Grotte des Rideaux (site de la Vénus de Lespugue)

Lespugue

A final blow of the pickaxe nearly shattered forever one of the oldest representations of the female body.

It was in this cave, cut beneath a rocky spur at the foot of a medieval castle that had been a stronghold of Gaston Fébus, that the archaeologists René and Suzanne de Saint-Périer uncovered the Venus of Lespugue in 1922, one of the most famous Palaeolithic female statuettes in Europe. A final blow of the pickaxe, when the excavation seemed complete, accidentally broke the piece into nine fragments before its full extraction. The associated stone and bone tool industry places the occupation in the Gravettian, probably more than 25,000 years ago. Now held at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, the statuette remains one of the best-documented Palaeolithic sculptures in the round in the world.

Getting there : Cavity located beneath the ruins of the medieval castle, in the gorges of the Save (ZNIEFF); site not developed for visits

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound