Underground landscape

The Cactus Gallery, which is around 20 metres in length, is a "cul-de-sac" in the Chauvet Cave; a gallery set back from the main route through the cave into which we descend by around two or three metres. The works are discreet here as the cave wall seems to have changed so much. The most striking feature of the underground landscape is the abundant presence of recently deposited white calcite, which post-dates the human and animal occupations and includes the famous "Cactus", a magnificent stalagmite that the Palaeolithic people never knew.