Stepping back in time

Jorgia and I took a step back into prehistory today.  We started off at the Musée National de Préhistoire in Les Eyzies.  Our time was limited here, but you could easily spend half a day in the museum.  Les Eyzies is actually the birthplace of prehistory, not because it is the site of the oldest artefacts but because it was the first place to record prehistoric artefacts in 1868 with the discovery of five skeletons.  It is here that the term “Cro Magnon” originated.  “Cro” in the Occitan language (the language of this region before French was enforced) means “shelter”.  The five skeletons were found in a shelter on a property owned by the Magnon family.  We also learnt that “cave man” is really not an accurate term.  Caves were cold and wet, often inhabited by dangerous animals and if lighting a fire in them would create too much smoke.  So prehistoric people did not live in caves but rather in shelters that were generally huge ledges in the cliff face.  In addition, our image of prehistoric man hunting mammoth is also wrong.  These animals were so large that it would have taken a dozen men enormous effort to kill one.  It was in fact reindeer which were the most common source of food and other important products: skin for clothes, sinew for sewing, hooves for glue, antlers for tools and later teeth for jewellery.  

Above:  Decorated spear throwers.

Our next stop was Lascaux II, an exact replica of the Lascaux caves.  The original caves and their magnificent artworks which date back 19 000 years were found by a young boy out walking with his dog in 1940.  It didn’t take long for visitors to be attracted to the site and the huge numbers of people resulted in damage to the artwork due to respiration.  The caves were closed for good in the 1960s and the replica was made, opening in the 1983.  It is amazing in itself that the replica was totally done by hand, including measurements.  The artworks were replicated using the same materials and methods that would have been used by prehistoric man.

Our next stop was a lovely little village called St Léon where we had lunch at a quaint little café situated on the Vézère River.  It was called “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe” (Lunch on the grass).

Our final destination for the day was the Grotte de Rouffignac.  This is also a site of prehistoric cave art, but this one is the real deal.  They are able to allow people to enter because the cave system is much larger than Lascaux and they are very careful to limit the number of visitors.  You are transported in a little electric train so that it is impossible to touch any of the walls.  This cave was spectacular, even without taking the 15 000 year old cave art into consideration.  The cave ceiling was high and the grottos were deep.  In this cave there were also examples of engraving.  This was easily done in the soft limestone, even with a finger.

All-in-all, we had a fantastic day!