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Cave of Font-de-Gaume
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When:
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Daily; not Sat
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Where:
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Cave of Font-de-Gaume
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| Costs: |
€6.50; concessions €4.10
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| Opening Hours: |
Sun-Fri, hours vary according to season
Bookings for viewing (obligatory) may be made Sun-Fri 10.30am-12pm & 2.30pm-4pm
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The wonderful prehistoric cave paintings of the Dordogne and Lot et Garonne regions are unrivalled. The finest original paintings still on show to the public are at the cave of Font-de-Gaume, at the edge of the town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac.
The most famous cave paintings of all, at Lascaux, have been exposed to contamination since their discovery in the 1940s and are now closed to the public, with only a replica to view. The best-preserved example of the real thing are those at nearby Font-de-Gaume. Discovered by a local teacher in 1901, 30 or so paintings can still be visited.
The paintings date from the Magdalénien period, and their age is estimated at around 17,000 years. The depictions are nearly exclusively of animals (bison, mammoths and horses) and rarely do we see a human form. They are painted in browns, blacks and earth colours, of compounds made from rock and pastes, though their purpose is obscure.
Another advantage of Font-de-Gaume is its proximity to Les Eyzies, home to the National Museum of Prehistory and the place where Cro-Magnon man was first discovered, in 1868.
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