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<< Our Photo Pages >> Grotte de Gargas - Cave or Rock Shelter in France in Midi:Hautes-Pyrénées (65)

Submitted by TheCaptain on Thursday, 10 February 2005  Page Views: 12127

Natural PlacesSite Name: Grotte de Gargas
Country: France
NOTE: This site is 2.828 km away from the location you searched for.

Département: Midi:Hautes-Pyrénées (65) Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Saint-Gaudens  Nearest Village: Aventignan
Latitude: 43.055571N  Longitude: 0.536289E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
5 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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cezett would like to visit

J_W_R visited on 22nd Aug 2022 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5

TheCaptain visited on 5th Sep 2005 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4 This is the cave which is famous for all the hand prints, but there is in fact much more than these to be seen. The cave is easily found round some windy lanes, being well signposted, and it is open every day, €6 entry per adult to visit, which takes about an hour. The visit is on two levels, which were two separate caves in prehistoric times, the joining together of which was done in the 19th century. The two caves are both very different, being used at different times in the past. The upper level is a large, vertically oriented, well calcite decorated cave, within which are some paintings of animals in either red oxide or black manganese. There are bison, bouquetin and deer. The lower level has some panels with different animals engraved into the walls, which demonstrates the different time of usage, there are mammouth, auryx and reindeer. And then of course there are the hand prints, made by blowing the red or black pigment over the hand. Most do not have complete sets of fingers, and most are left hands, however all have a complete thumb. Why missing fingers ? Surely the hunters of the time would not have cut them off, as it would have been far too much of a handicap. Could it have been disease ? If so, then why no missing thumbs ? The latest thoughts as to this mystery is that the fingers may well have been simply bent back before making the silhouettes. In which case, is it a sign language ? What does it all mean ? Near to the end of the visit to the cave, is the "Great Wall of Hands". Not all of the hands are of adults, and there are hands from children too, some of which must have been quite young. The prints on this wall have been dated to 27,000 years ago. It is incredible to look at these hands of man from all that time ago. Near to the current exit to the cave, there are current excavations going on, the first since 1911, and they are hoping that with modern techniques, that more can be learned about the men that lived here.

Kuba visited - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 5 Ambience: 5 Access: 4.33

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by theCaptain : The visit entrance, to the higher level cave. (Vote or comment on this photo)
This is the cave which is world famous for all the hand prints, but there is in fact much more than these to be seen.

The cave is easily found round some windy lanes, being well signposted, and it is open every day, €6 entry per adult to visit, which takes about an hour. The visit is on two levels, which were two seperate caves in prehistoric times, the joining together of which was done in the 19th century.

The two caves are both very different, being used at different times in the past. The upper level is a large, vertically oriented, well calcite decorated cave, within which are some paintings of animals in either red oxide or black manganese. There are bison, bouquetin and deer.

The lower level has some panels with different animals engraved into the walls, which demonstrates the different time of usage, there are mammouth, auryx and reindeer. And then of course there are the hand prints, made by blowing the red or black pigment over the hand. Most do not have complete sets of fingers, and most are left hands, however all have a complete thumb.

Why missing fingers ? Surely the hunters of the time would not have cut them off, as it would have been far too much of a handicap. Could it have been disease ? If so, then why no missing thumbs ? The latest thoughts as to this mystery is that the fingers may well have been simply bent back before making the silhouettes. In which case, is it a sign language ? What does it all mean ?

Near to the end of the visit to the cave, is the "Great Wall of Hands". Not all of the hands are of adults, and there are hands from children too, some of which must have been quite young. The prints on this wall have been dated to 27,000 years ago. It is incredible to look at these hands of man from all that time ago.

Near to the current exit to the cave, there are current excavations going on, the first since 1911, and they are hoping that with modern techniques, that more can be learned about the men that lived here.


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Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by durhamnature : Pretending to be a cave artist in Gargas, from "Prehistoric Man..." via archive.org Site in Midi:Hautes-Pyrénées (65) France (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by Creative Commons : Grottes de Gargas (Aventignan) - Sanctuaire des Mains Intérieur 2 - Paléolithique supérieur - Gravettien By Yoan Rumeau (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by durhamnature : Cross-section, from "Anthropologie" via archive.org (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by durhamnature : Plan of the caves, from "Anthropologie" via archive.org (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by durhamnature : The mysterious handprints, image from "Men of the Old Stone Age" via archive.org Perhaps some sort of "Mason's mark", certainly not mutilated. Site in Midi:Hautes-Pyrénées (65) France (Vote or comment on this photo)

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by durhamnature : Part of the Great Wall of Hands, from "Art of the Stone Age" via archive.org

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by theCaptain : The visit exit, from the lower level cave

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by theCaptain : The little museum which contains all sorts of finds, and the nice relaxing waiting area - lovely on a wet day!

Grotte de Gargas
Grotte de Gargas submitted by theCaptain : Some of the finds to be found in the little museum

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"Grotte de Gargas" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Grotte de Gargas by coldrum on Tuesday, 07 July 2009
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Website:

http://grottesdegargas.free.fr/

Cave art information:

books.google.co.uk
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