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Tuc d'Audoubert

France · Europe
Prehistoric cave art at Tuc d'Audoubert© Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
SpectacleExceptional

This text was written with AI. How this is made →

The paired clay bison — Ice Age sculpture that still carries its makers' finger marks

One of the three Volp caves, entered in 1912 when the Bégouën brothers paddled a homemade raft up the underground river. Deep in its upper galleries, Magdalenian sculptors modelled a pair of clay bison in high relief against a rock some 14,000 years ago — among the very few large clay sculptures to survive from the Ice Age, still holding the makers' finger marks. Engraved bison, horses, ibex and claviform signs mark the middle level, and the cave, privately owned like its neighbour Trois-Frères, remains strictly closed.

Age
~14,000 yrs
Period
Magdalenian
Setting
Cave
Art form
Petroglyphs
Discovered
1912
Status
Closed (Strictly Private/Conservation)

The art

Notable Features
  • ◦ Modelled clay bison pair
  • ◦ 371 engraved and drawn figures
  • ◦ Entered via the underground Volp
Depicted Subjects
BisonHorsesIbexHinds (Female Red Deer)ReindeerFelinesBearsSnakesAbstract SignsAnthropomorphic Figures

How it was made

Clay modellingFine-line engravingClay drawing

How we know its age

Radiocarbon (AMS)Stylistic 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.Grotte du Tuc d'Audoubert — Wikipedia
  2. 2.Official site — cavernesduvolp.com

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.