Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Latrone Balm (or Labaume-Latrone Cave) is a prehistoric site located in Sainte-Anastasie, in the Gard. Known since the 19th century, it has revealed exclusively neolithic archaeological levels during early excavations. In 1940, drawings of the Upper Paleolithic, including representations of mammoths and feline, were discovered in a deep network. These works, made with a unique polydigital technique (dye-coated fingers), were dated by carbon 14 to 37,464 years, placing the cave among the oldest parietal art sites in Europe, alongside Chauvet.

The cave was classified as Historic Monument in 1941. Studies conducted since 2009 by Marc Azema have confirmed stylistic and technical similarities with the Chauvet Cave, including the representation of mammoth defenses. The drawings, attributed to the Aurignacian, evoke a scene of mammoth attack by a feline, with very stylized figures. Other representations include positive hands, polydigital lines without dye, and engravings, reinforcing its archaeological importance.

The excavations also highlighted human occupations during the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Chalcolithic period, although the most remarkable remains remain those of the Upper Paleolithic. The cave thus illustrates continuous attendance over several millennia, with varied uses ranging from habitat to artistic creation. Its unique style, difficult to relate to other currents of paleolithic art, makes it an exceptional site to understand the origins of human symbolic expression.

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