<< 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 GargasCountry: 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:
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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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
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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