Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The cave of Bara-Babau, about 100 meters long, is a paleolithic cavity located in the commune of Bugue in Dordogne, in the valley of Vézère. It is distinguished by its eccentric concretions and its 26 parietal engravings, divided into two themes: animal representations (equida, bovidae, bear) and geometric or human signs. Its name, from the local occitan, evokes a rocky collapse visible in the first room. Private property open to the public, it was classified as a historic monument in 1961.

The cave was discovered in two stages: the superficial part was always known, while the deep room, sheltering the engravings, was only explored on 1 April 1951 by the speleologist Norbert Casteret and his daughter Maud. The engravings, commissioned by Abbé Henri Breuil in 1951, were studied in detail by Abbé André Glory in 1955, then by Brigitte and Gilles Delluc. Long attributed to the Aurignacian, they are today dated from the Magdalenian ancient average (style IV), according to the work of Leroi-Gourhan and Delluc.

Drained in clay limestones of the Campanian, the cave extends over 90 meters, with a height ranging from 3 to 12 meters. It is divided into an entrance gallery and an adorned rotunda, where the engravings, drawn on a soft limestone dotted with flint nodules, cover three superimposed levels. Equines dominate the bestiary (55%), followed by bovidae (25%). Aurignacian lithic remains and cave bear bones, prior to engravings, were also discovered.

The cave, equipped for tourism (lights, stairs, negatoscope), welcomes about 10,000 visitors annually without problems of conservation. In 2017, its management was entrusted to the management of the Bournat Park, also located in Bugue. His name was also given in 2021 to a rocky outcrop analyzed by the robot Curiosity on Mars, among other French toponyms.

Geological studies, conducted by F.-M. Bergounioux, revealed deep boreholes near the entrance, while the depots of the two rooms delivered rare lithic tools. Prehistoric animal occupation, attested by bear griffades, sometimes complicates the reading of engravings. The cave remains a major testimony of parietal art and prehistoric speleology in New Aquitaine.

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