Arcy-sur-Cure Caves (Grottes d’Arcy-sur-Cure)

What you will see

Guides lead you through the galleries by the underground lakes to the painted panels. The red paintings show mostly mammoths, along with bears, a rhinoceros, a feline and birds, a mix close to that of the Chauvet cave. There are also eight negative hand stencils and many signs. The standard tour lasts about an hour, a longer tour shows more paintings, and an in-depth visit of three to four hours takes small groups closer to the walls.

History

The Grande Grotte has been known for centuries. Jacques de Clugny, a friend of Colbert, described it in 1666, and the naturalist Buffon visited in 1740. An inscription dated 1762, thought to be his, survives in the last chamber. The archaeologist André Leroi-Gourhan later made Arcy a school of modern excavation, working on the other caves along the river. Yet the paintings in the Grande Grotte stayed hidden.

In 1976 the manager of the estate had the cave walls cleaned with pressurised water mixed with hydrochloric acid. Workers noticed ochre running down the walls, but the cleaning went on until 1990. That year the first painting, an ibex, was recognised. Excavations led by Dominique Baffier and Michel Girard followed, and more than 140 painted figures and signs have since been identified.