The Cussac cave
The Cussac cave was discovered in September 2000 by speleologist Marc Delluc (1957–2017). It is exceptional for its combination of cave art and human burials dating back some 30,000 years to the Gravettian period.
Listed as a historic monument as soon as it was discovered, and then as a listed site since 2013, the cave is not open to the public for reasons of access and conservation. The gallery is 1.6 km long, and has only been partially explored and studied.
Discover the cave
The Cussac cave, over a kilometre and a half long, is one of the largest in Périgord. You enter through a modest passageway, now obstructed by scree that blocks off the former entrance, which must have been much larger. This was crossed by Marc Delluc as part of a dangerous operation to clear the way to a previously unexplored gallery. Since then, the access tunnel has been reinforced to make it easier to navigate.
It leads into a magnificent gallery with untouched soil that winds westwards for over a kilometre (the upstream "branch") and for almost 600 m on the east side (the downstream "branch"). The signposted path is unique and follows a route leading through rough terrain of varying difficulty, with low or raised passages as well as tight, narrow passages and numerous boulders that have to be avoided or climbed over. Most of the time, however, you can follow the meandering course of the old underground river, which has since sunk and can be seen in a few "wells".
Between 35,000 years and 26,000 years ago: the Gravettians
The Gravettians are Homo sapiens, or anatomically modern humans, descended from the first groups to arrive in Europe around 45,000 years ago. Plenty is known about their anatomy, which is identical to our own, thanks to the numerous burials and human remains discovered all over Europe, from Portugal to the Russian plains, to where the Gravettian period or its contemporary equivalents extended.
The term "Gravettien" refers to the period following the Aurignacian (between around 34,000 and 25,000 years ago) and takes its name from the site of La Gravette (Dordogne). Its vast expansion throughout Europe is remarkable. The Gravettian period appeared during a temperate climatic phase of the last ice age and developed during the Upper Pleniglacial period, punctuated by a succession of subdivisions recognised on the basis of the evolution of equipment (tools, weapons) and skills (evolution of lithic and bone industry manufacturing techniques). In fact, the Gravettian period is subdivided into several stages characterised by flint technology that is sometimes quite distinct (Gravette points, Font-Robert "tanged" flint points, Noailles burins, Isturitz dagger points, etc.).
This technology provides information about the geographical extension of human groups, such as the middle period, which is contemporary with the works at Cussac and extended from the Pyrenees to Tyrrhenian Italy without crossing the Loire to the north.
The adornments and portable art (especially female statuettes) and the many burials, often well-preserved and spectacular, point to a complex, sophisticated, specialised and partly hierarchical society.
Gravettian cave art is concentrated in the main regions of south-west Europe: in the caves of Quercy, Périgord, the Cantabrian Corniche, the Pyrenean foothills and the southern Iberian peninsula, but it also exists in Mayenne and Yonne (Grande grotte d'Arcy).
This Gravettian pictorial world is characterised by graphic conventions (animals or female depictions with deformed bodies, unfinished limbs and very small heads), techniques (abundant use of stencils) and themes (negative handprints).
It also offers the first spectacular examples of low-relief sculpture, such as in the Laussel and Poisson shelters in Périgord.
Distribution and promotion
Until its discovery in 2000, the Cussac cave had remained sealed off and preserved since it was last frequented by man 30,000 years ago. It is therefore preserved in its totality.
The Cussac cave is closed to the public, as are other decorated caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet or Cosquer, because underground environments, and in particular decorated caves, benefit from natural conservation conditions, but the balance is delicate. So it’s crucial that these conditions are maintained.
In October 2024, an exhibition devoted to the Cussac cave was opened in Le Buisson de Cadouin, organised by the Dordogne Departmental Council in partnership with Le Buisson de Cadouin Local Council and the Ministry of Culture – Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Cultural Affairs Department (DRAC). The exhibition will include replicas of the Discovery Panel and Locus II, made by the Ateliers de fac-similés du Périgord from three-dimensional models produced by Archéovision for the Ministry of Culture – Nouvelle-Aquitaine DRAC.
Multidisciplinary research
In recent decades, work on decorated caves has systematically combined several disciplines and no longer focuses solely on cave art. In fact, the whole site, indeed the whole massif, needs to be studied in order to answer questions such as: why was this site chosen? What was the cave like when the prehistoric populations passed through? Why do some areas still have a wealth of remains, while others seem to have none at all?
Since 2009, a large team has been assembled comprising the following disciplines:
- Geology, karstology, hydrology, geomorphology, sedimentology
- Underground climatology
- AMS C-14 dating, Echomicadas, U-Th (TIMS)
- Palaeoenvironmental studies: precision topography, palaeontology, speleothems, isotopy
- Biological anthropology, archaeothanatology, palaeogenetics, palaeogenomics
- Archaeology of decorated walls: access to walls, surveys, technological studies, lighting, acoustics
- Archaeology of traces of human and animal activity (TrAcs): geomorphology, geoarchaeology, ichnology, pigment analysis, archaeozoology
- Archaeology of material remains: lithic and bone technology, lighting, anthracology
- Cultural anthropology, palethnology
These areas of study are complemented by common tools to facilitate research:
- accurate topography and mapping of soils and walls;
- a 3D survey of the network: partial scan obtained given the vastness of the cavity: only the downstream branch and two sections of the upstream branch have been completed;
- photogrammetry of areas of high heritage and scientific value: cave art panels, bear dens with human remains and some exceptional objects (flint blade, reindeer antler point) as well as human footprints;
- a georeferenced database (GIS) and its three-dimensional version (SIR-3D).
Useful links
Collective Multidisciplinary Research Project supported and funded by the Ministry of Culture.
Learn more
Introductory video by Jacques Jaubert (Professor at Bordeaux 1 University) on the day dedicated to presenting the work carried out on the Cussac cave [in French]: