16-580: Pech Merle is a French hillside cave at Cabrerets , in the Lot département of the Occitania region, about 32 kilometres (19.88 miles) east of Cahors , by road. It is one of the few prehistoric cave painting sites in France that remains open to the general public, albeit with an entry fee. Encompassing two levels and spanning over 2 km (1.24 mi) in area—of which only 1,200 m (3,900 ft) are open to
32-449: Is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc , Rouergue , Quercy , Agenais and Southern Périgord . It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennais. Due to its central position among the dialects of Occitan, it is often used as a basis for a Standard Occitan. About 10% of the population of Languedoc are fluent in the language (about 300,000), and another 20% (600,000) "have some understanding" of
48-553: Is both a central and conservative dialect. For these reasons, certain linguists are in favour of a standardisation of Occitan using Languedocien as a basis for this. Languedocien encompasses a number of variations, the classification of which is still ongoing. Jules Ronjat gives three sub-groups: Louis Alibert uses four sub-groups: Domergue Sumien defines the categories thus: In their supra-dialectal classification of Occitan, Pierre Bec and Domergue Sumien divide Languedocien into one or two supra-dialectal groups: With
64-515: The DNA of ancient horses , however, found that the leopard complex, which is involved in leopard spotting, was present, and concluded that the cave painters most likely did see real spotted horses. A well-preserved image of a hand was also found in the cave. The "signature" is approximately 18,000 years BC. According to the thinner wrist, it is probably a female hand. Depictions of hands have been discovered in many prehistoric caves. The painter put her hand on
80-522: The Rochecourbe cliffs. The village also forms part of the pilgrimage route for those travelling to Santiago de Compostella and is the final stop before Cahors . The overhanging cliffs that dominate the town are home to a ruined castle, built by the English and also known as the château du diable ("devil's castle"). The castle was first mentioned in a document dating from 1259, and was the medieval home of
96-534: The cave for a two-year period. Like other children of the area, these three had been encouraged and assisted in their exploration by Father Amedee Lemozi, the curate of Cabrerets and an amateur archaeologist , who had discovered other cave paintings in the region. The walls of seven of the chambers at Pech Merle have recent-looking, lifelike images of mammoths , spotted and single-coloured equids , bovids , reindeer , human stenciled handprints, and some human figures, as well. Footprints of children, preserved in what
112-447: The delicate artwork with the excessive humidity, heat and carbon dioxide produced by breathing. The paintings "Dappled Horses of Pech Merle", approximately 25,000 years old, depict spotted horses that look remarkably similar to the leopard pattern common in modern Appaloosas . Archaeologists have debated whether the artists were painting real horses they had observed or whether the spotting had some symbolic meaning. A 2011 study using
128-455: The entry to the cave in heavy sediment, effectively keeping it preserved until its discovery in the 20th century. Experimental reconstruction work by French archaeologist Michel Lorblanchet has suggested that the application of the paint for some of the paintings was probably by means of a delicate spitting technique. The cave at Pech Merle has been open to the public since 1926. Visiting groups are limited in size and number so as not to destroy
144-544: The general public. The Château de Cabrerets has been listed since 1996 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture . Construction began in the early years of the 16th century. This Lot geographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Languedocien dialect Languedocien (French name, pronounced [lɑ̃ɡdɔsjɛ̃] ), Languedocian , or Lengadocian ( Occitan pronunciation: [ˌleŋɡɔðuˈsja] )
160-535: The language. All speak French as their first or second language. Languedocien is spoken in certain parts of three French regions. Other dialects spoken in these areas include: Gascon , Catalan , Limousin , and Auvergnat , as well as the unrelated Basque language. The following are the main characteristics of the Languedocien dialect: None of these characteristics are unique to Languedocien; many are shared with one or more other Occitan dialects. Languedocien
176-457: The lords of Barsac . In 1380, during the Hundred Years' War , it fell into the hands of a force from Aquitaine controlled by the English. It was liberated ten years later by Jean d'Hébrard, lord of Saint-Sulpice, who subsequently ordered its demolition. The nearby Pech Merle cave is home to prehistoric cave paintings , being one of the few prehistoric sites in France which remain open to
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#1732859494461192-466: The public. During the Ice Age , the caves were very likely used as places of refuge by prehistoric peoples, as the area had a distinctly more arctic, frigid climate, with harsh winters and more plentiful, larger animal species than those of modern-day France. It is speculated that, at one point, erosion or flooding caused a buildup of rainwater to flow into the cave, causing mudslides that had filled part of
208-496: The public—are caverns, wells and sloping tunnels, the walls of which are painted with dramatic, prehistoric murals dating from the Gravettian culture (some 25,000 years BC). But some of the paintings and engravings may date from the later Magdalenian era (16,000 years BC). The cave itself was created over 2 MYA by an underground river , cutting channels which were later used by humans for shelter and, eventually, for hand-painting
224-449: The wall and sprayed it with paint. Cabrerets Cabrerets ( French pronunciation: [kabʁəʁɛ] ; Languedocien : Crabairet ) is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France . The village of Cabrerets derives its name from cabre , meaning goat in the Occitan language . The village lies at the confluence of the rivers Sagne and Célé , at the foot of
240-468: The walls. The galleries are, today, mostly dry. Passageways and caverns accessible to visitors measure roughly 10m (33') across, on average; the clearance beneath the vault is between 5m-10m (16–32') high. The cave art located in the deeper areas of the cave was discovered in 1922 by Marthe David (aged 13), together with her brother, André David (16), and Henri Dutetre (15). The three had previously been exploring
256-517: Was once clay, have been found more than 800 m (2,600 ft) underground. In 2013, the project Tracking in Caves tested experience-based readings of prehistoric footprints by specialised trackers of Ju/'hoansi San , with great success. Within a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the site are ten other caves with prehistoric art from the Upper Palaeolithic period, but none of these are open to
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