Eyzies-de-Tayac caves

▪ archaeological site, France

series of prehistoric rock dwellings located downstream from Lascaux Grotto and near the town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac in Dordogne département, southwestern France. The caves include some of the most significant archaeological finds of the European Upper Paleolithic Period (from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago) and Middle Paleolithic Period (200,000 to 40,000 years ago). The Upper Paleolithic caves are especially noted for their extensive wall drawings. Situated in the Vézère valley—the location of some 150 archaeological sites—the Eyzies-de-Tayac caves are among a series of decorated grottoes in the area that were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

      Following the discovery of flint and bone splinters in the area in 1862, a series of excavations were undertaken by the French geologist Édouard Lartet (Lartet, Édouard Armand Isidore Hippolyte) and the English banker Henry Christy. Their work quickly established Les Eyzies-de-Tayac as the principal archaeological site for the Upper Paleolithic Period. Among their discoveries were the multicoloured animal drawings of the Font-de-Gaume cave and an incredible display of stalactites and stalagmites in the Grand Roc. A rock shelter at La Madeleine (the type site for the Magdalenian culture) yielded bone and antler tools. In 1868 the first Cro-Magnon skeleton was discovered in a local rock shelter. The cave of Le Moustier is the type site of the Mousterian industry, a Middle Paleolithic tool culture associated with Neanderthals. The Le Moustier site produced clear evidence of deliberate burials practiced by the Neanderthals.

      Thousands of visitors are drawn to the area each year. Tourism, however, has threatened the preservation of the caves; the most serious problem is the algal growth that has formed in the wall paintings because of the installation of electric lights. Several sites have been closed to the public, including the Grotte des Eyzies and the shelter of the Cro-Magnon.

* * *