When the raiders came, residents gathered their kids, hauled up their animals, and pulled up the ladders. A clever relay of river watchtowers allowed them to keep an eye out. While the terraces had been inhabited as far back as prehistoric times, the information and reconstructions presented inside focus on the Middle Ages, when people settled here to steer clear of Viking raiders sailing up the river. Nearby is La Roque St-Christophe, a series of river-carved terraces, which has provided shelter for 55,000 years. Lascaux’s main caverns are more than a football field long, and the hundreds of animal figures (horses, deer, bison, etc.), painted high up on walls and ceilings, are monumental. You’ll soon forget you’re looking at a replica.ĭescriptions of the caves’ impressiveness sound like overstatement until you see them in person. Thankfully, the original caves were closed to the public, and experts perfectly recreated the paintings with the same dyes, tools and techniques used to make the originals. In just 15 years, the precious art deteriorated more than during the 15,000 previous. Discovered accidentally in 1940 by four kids and their dog, the paintings in the Lascaux caves quickly degenerated, as more than a million people climbed through this prehistoric wonderland. The most famous paintings are at Lascaux. Long before Stonehenge and before the Egyptian pyramids, back when mammoths and saber-toothed cats still roamed the earth, prehistoric people painted deep inside these grottoes.Īt the Lascaux caves, you can see a near-perfect replica of animal paintings done more than 15,000 years ago. The Dordogne’s limestone cliffs - honeycombed with painted caves - are unique on this planet. To step back even farther in time, visit one of the area’s prehistoric caves. After some dicey negotiations with military types much stronger than him, the local lord would gather his subjects and declare either, “Now you are French” or “Now you are English … deal with it.” From that ledge, I reenacted a goofy little speech, which I imagine happened many times during the Hundred Years’ War, fought between the French and English (1337–1453). The attendant let me unlock a huge plank door that opened up a treacherous little balcony high above the castle grounds. In the knights’ mess hall, it felt as if the cooks had just taken a break. The castle was lit by little oil lamps - puddles of light giving the spiral staircase a visual rhythm. It was like stepping back into medieval times. And the noblelady of the castle herself - land rich but, apparently, cash poor - sold me a ticket to enter and prowl around. Pulling my canoe up in Beynac, I hiked up to the brooding, cliff-clinging castle. On one particularly memorable Dordogne day, I enjoyed a perfect storm of travel thrills. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.Many of the sites were discovered or first recognised as significant and scientifically explored by the archaeologues Henri Breuil and Denis Peyrony in the early twentieth century, while Lascaux, which has the most exceptional rock art of these, was discovered in 1940. Furthermore, the Cro-Magnon rock shelter gave its name to the Cro-Magnon, the generic name for the European early modern humans. Three of the sites are the namesakes for prehistoric periods the Micoquien (named after La Micoque), Mousterian (after Le Moustier), and Magdalenian (after Abri de la Madeleine). This valley is exceptionally rich in prehistoric sites, with more than 150 known sites including 25 decorated caves, and has played an essential role in the study of the paleolithicum and its art. It specifically lists 15 prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley in the Dordogne department, mostly in and around Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, which has been called the "Capital of Prehistory". The Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in France since 1979.
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