Abri de Laugerie-Haute

Gisement de Laugerie-Haute


Useful Information

Location: D47, 24620 Les Eyzies.
From Le Eyzies-de-Tayac D47 towards Périgeux 2 km, on the right bank of the Vezere. Limited parking at the road.
(44.9518736, 0.9997413)
Open: All year Tue 10.
Online booking mandatory.
[2011]
Fee: Adults EUR 9, Children (10-17) EUR 4.
[2024]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst Cave. ArchaeologyAbri
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension: W=180 m, L=35 m.
Guided tours: D=90 min, MinAge=10.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Denis Peyrony, Élie Peyrony (1938): Laugerie-Haute près des Eyzies (Dordogne), Archives de l'Institut de paléontologie humaine, mémoire 19. online Français - French
Fr. Delpech (1986): Les Rennes du Grand abri de Laugerie-Haute en Dordogne, Arqueologia (Porto), t. 13, p. 66-71, ill. Français - French
Jean-Gaston Lalanne (1907): Glouton gravé sur bois de renne de l'époque magdalénienne, Actes de la Société linnéenne de Bordeaux, t. 62,‎ 1907, p. 381-384. Français - French online
Jean-Gaston Lalanne (1907): Découverte d'un squelette humain à Laugerie-Haute, Actes de la Société linnéenne de Bordeaux, t. 62,‎ 1907, p. 399-405. Français - French online
André Cheynier (1960): Les couches inférieures de Laugerie-Haute. Nouvelle interprétation, Bulletin de la Société historique et archéologique du Périgord, t. 87,‎ 1960, p. 132-136. Français - French pdf
Pierre-Yves Demars (1995): Le solutréen de Laugerie-Haute (Périgord, France) ; chronologie et matière première, Paléo, Revue d'Archéologie Préhistorique Année 1995 Suppl. pp. 165-171. Français - French online
Address: Hall d'accueil de Font-de-Gaume, 4 avenue des Grottes, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, Tel: +33-553-068600. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1862 discovered by E. Lartet and H. Christy.
1863 first archaeological excavation.
1911-1914 archaeological excavation by H. Hauser.
1921-1935 archaeological excavation Denis and Élie Peyrony.
1936-1939 archaeological excavation.
1979 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

Laugerie-Haute is an abri, a rock shelter, not a real cave. It has an exceptional size, being 180 m wide and 35 m deep. This place was used during the Upper Palaeolithic as workshop for flint tools.

In five meters of sediment, 42 different levels were identified. The oldest remains are from the Périgordian (ca. 33,000-20,000 BC), the youngest from the Magdalénian (14,000 BC). The continuity of the layers over a rather long period of time allowed the scientists to make a timeline of the Upper Paleolithic.

The good preservation of the site is due to a collapse of the roof. The debris covered the layers and saved them from weather and (more important) from human influence. The shelter once had an overhang looking like huge eyebrow. About 14,000 years ago a volcano erupted, most likely the Puy de Dôme 150 km away, and covered the area with a layer of ash many meters thick. The weight caused the collapse of the two rocks which fell down and turned during the fall, to land on the rounded front edge.

Because of its enormous size the shelter was inhabited during the Middle Ages. The houses were built at the wall which reduced the necessary work, also the necessary material, and made the buildings more stable. Some buildings were removed and only the holes in the cliff face for wooden beams remain. Some buildings are still on site, and one of them protects the only remaining part of the sediments.