Skip to main content
Skip to footer

The Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave

The Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave

Home
- Discover the cave
- Virtual visit
- - The Ardèche valley
  - The environment
  - The climate and flora
  - The Fauna
  - Archaeological sites
- - Humans of Chauvet-Pont d'Arc
  - The Aurignacians
  - The Gravettian presence
  - Everyday life
  - Aurignacian cave art
  - Symbolic expressions
- Discovery and Conservation
- - Discovery and protection
  - The discovery
  - Scientific analysis and results
  - Immediate protection measures
- - Preserving the cave
  - Original preservation
  - A High-security Cave
    
    The Layout
  - A Fragile Setting
  - The State's administrative work
    
    Preservation Department
    
    Marie BARDISA
    
    Charles CHAUVEAU
    
    Paulo RODRIGUES
  - Preservation Perspectives
- Cave Chronicle
- Cave Replica
- The Grotte Chauvet 2
- A Grand Project
- A scientific and artistic restitution
- Other Perspectives
- Miquel Barceló
- Vincent Corpet
- Régis Debray
- Roger Lombardot
- Pierre Peju
- Giuseppe Penone
- Ernest Pignon-Ernest
- Resources
- Media Library
- Close up with cave painting
- Glossary
- Credits
- Discover Lascaux cave

The Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave

Discovered on Sunday 18 December 1994 by Jean-Marie Chauvet, Éliette Brunel and Christian Hillaire during a private speleological exploration, the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave is one of the oldest decorated Palaeolithic caves in the world.

archeologie.culture.fr

Resources

Media library

Filtres - 497/501 Selected medias

All licences

BY-NC-ND : attribution + pas d'utilisation commerciale + pas de modification

All themes

Environment

Everyday life

Parietal art

All types of documents

3D Model

Drawings and surveys

Interactive media

Maps and plans

Photographs

Video

Zoom

Detail on the Brown Painted Mammoth
Red Bear's Head
Head of a feline
The bears high up
Mammoth Pendant
Cactus Gallery seen from the back
Current entrance to the Cactus Gallery
Reconstituted entrance to the Cactus Gallery
Cactus Gallery
The Gallery, from the Chamber of the Bear Hollows
The Cactus Gallery seen from the back
Bear hollows in the Candle Gallery

Pagination

…
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Current page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
…

The Ardèche valley

The environment
The climate and flora
The Fauna
Archaeological sites

Humans of Chauvet-Pont d'Arc

The Aurignacians
The Gravettian presence
Everyday life
Aurignacian cave art
Symbolic expressions

Research

Research in the cave
Research Programme
Combined approaches
Research Team
Dissemination and promotion

Discovery and protection

The discovery
Scientific analysis and results
Immediate protection measures

Preserving the cave

Original preservation
A High-security cave
A Fragile setting
The State's administrative work
Preservation Perspectives

Cave Replica

The Grotte Chauvet 2
A Grand Project
A scientific and artistic restitution

Other Perspectives

Miquel Barceló
Vincent Corpet
Régis Debray
Roger Lombardot
Pierre Peju
Giuseppe Penone
Ernest Pignon-Ernest

Visit the cave

Brunel Chamber - South
Brunel Chamber – North
Chamber of the Bear Hollows
Cactus Gallery
Red Panels Gallery
Candle Gallery
Hillaire Chamber – South
Hillaire Chamber – North
Skull Chamber
Latticework Gallery
Megaloceros Gallery
End Chamber

Resources

Site map
Media Library
Glossary
Close up with cave painting
UNESCO
Credits
Press

About

Beyond time and space, the Archeologie.culture.fr collection presents the history and life of men through the research of the greatest specialists in French archeology.
Visit Archeologie.culture.fr

Discover other sites of the collection

33,000 years ago

Cosquer cave
France - 21,000 years ago

Lascaux
15,000 years ago

Prehistoric sculpted rock shelters

Contact - Accessibilité : Partiellement conforme - - 2025. Ministry of Culture (en)