Abri Cap Blanc, World Heritage Site and Historical Monument
The Abri Cap Blanc is located 6 km northwest of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil in the Vézère Valley.
It is located along the D48, near the Château de Laussel and the Château de Commarque, in the commune of Marquay.
The Abri Cap Blanc ranks among the greatest masterpieces of monumental Magdalenian sculpture!
Remarkably, it is the only prehistoric sculpture in the world open to the public in situ, but only on guided tours.
Classified as a Historical Monument in 1910, the Abri Cap Blanc was also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, as part of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley.
It has belonged to the State since 2006.
The 16-metre-long rock Abri Cap Blanc houses a remarkable 13-metre-long bas-relief frieze, dating back approximately 15,000 years.
This frieze depicts ten life-size horses.
One of them, particularly impressive, measures 2.20 metres long!
Often depicted alongside other animals such as bison and reindeer, horses held an important place in Magdalenian culture.
Traces of red pigments suggest that these sculptures were originally painted, adding another dimension to their complexity and refinement.
La Dame de Cap Blanc – The Magdalenian Girl
The discovery of the Abri Cap Blanc by Dr Gaston Lalanne in 1909 marked a turning point in the study of prehistoric art and culture. The artefacts he unearthed included a multitude of tools made of stone, bone and antler, as well as the large stones used to create the sculpted frieze.
In 1911, during the construction of a protective wall around the frieze, an almost complete human skeleton was discovered. The excavations, led by Dr Louis Capitan and Denis Peyrony, revealed the burial only 3 metres from the frieze and 60 centimetres beneath the hooves of the central horse.
It was initially thought that these were the remains of a young man; however, analysis revealed that the skeleton belonged to a 25- to 35-year-old woman measuring 1.56 m. Nicknamed the Dame de Blanc – Lady of Cap-Blanc, she had been carefully buried, with stones surrounding her head and feet. Her body lay on its left side, with her arms and legs bent.
The Lady of Cap Blanc, later renamed the Magdalenian Girl, has rested at the Field Museum in Chicago since 1926. However, a replica of her skeleton was placed at the Abri Cap Blanc in 2001, allowing visitors to come into contact with this ancient inhabitant of the Vézère Valley.
Today, a small museum on the site showcases the daily life and culture of the Cro Magnon people.
Department of Dordogne – Marquay
Coordinates: Lat 44.945692 – Long 1.097259
Photo via Wikimedia Commons: Magdalenian Girl by Glenn McIntosh CC BY-SA 4.0 – Horse frieze by See File:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu Public domain
