Caves decorated with the valley of Vézère

The Grottes decorated with the valley of Vézère constitute a whole of exceptional sites Préhistorique S, distributed on forty kilometers along the Vallée of the Vézère between Eyzies-with-Tayac and Montignac, in France in the department of the the Dordogne, area Aquitaine. Coordinates:

Inscription with the world heritage

These caves were classified with the World heritage of UNESCO in October 1979. The inscription relates to primarily caves decorated among most important for the study with the parietal Art of the Paléolithique superior, but also a certain number of archaeological sites .

The description of the cultural asset classified by UNESCO mentions 147 layers Paléolithique S and 25 decorated caves, in a zone of 30 km out of approximately 40 km, as well as the hundreds of thousands of osseous and artistic vestiges lithic which were discovered there: 500  000 objects in Flint taillé, 844 various ustensils and artistic works.

An exhaustive list of all the sites concerned cannot be drawn up here, but certain layers and caves are registered by name.

List principal classified sites quoted by UNESCO

Other sites included in the list, often also registered with the national Historic buildings

Other sites are present in the villages of:
  • Eyzies-of-Tayac (of which the Shelter Lump );
  • Marquay on Vézère (of which the cave of Grèze with a Bison carved in Low-relief, the shelter of Laussel with human figures in low-relief, and the layer of origin of the Venus to the Horn , shelters of the Masnègre going back from the Périgordien, the Pigeon , Cacaro , Pageyrol , and End-of-World , and the cave of Puymartin );
  • Montignac on Vézère (of which the cave of Régourdou where one found vestiges of néandertaliens and bear, and the prehistoric layer of Balutie );
  • Manaurie-Rouffignac (of which the cave of Veyssou : parietal engravings);
  • Saint-Cirq of Bugue (of which sites of Beune and small Beune );
  • Saint-Leon-on-Vézère (of which sites of Under-the-Rock , Rochette , Tuilière );
  • Tursac (of which the prehistoric layers of Liveyre , the shelter Storeroom , the shelter of the Forest , the shelter of Ruth , the Castling Barbel , the shelter of the strong House of Reignac , the shelter of the Factor , shelters of Langle , Villepin , the Boulou , Blanchard , Castanet , Reverdit and Labattut , and the Rocks of Steel ).

Extract of the justification of inscription

“ Some of the illustrated whole of the caves of the Vézère is universally known as a chief of prehistoric work of art: the “ Venus de Laussel ” and the “ Plank of the horses ” in high relief of the White Cape (Marquay), and especially famous parietal paintings of the Cave of Lascaux (Montignac) whose discovery, in 1940, marked a date in the history of prehistoric art: scenes of hunting skilfully made up, implement a hundred approximately animal, astonishing figures by the precision of the observation, the richness of the colors and the promptness of returned. ”
“ the objects and the works of art located in the valley of Vézère is the extremely rare witnesses of civilizations for a long time disappeared, very difficult to apprehend. This material, infinitely invaluable for the knowledge of the most moved back periods of the history of the men, is quite former to the Antiquité itself, going up until the period Paléolithique. It is of universal interest, as exceptional on the historical level as from an ethnological point of view, anthropological or Esthétique. ”

See too

External bonds

  • prehistoric Sites and caves decorated with the valley of Vézère on the site of UNESCO.
    • ms: /stream.unesco.org/culture/NHK/vezerevalley_France.wmv: video of presentation (format Windows Media).
  • Caves decorated and prehistoric layers with the Dordogne on the site of the commune with Eyzies-of-Tayac-Sireuil.
  • the cave of Lascaux on the site of the French Ministry of the Culture and the Communication.

Internal bonds

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