Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Cussac Cave, discovered in 2000 by speleologists Marc Delluc and Fabrice Massoulier, is a karst cavity in the Périgord (Dordogne) classified as a Historic Monument in 2002. It is distinguished by its almost exclusively engraved parietal art (135 graphic entities listed in 2005), dominated by bisons, mammoths and horses, as well as by human remains associated with the works, suggesting a structured funeral ritual.

The engravings, attributed to the Gravettien (about 25,000 years), cover a gallery of 1.6 km divided into two branches: the Aval (600 m, concentrating 90% of the works) and the Amont (1 km, housing original figures such as the Rhinoceros or the Feminine Figures). Made by lithic tool or by digital lines on clay, some reach 4 meters long. The site, protected by an archaeological and climatic perimeter, remains inaccessible to the public due to CO2 concentrations.

The cave combines parietal art and burials, a rarity in Paleolithic Europe. Five individuals (four adults, one teenager) were buried in natural depressions, with bones dated to ~25,000 years. The rapid obstruction of entry after their passage preserved this exceptional context. Faculties of the Discovery Panel and a funerary bath are displayed locally.

The management of the site, marked by caution after the controversies around Chauvet and Cosquer, includes legal protection (MH classification, archaeological zoning), physical (double closure, stabilization) and environmental (Karst aquifer study). A multidisciplinary project, launched in 2009, coordinates its scientific study, while Jacques Jaubert describes it as anti-Lascaux for its lack of tourist exploitation.

Iconographic themes (31 % bison, mammoths, horses) and techniques (gravure on limestone, argilo-digital lines) bring Cussac closer to Quercy caves like Pech Merle. The rare red pigments and traces of resin torches complete this corpus. Four female microcephalous silhouettes and stylized vulva (associated with mammoths) illustrate the diversity of representations.

The initial exploration (1950) by Denis and Élise Peyrony failed in the face of a scoop. The rediscovery in 2000, followed by a rapid ranking, contrasts with other prehistoric sites. The cave, a mixed property (municipal, private), is the subject of active research, with major publications such as Grotte de Cussac - 30,000 (2020) under the direction of Jacques Jaubert.

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