Cave of Make-of-Gaume

The Grotte decorated with Make-with-Gaume is on the commune of the Eyzies-with-Tayac in the Dordogne. Its walls count more than 200 engravings and paintings Magdalénien born.

The Cave of Make-of-Gaume is the last major cave decorated with France which presents polychrome works which is opened with the public. Works are comparable by their richness with those of the Grotte of Altamira or the Grotte of Lascaux even if their state of conservation is definitely less.

Discovered

Parietal works were discovered on September 12th, 1901 by Denis Peyrony, Henri Breuil and Louis Capitan, four days only after those of the Grotte of Combarelles. The cave however was already known by the inhabitants of the area and was used as playing field to the children, from where the presence of many Graffiti on some paintings.

Fouille S were undertaken there by D. Peyrony and H. Breuil, then by F. Prat of 1958 to 1964 and in 1967. The lithic vestiges put at the day return primarily to the Châtelperronien and the Aurignacien, more rarely with the Moustérien, the Solutréen and the Magdalénien.

Geological formation

Make-of-Gaume is dug with the periphery of a calcareous solid mass dating from the Santonien and the Crétacé. Morphology into high Diaclase is formed in sandy limestones of the higher Cretaceous where one finds Concrétion S. It is the flow of the subterranean water which dug the cave little by little. Nowadays, the cave is regarded as dry, even if one meets some flows on certain walls.

The cave is presented in the form of a 125 meters length a relatively narrow corridor for 2 to 3 meters broad and up to 8 meters in height. It opens with middle height of a limestone cliff Coniacien. The first figurations appear with an about sixty meters of the entry, after a called étroiture the Rubicon. This one undoubtedly contributed to their conservation by limiting circulations of air, although the cavity accessible and was always opened. Other works were perhaps present between the entry and étroiture, but they were unobtrusive except for some traces of engravings.

Works

Works include/understand more than 200 engravings and paintings, of which certain polychrome. They are geometrical signs (Tectiforme S, quadrilaterals, signs in X), animals (Aurochs, Bison S, Mammouth S, horses but also Lion) and some anthropomorphic figures (vulvas, silhouette). The black and red colors are obtained starting from natural pigments, applied by plugging and blowing.

The Renne is well represented, with in particular two individuals “faced” in the center of the left wall. In a composition associating engraving and painting, two individuals face: that of left, upright, has large brown wood and seems to lick the face of that of right-hand side, knelt and equipped with glazing bar reds. This scene was the subject of many contradictory interpretations but could represent a sexual parade.

In the absence of absolute dating, works of Make-of-Gaume are generally brought closer to art Magdalénien on the basis of comparison stylistics.

Since 1979, the site is registered with the World heritage UNESCO, in partnership with other sites and caves decorated with the area under the name of “Grottes decorated with the valley with Vézère”.

The cave of Make-of-Gaume is opened with the public, but the number of visitors is limited. Works are in a stable state of conservation thanks to this limitation.

See too

References

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