The Font-de-Gaume cave is located in the former town of Eyzies-de-Tayac, in the Dordogne. Its walls have more than 200 Magdalenian engravings and paintings (around 15,000 BC).
Discovered in 1901, classified as a Historic Monument in 1902, its richness in terms of cave art supports the comparison in terms of the richness of the works with the Arcy-sur-Cure or Lascaux cave but the state of conservation is less.
It turned out later that the site was known to the inhabitants of the region, used in particular (for a part) as a playground (children's graffiti was noted). Open halfway up a limestone cliff, the cave has the shape of a corridor 125 m long, 2 to 3 m narrow and sometimes 8 m high.
The engravings and paintings represent geometric shapes but also animals (reindeer, bison, horses, etc.). The colors were obtained from pigments and applied by stamping or blowing.
The cave is also famous for a composition where two reindeer face each other, one with large brown antlers (the male) seeming to lick the forehead of the other (the female). Many interpretations have been made.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site like other sites in the Vézère valley, the Font-de-Gaume cave now comes under the National Monuments Center. The number of visitors admitted daily is limited in order to preserve the works.
Open daily. Price: from 11 euros. Reservation required on +33 5 53 06 86 00.
