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Abri de Laussel

France · Europe
Prehistoric cave art at Abri de Laussel© Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions
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Birthplace of the Venus with the horn, the most reproduced image of Gravettian sculpture — its carved blocks now all in museums

A limestone shelter above the Grande Beune valley near Marquay, where excavations for Dr Jean-Gaston Lalanne between 1908 and 1914 uncovered Gravettian bas-reliefs around 25,000 years old: the celebrated Venus with the horn, a second horned woman sold to Berlin in 1912, a double 'playing-card' figure and the slim carving known as 'the hunter'. Traces of red ochre survive on the figures. The sculpted blocks were cut from the rock and are now in museums — most in the Musée d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux — while the shelter itself is on private land and cannot be visited.

Age
~25,000 yrs
Period
Gravettian
Setting
Rock shelter
Art form
Rock reliefs
Discovered
1911
Status
Closed (Private Land — Originals in Museums)

The art

Notable Features
  • Venus with the horn (Vénus à la corne)
  • Second horned figure, sold to Berlin in 1912
  • Originals in the Musée d'Aquitaine, Bordeaux
Depicted Subjects
Human Figures

How it was made

Bas-relief carving
Made with
Red ochre

How we know its age

Stratigraphic contextStylistic comparison

Rock art carries no signature and no date. These are the methods that put an age on this site. How these methods work

Plan a Visit

AccessClosed to the public.
Links
Hours & prices change — always confirm on the official site before travelling.

Sources

  1. 1.Abri de LausselWikipedia

Further reading

Where to go next

⧗ See it on the timeline⌖ See it on the discovery timeline
Photographs via Wikimedia Commons — image credits. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.