Gisement préhistorique de la Faurelie
MonumentHidden Treasure
Gisement préhistorique de la Faurelie, located in Mauzens-et-Miremont (Dordogne), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Mauzens-et-Miremont, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.9831, 0.9551
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082639
At the heart of the Périgord Noir, the deposit of la Faurelie reveals the secrets of the Upper Palaeolithic: a rock art and settlement site listed as a Historic Monument since 1930, bearing witness to humanity's first artists.
History
Nestling in the wooded hills of Mauzens-et-Miremont, in the heart of the Périgord Noir region, the Faurelie prehistoric site is one of the world's densest repositories of Upper Palaeolithic remains. Just a few kilometres from the great sanctuaries of Lascaux, Les Eyzies and Rouffignac, this archaeological site, which has been protected since 1930, is yet another precious piece in the jigsaw of the human presence in the Vézère valley and its tributaries over 15,000 years ago. What makes La Faurelie so special is the fact that it is a stratified site, typical of the rock shelters of the Périgord: the sedimentary layers accumulated over thousands of years have preserved remarkably dense material evidence. Flint tools carved using Magdalenian or Solutrean techniques, bones from Quaternary fauna - reindeer, horse, bison - and the remains of hearths offer a snapshot of the daily lives of the hunter-gatherers who occupied these sites over several generations. The visitor experience is intimate and contemplative, in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of neighbouring sites with more media coverage. Here, visitors are invited to take a close look at the landscape: the limestone cliffs, the natural rock overhangs that once offered shelter from the wind and rain, and the remains that archaeologists have patiently unearthed. You can feel, almost physically, the continuity between this land and the people who inhabited it at the dawn of thinking humanity. The natural setting adds to the magic of the place. The vegetation of pedunculate oak and hornbeam dresses the limestone reliefs in a deep green mantle, enlivened by birdsong. The golden lights of the Périgord, particularly in the late afternoon, sculpt the rock faces with a dramatic precision that effortlessly evokes the conditions in which prehistoric artists perceived their environment.
Architecture
The Faurelie site falls into the category of rock shelters and open-air sites in the Périgord, whose morphology is entirely determined by the local geology. The limestone substratum of the Upper Cretaceous, modelled by fluvial and karstic erosion over millions of years, naturally provides these rocky overhangs, which were first-choice habitats for Upper Palaeolithic man: protected from the elements, generally facing south or east to capture the sun's heat, and visually dominating the game-filled valleys. The stratigraphy of the site itself represents a temporal architecture: each sedimentary layer - silts, clays, cryoclastic scree resulting from the freezing and thawing of the walls - corresponds to a phase of occupation or abandonment. This succession of strata, sometimes more than two metres thick, constitutes a veritable natural archive that archaeologists are deciphering centimetre by centimetre. The lithic material found on the site reflects the technical standards of the Périgord Magdalenian: chisels, scrapers, back-handled blades and reindeer antler assegais fashioned with remarkable precision. The absence of large ornate walls does not rule out the presence of movable art - engraved plates, decorated bones - as found in many contemporary sites in the region. The limestone cliffs themselves, punctuated by concretions and natural fissures, create a mineral setting of austere beauty.
Related Figures
Édouard Lartet — paléontologue et préhistorien pionnier, dont les fouilles en Périgord dans les années 1860 ouvrirent la voie à l'exploration systématique des gisements de la régionGabriel de Mortillet — préhistorien français ayant établi la classification des industries paléolithiques, cadre dans lequel s'inscrit la FaurelieDenis Peyrony — instituteur et préhistorien des Eyzies, figure centrale des fouilles périgordines du début du XXe siècle, familier des sites de ce secteurHenri Breuil — abbé et préhistorien de renommée mondiale, autorité incontournable sur l'art et les industries du Paléolithique supérieur périgourdinAndré Leroi-Gourhan — préhistorien français du XXe siècle ayant renouvelé la méthodologie des fouilles et l'interprétation de l'art pariétal, dont les travaux éclairent les sites comme la Faurelie
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Gisement préhistorique de la Faurelie located?
Gisement préhistorique de la Faurelie is located in Mauzens-et-Miremont, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
Is Gisement préhistorique de la Faurelie open to visitors?
Gisement préhistorique de la Faurelie is currently closed to visitors.