Villars Cave
| Grotte de Villars | |
 location in France
|
|
| Alternate name | Grotte du Cluzeau |
|---|---|
| Location | Villars |
| Region | Dordogne |
| Coordinates | 45°26′32.1″N 0°47′6.6″E / 45.442250°N 0.785167°ECoordinates: 45°26′32.1″N 0°47′6.6″E / 45.442250°N 0.785167°E |
| History | |
| Periods | late Upper Paleolithic |
| Cultures | Magdalenian |
| Associated with | Paleo Humans |
The Villars Cave, in French Grotte de Villars or Grotte du Cluzeau, was occupied during the Lower Magdalenian by Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers. The cave is part of the French commune of Villars in the northern Dordogne département. Besides its enormous wealth in beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and similar calcite deposits it contains cave paintings and some engravings. The Villars Cave and the Rouffignac Cave are the biggest known cave systems in the Dordogne.
The Villars Cave is situated 3.5 kilometres to the northeast of Villars and about 500 metres to the northnortheast of the hamlet Le Cluzeau. It can be accessed via the D 82 from Villars to Saint-Saud-Lacoussière; after a right-turn at Le Cluzeau one crosses the hamlet and reaches the ample parking area on a hill. The entry of the cave is at 170 metres above sea level, somewhat below the parking area along the left-hand slope of the little stream Ruisseau de l'Étang Rompu, a left-hand tributary of the Trincou River. The cave was formed by karstic phenomena affecting the outcropping oolithic limestones of Upper Bajocian (Jurassic) age. On the other side of the valley arrives a southeast-trending fault which most likely disrupted the cohesion of the local strata and triggered the erosional shaping of the similar oriented cave system by carbon dioxide-laden waters during the Quaternary.
...
Wikipedia