Rouffignac Cave
cave with prehistoric art
The Rouffignac cave, in the French commune of Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac in the Dordogne département, contains over 250 engravings and cave paintings dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. In conjunction with other caves and abris of the Vézère valley, the Rouffignac cave was classified a Monument historique in 1957 and a World Heritage Site in 1979 by UNESCO as part of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley.
Geography and description of the cave
The Cave of the hundred mammoths, also known as Miremont cave, Cro des Cluzeau or Cro de Granville, is about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Rouffignac on a hill slope along the right-hand side of the La Binche river, a left tributary of the Manaurie. Perched only about one kilometer farther east on the opposite side of the valley is the little village of Fleurac. The rocks of the cave are flat-lying limestones belonging to the uppermost Coniacian; they are very rich in flint nodules. These rocks together with overlying Santonian rocks form the limestone plateau of Légal, the divide between the drainage basins of the rivers Lisle and Vézère.
The Rouffignac cave and the Villars Cave possess the most extensive cave system of the Périgord, with more than 8 km (5.0 mi) of underground passageways. There are 10 natural shafts that lead to a deeper level. So far, a further 4 km (2.5 mi) of passageways have been explored in this deeper level. Below the deeper level exists a bottom level with a small underground rivulet.
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