Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Mayenne-Sciences cave, also known as the Derouine cave, is part of the Saulges cave group, on the town of Thorigné-en-Charnie in Mayenne (Pays de la Loire). Its porch housed prehistoric remains known since the 19th century: excavations were carried out in 1876 by Gatien Chaplain-Duparc, but without allowing access to the deep cavity. It was only in 1967 that the Mayenne-Sciences speleological section, led by Roger Bouillon, discovered the extent of the cave and its 59 parietal representations (horses, mammoths, signs). Ranked a historic monument in 1970, it reveals a rare gravetian art in Northern Europe.

The cave extends over 60 meters, with four enfilade rooms accessible after a narrow hose. Its 59 patterns include 16 animal figures (9 horses, 2 mammoths), 19 signs, and 12 red digital tracks, characteristic of paleolithic art. Carbon dating 14 (around 24,500 years) and stylistic comparisons with Quercy caves confirmed its assignment to the Gravettien. A thesis by Romain Pigeaud (2004) explored this parietal art, highlighting its originality in a regional context where few adorned sites are known.

The Mayenne-Sciences cave is part of a network of adorned northern caves, alongside sites such as Church Hole (England), Gouy (Normandy), or Arcy-sur-Cure (Burgundy). Since 2005, the cellar in Margot, next to Saulges, has also revealed paleolithic figures, reinforcing the archaeological importance of this valley of Erve. Research conducted since the 1960s, combining speleology, archaeology and scientific analysis (relevated 3D, dating), has made this site a key witness of prehistoric art in western France.

Roger Bouillon (1940–2008), a speleologist and discoverer of the site, played a central role in his exploration and protection. His works, supplemented by those of Romain Pigeaud, have made it possible to document artistic techniques (digital trace, engravings) and the archaeological context. The cave, although closed to the public for conservation reasons, remains a major subject of study, illustrating the cultural exchanges and mobility of prehistoric groups between Quercy and the West of France.

Archeometric analyses (mass spectrometry, stylistic studies) have confirmed the former hypothesis of a gravetian art in the region, hitherto little documented. The Mayenne-Sciences cave is distinguished by the presence of red lines made with fingers, a rare technique, and by its iconography dominated by horses. These elements, combined with its northern location, make it an exceptional site to understand the diffusion of artistic traditions during the Upper Paleolithic.

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