Pech Merle Cave
Grotte du Pech Merle · Pech-Merle
Gravettian to Solutrean ~29–20 ka BP·Gravettian hunter-gatherer·🇫🇷 Occitanie, Lot, France
About
About Pech Merle Cave
Gravettian–Magdalenian decorated cave on the Causse de Quercy above the Lot valley. Famous for the 25,000 BP Spotted Horses panel - two horses surrounded by 307 hand stencils - plus mammoths, bison and seven human-footprint passages. Discovered 1922 by teenagers, excavated by Abbé Lemozi. The cave yielded Aurignacian child footprints and a 29,000-year-old charcoal date. Its 120 m Combel gallery shows evolution from hand stencils to naturalistic painting.
Why it mattersEarliest dated hand-stencil corpus in France; stylistic bridge between Chauvet and Lascaux.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Meaning of 11 black dots overlapping horses
- 02Identical hand sizes suggesting single population
Theories
- 01Shamanic horse cult prior to domestication
- 02Menstrual or counting notation via dots
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.29,000–20,000 BP, horses c.25,000 BP
- Period
- Gravettian to Solutrean ~29–20 ka BP
- Culture
- Gravettian hunter-gatherer
- Builders
- Gravettian groups of southwest France
- Purpose
- Painted sanctuary with hand-stencil congregations and calendar cosmology
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.29,000–20,000 BP, horses c.25,000 BP
Initial construction
c. 1424 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
44.5058° N · 1.6425° E · 280 m · 2 mapped features
Spotted Horses Panel
painting panelTwo spotted horses with 307 hand stencils
44.5059° N · 1.6427° ECombel Gallery Footprints
traceFossilised human footprints corridor
44.5057° N · 1.6423° E
Gallery