Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Huchard Cave, also known as the Ranc Pointu n°1 cave or Skelette Cave, is a cave adorned with the Paleolithic in the gorges of the Ardèche, in the commune of Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche. It is part of a set of cavities called Ranc Pointu. Its entrance, marked by a vaulted porch of 4 meters high and 5 meters wide, gives access to a main corridor of 15 meters deep, where natural light penetrates abundantly. Inside, the engravings, located on a panel of 2 m2 to 3 m from the ground, represent a mammoth, a bison and a second mammoth, although their interpretation remains difficult because of their entanglement.

The first records of the engravings date back to 1908, when Dr Paul Raymond reported them. They then attracted the attention of Pierre Huchard in the 1940s, who gave his name to the cave. Several studies followed, notably in 1948 by Angré Glory, in 1958 by Jean Quant, Edouard Drouot and Pierre Huchard, and in 1966 by Ludovic Chabredier. However, underground excavations and past use of the cave as a sheepfold have disrupted sediments, limiting archaeological discoveries. Since 2020, the cave has been the subject of multidisciplinary research as part of the project Datation Grottes Ornées, led by Julien Monney.

The Huchard Cave is protected under the Historic Monuments, first registered by order of 17 March 2017, and then classified on 20 May 2025. This classification also covers other nearby cavities, such as the cave of the Two Openings, the Sombre cave, the Castanié cave and the Figuier cave. These protections underline the heritage importance of this site, both for its parietal art and for its unique archaeological context in the gorges of the Ardèche.

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