Rock of Solutré

Roche de Solutré
La Roche de Solutré
Highest point
Elevation	493
Coordinates	46°17′57″N 4°43′9″E / 46.29917°N 4.71917°E / 46.29917; 4.71917Coordinates: 46°17′57″N 4°43′9″E / 46.29917°N 4.71917°E / 46.29917; 4.71917
Geography
Location	France
Parent range	Monts du Mâconnais

The Rock of Solutré (French: Roche de Solutré), is a limestone escarpment 8 km (5.0 mi) west of Mâcon overlooking the commune of Solutré-Pouilly and an iconic site of the Saône-et-Loire, in the south of the Bourgogne in France. Protected by the French law on sites classés and currently at the heart of a Grand Site National operation, it draws its fame severally as a rare geological phenomenon of the region, as a prehistoric site of the eponymous Solutrean paleolithic culture, and for the natural environment which its summit provides, the pelouse calciole grassland of Mâcon, with its distinctive flora and fauna. Occupied by man for at least 55,000 years, it is also the cradle of the Pouilly-Fuissé wine appellation. It has attracted media coverage since the 1980s when French President François Mitterrand started to make ritual ascents of the peak once per year.

In the Mesozoic era warm seas extended over the region, of which many fossil remains can be readily observed. The Roche de Solutré, like its neighbour the Rock of Vergisson, was created from fossilized coral plateaux which appeared approximately 160 million years ago in these seas.

In the Cenozoic era, the east of Bourgogne underwent the effects of the Alpine rising; while the Alps grew higher, the Saône basin collapsed. At the same times, plateaux rose in the west of the plain, then rocked towards the east.

These processes had mixed up types of land with different natural composition, and erosion acted on them differently. The shapes of the surrounding mountains became more curved, while the cliffs of Soulutré and Vergisson have emerged on the west side, contrasting with the gentle slopes on their east.