The environment of the cave consists essentially of agricultural lots in front, surrounded by a dense tree cover. In order to preserve the natural landscape, there is no picnic area in close proximity. There is, however, a gravel parking lot around 100 meters from the cave entrance.

Just next to Les Combarelles, Rey Cave, excavated by Emile Rivière, yielded a magnificent decorated spatula made from reindeer antler.

Around 50 meters further up the valley, the two Les Combarelles caves open into one wide entrance on a ledge around 10 meters above the current valley bottom. Les Combarelles I is open to the public, Les Combarelles II is closed.
There is a free parking lot very close to the welcome center. Guided visits must be reserved ahead of time at the ticket office of Font de Gaume cave.
Discovered in 1901 by Louis Capitain Henri Breuil and Denis Peyrony, the engravings of Les Combarelles Cave made a major contribution to the acceptance of parietal art. Along with those of Font-de-Gaume Cave, discovered just a few days later, and those of La Mouthe, known since 1895, the parietal works of Les Combarelles convinced researchers who until then did not believe that prehistoric humans had the mental and technical capacities necessary to realize them.

The entrance of the cavity was long used as a stable by peasants who found many Magdalenian flint and antler artifacts. But at the time, their interest was not recognized and the stratigraphy of the site remained unstudied.

The enthusiasm of Prehistorians concerning the engravings, on the other hand, lifted the site to its rightful place as one of the most beautiful decorated caves known. Henri Breuil even referred to this discovery as “(…) an enormous firecracker in the world of prehistory”.

Les Combarelles I has belonged to the State since its discovery. It is classified as historic monument and is open to the public. To accommodate visitors, the floor of the cave, was lowered and covered with a metal walkway. The lighting is dim and Plexiglas covers protect some of the figures from rubbing. Due to the fragility of the walls and natural alterations such as calcite deposits, it is necessary to limit the number of persons to 6 per visit. Les Combarelles II is closed to the public.

The innermost part of the cave is covered with engravings from the Magdalenian period (about 12,000 years ago). Drawn over a period of 2000 years, many are superimposed one upon another, and include horses, reindeer, mammoths and stylized human figures – among the finest are the heads of a horse and a lioness.

Hours May 15-Sept 15 Mon-Fri and Sun 9:30am-5:30pm; Sept 16-May 14 Mon-Fri and Sun 9:30am-12:30pm and 2-5:30pm 
  
 Location On D47, 17km (11 miles) north of Bergerac 
  
 Phone 05-53-06-86-00 
  
 Prices Admission 6.50€ ($8.45) adults, 4.50€ ($5.85) students and ages 18-24, free for children under 18

In the remains of a prehistoric shelter which has now largely collapsed there is an excavation site where you can follow the successions of prehistoric occupations by looking at a stratigraphic section which is more than 9 metres high. Archaeological digs have revealed that there were more than forty encampments there between 35,000 and 20,000 years ago covering the Aurignacian, Gravettian and Solutrean periods. Some metres away, there is an area of the shelter which is still intact. The museum is located inside this cave, where artefacts found at this site are displayed along with the results of research by prehistorians (panels, models, reconstructions …) which allow us to understand better who Cro-Magnon was and how he lived.

Nearly 35,000 years ago, the first occupants of “l’abri Pataud”, the Aurignacians were there for short stays only as the shelter was not very large. They were semi-nomad hunter gatherers. In about 27,000 BC the Gravettians came to live in this cave which was now larger due to erosion and they stayed for longer periods. At the end of the Gravettian civilisation (20,000 BC) the shelter’s roof collapsed and only a gallery running the length of the rock face remained. It was used as a burial place (7 individuals were interred there).
The Solutreans stayed there for very short periods.
The museum is situated in the part of the shelter which didn’t collapse and displays the principal objects found there, as well as illustrated explications of their probable use. All the other important finds, witness to this era, are conserved in the laboratory. The museum ceiling is decorated with the sculpture in bas-relief of an ibex from the Solutrean period, about 19,000 years ago.

Open everyday in the high season
in the lower season open for groups upon prior reservation

accessible to disabled persons

Duration of the visit: approx. 1 hour

For any further information, please contact

SEMITOUR PERIGORD
221 bis route d’Angoulême
24000 Périgueux
Tel : 33-553-05-65-65

0800 891 991
fax : 33-553-06-30-94
email:contact@semitour.com

http://www.semitour.com

reservations for groups
Tel: 33-553-35-50-40
Fax: 33-553-06-30-94

The Beune Valley has been occupied for a very long time. Around Commarque, prehistoric man has left numerous traces of his passage. Not far from the site at Commarque, Paleolithic man left two female statuettes known as the Venus of Sireuil and the Venus of Laussel.
On the other side of the valley, in the shelter at Cap Blanc, one can admire a frieze of prehistoric sculptures. Under Commarque Castle there is a cave where Magdalenian man carved animals on the wall, notably a very beautiful life-sized horse (not open to the public).

 
The Uncertain Origins of Commarque

The most reasonable hypothesis would be to attribute the founding of a keep at Commarque to one of the two abbots of the same name who succeeded the abbey see of Sarlat during the last third of the XIIth century: Garin (1169-1181) or Randolph de Commarque (1195-1201). The building of a tower allowed them to contain the ambitions of their vassals the Beynacs, with whom they had a relationship of conflict. It was a member of their family who obtained its guard. The first Lord of Commarque, thus, was a “milites castri” or knight, who followed orders from the Abbey of Sarlat. In the XIIth century, a concentration of population existed there, made up of a keep with living quarters, a chapel and house towers: it was the castrum of Commarque.
 

The Beynacs, Lords of Commarque

There is mention of Commarque in archive documents from 1255 onwards. Maynard de Beynac became the lord of the château. The house towers were held by the lineages of lesser nobles, the names of several of which are known: the Commarque, the Cendrieux, the Gondrix, the La Chapelle… Each house tower had an enclosure, its own access, and ditches. The lord and knights fought over the rights of justice, land and other property.
 

The Rise of the Beynacs

During the course of the XIVth century, two major lineages had the first regrouping of lands by successive acquisitions. The Beynacs succeeded in constituting a veritable castellany around Commarque when they retook the rights of Marquay and of Sireuil from the Cendrieux and imposed their suzerainty on the den of Laussel. The Commarques took back the lands and rights from the descendants of the other knights, either by buying them or through alliances. From the middle of the XIVth century, the entire lower courtyard had become the noble house of the Commarques: they now disposed of a defensive parameter largely exceeding that of the Château of Beynac.
 

The Patrimony of the Beynacs Combined

In 1379 Pons de Beynac, Lord of Commarque, married Philippa, 12 years of age, heiress of the lords of Beynac. By this alliance, the lords of Commarque acquired the castellany of Beynac and its dependencies.
 

The Hundred Years’ War

During the Hundred Years’ War, the Beynacs stayed faithful defenders of the throne of France. Pons de Beynac enjoyed several political favors: he was among the clients of Beaufort-Turenne, of the Avignon papacy and of the Anjou party. The extension of Commarque Castle between 1370 and 1380 has been attributed to him. He undertook heightening the keep and the curtain wall, and had the crown of machicolations built which was inspired by the Palace of the Popes in Avignons.
 

The Decline of the Beynacs and the Commarques

Nevertheless, the Beynacs came out of the Hundred Years’ War badly. First of all, in 1406, the English, driven by Archambaud d’Abzac, seized hold of Commarque. The whole family was brought together and made prisoner. A tax, ordered by the king, was levied on the inhabitants of Perigord and Quercy to pay the ransom. The castellany of Commarque began to break up. In 1395, Pons lost the suzerainty over Laussel . He was unable to retain Domme. And in 1441, the Beynacs went under the influence of the Count of Perigord, a visible sign of their political weakening. During the 1500s, it seems that the resident families had already deserted the castrum of Commarque.
 

The Wars of Religion

During the Wars of Religion, the Beynacs were loyal to the cause of the Reform. From Commarque, which was his base of operation, Geoffroy, Baron of Beynac and Lord of Commarque, launched several attacks on Catholic hideouts in the area and even furtively took hold of Sarlat. In 1569, Commarque Castle was taken for the first time by the Catholics led by the seneschal and by the Governor of Perigord. It is without doubt following this siege that the vaulted room collapsed. As the new master of Commarque, Geoffroy installed a garrison there which, by way of reprisal, would be hanged the same year.
 

The Abandon and Renaissance of Commarque

Guy de Beynac, the last castellan living in Commarque Castle, died there in 1656. The site was definitively abandoned in XVIIIth century. A century later the castle was in ruins. In 1968, Hubert de Commarque bought his ancestors’ ruins. He undertook the consolidation of the most damaged parts. Since 1994 there have been successive phases of consolidation and restoration. Hubert of Commarque has given Kleber Rossillon, the creator of the Museum of Medieval Warfare in Castelnaud Castle and the Gardens of Marqueyssac, the task of opening the Commarque site to the public. A program of archeological research has been in place for several years.

Open hours

April and all saints holidays: from 10:00 am- 6:00 pm
May, June, September:
from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
July and August: from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Last admissions 1 hour before closing.

Free parking
Parking located 600 m from the site.
A specially fitted forest path leads to the entrance of the site.

2008 Price

Individual price
Adults: 6 €
Children (10 -17 yrs): 3 €
Children (-10 yrs): free

Group price
(for 20 or more persons)
Adults: 5 €
Children: 2,50 €

Originally termed “L’Age du Renne” (the Age of the Reindeer) by Lartet & Christy (1875), the Magdalenian is synonymous in many people’s minds with reindeer hunters, although Magdalenian sites also contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horse and other large mammals present in Europe towards the end of the last ice age. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites have been found from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east.

The culture spans the period between c. 18,000 and 10,000 BP, towards the end of the last ice age. The Magdalenien is characterised by regular blade industries struck from carinated cores. Typologically the Magdalenian is divided into six phases which are generally agreed to have chronological significance. The earliest phases are recognised by the varying proportion of blades and specific varieties of scrapers, the middle phases marked by the emergence of a microlithic component (particularly the distinctive denticulated microliths) and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase 5) and biserial ‘harpoons’ (phase 6) made of bone, antler and ivory (Sonneville-Bordes & Perrot, 1954-56).

There is extensive debate about the precise nature of the earliest Magdalenian assemblages, and it remains questionable whether the Badegoulian culture is in fact the earliest phase of the Magdalenian. Similarly finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris have often been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian (Hemmingway 1980). The earliest Magdalenian sites are all found in France.

The later phases of the Magdalenian are also synonymous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum. Extensive research in Switzerland, southern Germany (Housley et al. 1997) and Belgium (Charles 1996) has provided detailed AMS radiocarbon dating to support this.

By the end of the Magdalenian, the lithic technology shows a pronounced trend towards increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points are the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence. As well as flint tools, the Magdalenians are best known for their elaborate worked bone, antler and ivory which served both functional and aesthetic purposes including bâtons de commandement. Examples of Magdalenian mobile art include figurines and intrically engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, perforated carnivore teeth (presumably necklaces) and fossils.

The sea shells and fossils found in Magdalenian sites can be sourced to relatively precise areas of origin, and so have been used to support hypothesis of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer seasonal ranges, and perhaps trade routes. Cave sites such as the world famous Lascaux contain the best known examples of Magdalenian cave art. The site of Altamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenian mobillary art has been suggested to be an agglomeration site where multiple small groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated (Conkey 1980).

In northern Spain and south west France it was superseded by the Azilian culture. In northern Europe we see a slightly different picture, with different variants of the Tjongerian techno-complex following it. It has been suggested that key Late Glacial sites in south-western Britain can also be attributed to the Magdalenian, including the famous site of Kent’s Cavern, although this remains open to debate.

This cave is known for its numerous mammoth paintings and etchings, more than 150 have been counted so far! These were spread throughout the cave and almost exclusively in groupings. Rouffignac also has its own “Sistine Chapel” called Le Grand Plafond. The ceiling here is richly decorated mammoths, bison, ibex, and horses reminiscent of Lascaux.
The main difference is that these were drawn only in black line on a ceiling only two feet tall (The ceiling in Lascaux’s main chamber is about 10 feet tall). Al of this was done of course with the light of a fat burning lamp more than a half mile from the entrance to the cave. Even Michelangelo would have had difficulty here.

The authenticity of some of Rouffignac’s artwork is often called into question. In particular the wooly mammoth drawings here caused early prehistorians a lot of trouble. The tail end of these creatures included a strange flap of skin near the anus. This anatomical mystery was authenticated when in modern times the remains of wooly mammoths were found in Siberia with this same feature. So these drawings couldn’t have been fakes. No one knew of this feature until modern times.

Along with the paintings and engravings found in these caves there are also a number of “tectiforms.” These are pattern-marks that repeat themselves within a cave or regions of a cave. Some are painted dots, rectangles, lines, and triangles, and others are engraved scratchings. In Rouffignac there are miles of lines drawn in the soft mud of the walls by fingers. Researchers have studied the shape and size of these finger flutings and determined that these markings were made by eight different people at least three of which were children under the age of eight. The children must have explored extensively as their markings are found even in the remotest areas of the cave. They appear to be like a kind of signature or sign specific to a cave, area of a cave, a people group, or artist group. Because of the uniformity of the markings they are thought to be an early form of writing or least a way of signing one’s name. Could this be the beginnings of written language dating back to over 15,000 BC?

Original article can be found here