Abri du Cap-Blanc à Laussel
MonumentHidden Treasure
Abri du Cap-Blanc à Laussel, located in Marquay (Dordogne), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Marquay, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.9456, 1.0973
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082632
Unique of its kind, the sculpted frieze of Cap-Blanc offers 13 metres of Palaeolithic high-reliefs of striking power — the only sanctuary of this type open to the public in France.
History
In the heart of the Beune valley, in the Périgord Noir region, the Cap-Blanc shelter is home to one of the most astonishing masterpieces of prehistoric art in the world. Its sculpted frieze, thirteen metres long, stands out as a monumental work of art like no other: carved out of the limestone some 15,000 years ago, it features a procession of animals in high and low relief with a technical mastery that boggles the mind. What radically distinguishes Cap-Blanc from all other Palaeolithic sites is precisely this third dimension. Where Lascaux or Font-de-Gaume seduce with their paintings, Cap-Blanc sculpts. Magdalenian artists dug, modelled and polished the walls to produce equine silhouettes, some over a metre long. The reliefs, sometimes several centimetres high, played with the flickering light of the grease lamps to bring these figures to life in the darkness of the sanctuary. Visiting the site is both an intimate and breathtaking experience. Unlike the large, inaccessible decorated caves, Cap-Blanc is only a few steps away. Walk beneath the natural shelter, facing the rock, and you can make out the back lines of the horses, their powerful necks, and the residual traces of ochre pigments that once coloured the whole composition. The presence of humans can still be felt here: a Magdalenian burial site has been unearthed in the very floor of the shelter. The natural setting amplifies the emotion. Nestling in a wooded valley near Marquay, just a few kilometres from Les Eyzies-de-Tayac - the world capital of prehistory - the site is part of an exceptional concentration of Palaeolithic heritage. Visitors to Cap-Blanc can combine their visit with one to Laussel, La Mouthe or the Musée National de Préhistoire, for a total immersion in the Upper Palaeolithic of the Périgord.
Architecture
The Cap-Blanc shelter is a natural rock shelter carved into the limestone cliffs of the Périgord Noir region, typical of the Cretaceous geological formations that characterise the Vézère valley and its tributaries. The rocky vault, which slopes slightly outwards, offered prehistoric people natural protection from the elements, while creating an ideal wall surface for their sculptural work. The sculpted frieze itself forms the architecture of the site. It is around thirteen metres long and consists of two main panels on the rear and side walls of the shelter. The fourteen figures - mainly horses, with some cattle and possibly deer - are executed in high and low relief with remarkable virtuosity. Some of the reliefs rise several centimetres from the wall, giving the animal figures a volume and presence that are almost sculptural in the contemporary sense of the term. The artists have taken advantage of the natural accidents in the rock, incorporating protrusions and hollows into their compositions to reinforce the effect of volume and movement. The materials used are those provided by nature: the soft limestone on the site, easily worked with flint chisels, and the mineral pigments - iron oxides for the ochres and reds, manganese for the blacks - that once covered the entire frieze. The floor of the shelter, which is now open to visitors, still bears the imprint of the Magdalenian burial site discovered during the first excavations, a reminder that this natural area was also a place of burial and ritual.
Related Figures
Gaston Lalanne — préhistorien et médecin périgourdin, directeur des fouilles de 1909 qui révélèrent la frise sculptéeLes artistes magdaléniens anonymes — sculpteurs préhistoriques auteurs de la frise, actifs vers 15 000 BPLa Dame de Laussel — figure féminine sculptée découverte à proximité, symbole de l'art paléolithique périgourdinDenis Peyrony — préhistorien fondateur du musée des Eyzies, acteur majeur de la reconnaissance scientifique des sites de la régionHenri Breuil — l'abbé Breuil, figure tutélaire de la préhistoire française, qui documenta et défendit les grands sites ornés du Périgord au XXe siècle
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Abri du Cap-Blanc à Laussel located?
Abri du Cap-Blanc à Laussel is located in Marquay, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
Is Abri du Cap-Blanc à Laussel open to visitors?
Abri du Cap-Blanc à Laussel is currently closed to visitors.