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Grotte de Niaux | |
 Copy of abison painting in theSalon Noir | |
  Cave of Niaux Location in Occitania, France | |
| Location | Niaux,Occitania,France |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°49′15″N01°35′37″E / 42.82083°N 1.59361°E /42.82083; 1.59361 |
| Type | Cave paintings |
| Part of | caves in the Tarascon river basin |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 17,000 years ago |
| Abandoned | c. 9000 BC |
| Cultures | Magdalenian |
| Associated with | paleo-humans |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Emile Cartailhac |
TheCave of Niaux (French:Grotte de Niaux) is located in theNiaux commune,Ariègedépartement in southwesternFrance as part of a wider geological system that includes theSabart Cave andLombrives Cave in the hill ofCap de la Lesse de Bialac.
The Niaux Cave's system is complex and has a combined length of more than 14 km (8.70 mi) of underground passages and chambers. An archaeological site with a documented history ofpaleo-human presence, Niaux contains numerous distinct areas and galleries of carefully drawn and vivid wall paintings, executed in a black-outlined style typical of the classicMagdalenian period, between 17,000 and 11,000 years ago.[1][2][3]
Félix Garrigou, prehistorian and hydrologist, known for his investigations of caves of southern France, visited the site in 1864 and was shown some of the paintings.[4]
Only after a Commander Molard and his sons had discovered the gallery ofSalon Noir and published a plan of the cave did Niaux attract specialists' attention in 1869. It was investigated byHenri Breuil andEmile Cartailhac a year later and received full-scale recognition. In 1925, J. Mandeman found another gallery with black paintings and called itCartailhac Gallery.[5] In 1971, a major scientific examination was undertaken by Jean Clottes and Robert Simonnet and in 1980 and 1981, a team of scientists made an inventory of all the pictures in the cave.[6]
Niaux Cave, situated in a steep-sided valley in the commune of Vicdessos in the Tarascon basin is one of the few cave systems left where exceptional prehistoric paintings can still be viewed by the public. The previously unrecorded separateReseau Clastres network was only discovered in 1970. It holds a series of prehistoric 'footprints' and a rare charcoal sketch of a weasel.
"The base of the stone is not colored and the range is restricted for the figures: black and some red for a few of the signs.
The predominating animal is thebison, represented in the upper part of the panel. The bison standing out in the left central part is usually catalogued as a female, due to the shapes presented, such as the scarcely prominent hump. By contrast and in opposition to this is the male, found on the right-hand side and showing a more prominent hump.
The lower part of the wall represents several horses which, with painted hair, represent a member of the equine family with a great amount of hair, thePrzewalski horse. The bestiary is finished off with two goats, one represented in a very natural manner and the other in a totally schematic manner. The panel is dated as being 13,000 years old. The walk to the paintings leads through both big caves and narrow passages. The cave floor has been left in its natural state: wet, very uneven and slippery in places so sturdy walking shoes are essential."[7]
Afacsimile of Niaux'sSalon Noir (in its pristine form), as well as of other figures in the cave and the Réseau Clastres, is displayed in the nearby Park of Prehistoric Art, nearTarascon-sur-Ariège.
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