years ago. Photo: AFP

The carvings depict bison, ibex, geese and other animals, as well as women, often with giant heads and tiny feet. Photo: AFP

Authorities are keeping the cave closed to the public to avoid damage to the carvings. Photo: AFP

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Travel & Leisure

Arts

Hundreds of carvings of prehistoric animals, and women, line a cave in southwest France. For 4 weeks a year researchers are let in to map it


Hundreds of carvings of prehistoric animals, and women, line a cave in southwest France. For 4 weeks a year researchers are let in to map it.


France

History