You guys are gonna have to get me caught up because I have literally been living in a cave for the past week. Well, several caves, but I'll get to that in a minute. I just got back from what was possibly the least relaxing (but most interesting) vacation of my life. In true WSO fashion, I spent the week getting in touch with my Neanderthal roots.
Let me explain. France is home to some of the best and most complete pre-historic sites in the world, at least as far as anthropology is concerned. There's a good 50,000 years of human history in the caves of southwest France, from Neanderthal encampments to Troglodyte villages all the way up to Cro-Magnon man (who was discovered here and named for the area).
In addition to all the pre-history in the area, there is also some breathtaking spelunking to be had. I spent some time in the Gouffre de Padirac and it was easily the coolest thing I've seen in the past year. When you're a mile underground and you have to get into a boat to make it to the next section of a cave it's pretty wild.
The highlight of the trip had to be the cave paintings at Lascaux, though. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that. I think I expected a few barely recognizable scrawls scratched into the walls of a cave or something, but what's contained in Lascaux can only be described as art.
Apparently Cro-Magnon man visited the site for over 1,000 years and made the paintings before a cave-in sealed the site until it was rediscovered in 1940. This would have been 15-20,000 years ago, and it was truly stunning what they managed to accomplish and how advanced they must have been.
For example, analysis of the grease lamps they left behind showed that they not only brought artificial light into the cave so they could work, but that they used a special type of wick in the lamps that gave off white smoke instead of black, further illuminating their work areas. The paintings are really elaborate, too. No stick figures here.
For a science geek like me, it was really cool. Not your run-of-the-mill vacation sipping boat drinks on the beach, but definitely worthwhile. It was great for my kids, too. I'm glad I had the opportunity to show them a really special piece of history.
Anyway, it's good to be back and I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things. I've got some big news coming very soon that I think you guys will be excited about.
Just as an aside, if you ever get down to that part of France you really need to check this stuff out. It'll definitely change the way you think about human history and give you a feel for what life was like way back when. I'm definitely glad I did it.
Do you have / were you allowed to take any pictures? I am thinking the flash would degrade the artwork over time, but would be interesting to see if you have any
No, no cameras allowed in the caves.
Edmundo, could you give more details where are located the caves? I am right now in Europe and i would be very much interested in visiting this sites. Thanks in advance
Everything is very near here:
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That sounds fascinating. You know 23andme will tell you how much Neanderthal DNA you have in your cells.
That is really awesome. Questions: when I looked at the link to the place it said its a 1.5 hour tour. Is that just one of the caves? Are there others that you did? Did you actually sleep in the underground network? Looks really cool and wanna know the extent of what there is to do there in considering it for a trip.
That's just one of the sites. I actually rented a farmhouse in Azerat to use as a base of operations and went all over the area. La Roque St. Christophe was another highlight of the week, as it was an entire cave community that was inhabited almost continuously from 55,000 BCE until the Middle Ages. Really amazing stuff.
Eddie - thanks for bringing up good old memories! My parents took me on vacation to all those places when I was a kid! Le gouffre de Padirac was my favourite thing on that holiday trip! The paintings in Lascaux are impressive, but beware that the cave is just a replica! The original cave is located right next to the "tourist-cave", but open only to scientists. Cameras are just prohibited, because they want to make some money on the postcards and stuff!
Very true about Lascaux. They closed the original cave in the 80s I think because of the damage done by 2,000 people a day traipsing through. Lascaux II is an exact replica, though, all the way down to the iron oxide paints.
Did a few cave tours around there back in '96, I remember loving it plus I was a huge history buff as a kid (still am but mostly for economic/financial stuff). I have a hard time picturing myself living in Southwestern France, but it's a special place, Biarritz and Carcassones blew my mind.
Hey Eddie I actually live a few miles down the road! You're welcome to visit
I heart this.
I'm currently in Lyon, will have a week off so I might do this. Thanks for sharing Eddie. Any other tips on how to make the most of it and what to avoid?
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