<< Our Photo Pages >> Grotte d'Aurignac - Cave or Rock Shelter in France in Midi:Haute-Garonne (31)
Submitted by TheCaptain on Thursday, 10 February 2005 Page Views: 9654
Natural PlacesSite Name: Grotte d'Aurignac Alternative Name: Grotte de RodesCountry: France
NOTE: This site is 22.188 km away from the location you searched for.
Département: Midi:Haute-Garonne (31) Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Saint-Gaudens Nearest Village: Aurignac
Latitude: 43.222815N Longitude: 0.865579E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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TheCaptain visited on 5th Sep 2005 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Just to the north of the village of Aurignac can be found this important prehistoric shelter, where in 1852 a man was out hunting rabbit with his dog, and the dog found a bone down a hole. Upon the news of this discovery, the locals started investigating and found remains of 27 skeletons, which were removed and reburied in the local cemetery. In the 1860's, scientific excavations were done here, which found that the site had been occupied 30,000 years ago. Many tools, bones etc were found, and the site has given its name to a whole civilisation, the Aurignacian, which dates to between 30,000 and 25,000 years BC.
Today, beside the D.635 road to the northwest of Aurignac village, there is a layby and picnic area, with a large noticeboard explaining about the site. About 50 metres from the noticeboard, down a little track, and there is a small stream with a little bridge made from a large stone slab. Over the millennia, this stream has cut itself into a little cliff face, about 50 metres long by up to 10 metres high. In this cliff face is a large opening which is the first shelter excavated in 1862. There are also a few other smaller openings which have been excavated since, within which more finds were taken from. This is a nice and atmospheric little place. Pity about the rain !
In the 1860's, scientific excavations were done here, which found that the site had been occupied 30,000 years ago. Many tools, bones etc were found, and the site has given its name to a whole civilisation, the Aurignacian, which dates to between 30,000 and 25,000 years BC.
Today, beside the D.635 road to the northwest of Aurignac village, there is a layby and picnic area, with a large noticeboard explaining about the site. About 50 metres from the noticeboard, down a little track, and there is a small stream with a little bridge made from a large stone slab.
Over the millennia, this stream has cut itself into a little cliff face, about 50 metres long by up to 10 metres high. In this cliff face is a large opening which is the first shelter excavated in 1862. There are also a few other smaller openings which have been excavated since, within which more finds were taken from. This is a nice and atmospheric little place. Pity about the rain !
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