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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Occitanie
  4. Lot
  5. 46500 Miers

  6. Cave decorated with Miers

 Cave decorated with Miers dans le Lot

Patrimoine classé
Vestiges préhistoriques
Grotte
Grotte ornée
Lot

Cave decorated with Miers

    Les Fieux
    46500 Miers
Photo de Cave decorated with Miers

Timeline

Paléolithique
Mésolithique
Néolithique
Âge du Bronze
Âge du Fer
Antiquité
Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1505000 av. J.-C.
1504900 av. J.-C.
…
0
1900
2000
340 000 ans (Paléolithique moyen)
First human traces
2 novembre 1964
Discovery of the cave
1966
*locus 1*
17 janvier 1967
Historical Monument
23 juin 2007
Open to the public
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Prehistoric cave adorned (case AS 20): classification by decree of 17 January 1967

Key figures

E. Caminade - Owner and discoverer Reported the cave in 1964.
Fernand Champagne - Archaeologist Directs the excavations of *locus 1* and *3*.
René Espitalié - Collaborating archaeologist Participated in initial excavations (1966).
Jean-Philippe Faivre - Researcher Studyed the Musterian industry of the site.

Origin and history

The cave adorned with the Fieux, discovered in 1964 by E. Caminade and a team from the Spéléo Club de Bergerac, is located on the Causse de Gramat, in the Lot. This exceptional site reveals traces of continuous human occupation, from the Middle Paleolithic (340,000 years) to the Middle Ages, through several deposits, including an adorned cave and an outdoor site. The excavations revealed negative hands, animal engravings (mammouths, bouquetins), and tools dating from different prehistoric periods, such as the Moustarian, the Aurignacian or the Gravettien.

The site was classified as a Historic Monument in 1967, then protected and developed for the public, with an official opening in June 2007. Archaeological research, launched in 2006, aims to preserve the remains while deepening knowledge of successive human occupations. Locus 1, a collapsed karst casing, produced a rich stratigraphy covering the Mousterian, the Sauveterrian, and neolithic indices, while locus 2, in the open air, revealed vestiges of the upper and middle Paleolithic.

The Cave des Fieux is distinguished by its thirteen negative hands (eleven reds, two blacks), digital punctuations, and engravings attributed to the Paleolithic art of Quercino, with aurignacian and gravelian influences. The more recent engraved mammoths suggest extended site use. Today managed by the Flints Lot association, the site combines scientific protection and public mediation, offering an immersion in regional prehistory.

The initial excavations, conducted by Fernand Champagne and René Espitalié in the 1960s and 1970s, revealed an exceptional archaeological sequence, including Mossterian tools dated over 340,000 years (locus 3). The development project, completed in 2007, made it possible to secure the remains while making them accessible, with a protection hall covering the most fragile areas. The site thus illustrates the evolution of hunting techniques, parietal art, and lifestyles of prehistoric populations in Quercy.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum