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Origin and history

The Castanet shelter is one of the rock shelters of Castel Merle (or Castermerle), located in the commune of Sergeac in the Dordogne. It is part of a remarkable prehistoric ensemble, classified as historical monuments since 18 October 1912. This site is particularly well known for its parietal engravings dated from the Aurignacian, a period of the Upper Paleolithic period, as well as for the many pieces of ornament discovered, such as mammoth ivory beads, pierced sea shells and worked teeth.

The initial excavations were carried out between 1911 and 1913 by Marcel Castanet for the Eyzie Museum. This research revealed fragments of walls decorated with engravings and paintings, later studied by prehistorians such as Denis Peyrony (1935), Henri Breuil (1952), and later by Brigitte and Gilles Delluc (1978). Castanet's notes and plans helped to reconstruct the history of these excavations. Between 1995 and 1998, Randall White and Jacques Pelegrin resumed excavations in the southern part of the slope, before a major discovery was made in 2012: a rock plate engraved with a ton and a half, decorated with vulva, phallus, geometrical figures and animals, including horses.

This plate, partially tinted with d-ocre, was dated to carbon 14 to about 37,000 years, making it one of the oldest parietal representations in the world, alongside those of Chauvet and Baume-Latrone caves. However, this precise dating is contested by some experts, such as Brigitte Delluc, who estimate that Castel Merle's furniture would be from -30,000 to -35,000 years old. Despite these debates, the Castanet shelter remains an exceptional testimony of Aurignacian art and culture, providing valuable insight into the first artistic expressions of humanity.

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