Grotte Cosquer

Cosquer Méditerranée

Useful Information

Location:	Promenade Robert Laffont, Esp. J4, 13002 Marseille. (43.2972614, 5.3619941)
Open:	JUL to AUG daily 9-20:30. SEP to JUN Mon-Fri 9:30-18, Sat, Sun, Hol 9:30-19:30. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 18, Children (10-17) EUR 11, Children (6-9) EUR 6, Children (0-5) free. Groups (20+): Adults EUR 15. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave Painted Cave Painted Cave Replica
Light:	none.
Dimension:	A=37 m bsl, L=175 m.
Guided tours:	self guided. V=800,000/a [2023]
Photography:	no
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:	Jean Clottes, Jean Courtin: The Cave Beneath the Sea. Henri Cosquer (1992): La Grotte Cosquer. Plongée dans la Préhistoire Solar, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-263-01943-X. Jean Clottes, Jean Courtin (1994): La Grotte Cosquer. Peintures et Gravures de la Caverne engloutie Seuil, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-02-019820-7. Guillaume Thibault (2001): 3D modeling of the Cosquer cave by laser survey, International Newsletter on Rock Art. researchgate
Address:	Cosquer Méditerranée, Promenade Robert Laffont, Esp. J4, 13002 Marseille, Tel: +33-4-91-312-312. E-mail: SAS Grotte Cosquer, 24250 Castelnaud La Chapelle, Tel: +33-1-56-39-81-92. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1985	cave discovered by Henri Cosquer.
1991	Henri Cosquer discovered the paleolithic paintings. He invited Yann Gogan, Jean-Claude Cayol, Pascal Oriol, Cendrine Cosquer, and Thierry Pélissier to examine the cave.
01-SEP-1991	three scuba divers died trying to reach the cave.
1992	cave delared a Historical Monument.
1992	documentary The Secret of Cosquer Cave filmed.
1994	an examination of the cave by Jean Courtin and Jacques Collina-Girard made it the best dated prehistoric cave.
1994	3D laser survey of the cave by Guillaume Thibault.
2010	3D digitalisation of the cave by Fugro, commissioned by the Regional Cultural Affairs Directorate (DRAC).
2016	creation of a museum with cave replica initiated by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region.
04-JUN-2022	reconstructed Cosquer cave opened to the public.

Description

Grotte Cosquer, named after its discoverer Henri Cosquer, is today submerged under the Mediterranean Sea, at Cape Morgiou, near Marseilles. The entrance, which is now 37 m below the sea level was - during the Ice Ages - above the sea level. Changes in sea level of more than 100 m happened in the last 30.000 years. When the sea level was 100 m below today, the cave entrance was 70 m a.s.l. and 11 km from the coast, the cave was accessible, prehistoric man entered the cave and left paintings and other remains. The flooding is a result of the rising sea level due to the melting of the glaciers at the end of the cold age. The seawater destroyed most archaeological remains in the lower part, but it also protected the cave, as it was inaccessible. The upper part of the cave, which is above sea level, is thus very well preserved.

As it was impossible to visit the real site, a 3D virtual reconstruction of the cave was made by Guillaume Thibault from the Electricité de France. An expensive laser sensor performed a 3D survey of the cave. The laser rotating on a tripod is able to produce round views with a high resolution and containing depth information for every pixel. Multiple views were matched to reduce the problems of shadowing. On the resulting three-dimensional surface, high resolution images of the walls were projected, producing an impressive experience. The idea was to allow everybody a nearly natural experience, but unfortunately it was never publicly available.

A second attempt was made in 2010, when the cave was surveyed again in 3D with a high-precision rotating 3D laser scanner. The result was of sub-millimetre accuracy. The creation of a museum with a cave replica was initiated by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region in 2016. And again a high-precision 3D survey of the Cosquer cave was carried out in 2017. It is now the cave with the most 3D surveys. It took some years, but in 2022 a new museum was finally opened to the public in a weird modern building at the entrance of the Marseilles harbour. The building of the museum is called Villa Méditerranée, and as a result the museum is called Cosquer Méditerranée. It was built in 2013, owned by the Région, and for some reason had no real purpose. It now houses the museum with a spectacular cave replica of the most important parts of the cave. So, while this page is about a real cave, it actually lists the tourist site, the museum with the cave replica.

The cave shows 177 images of animals of 11 different species, 44 black hand stencils, 21 red hand stencils and 216 geometric signs. Quite extraordinary are numerous paintings of sea animals. They include fish, jellyfish or squid, and the now-extinct auk, a seabird.

In the 1990s, Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin were the scientists who examined the cave in detail. They published numerous papers and even books. In 1994, Jean Courtin and Jacques Collina-Girard took a number of samples from a dozen drawings made with charcoal. They were used for the Archaeology C14-dating at the Low Radioactivity Laboratory at Gif-sur-Yvette (C.N.R.S.-CEA). For many yearse Cosquer cave was the painted caves with the most datings. Major archaeolgical examination happend also in last 20 years, mostly managed by the archaeologist Luc Vanrell.

Two major phases of inhabitation have been confirmed:

phase: dating around 27.000 years ago, length undetermined.
This phase includes thousands of finger tracings left on the soft wall surface, at least 55 stencilled hands and perhaps some animals and geometrical signs drawn with fingers. Many of them are located in recesses, in almost inaccessible corners or at heights (3 to 4 m) which would have required the use of artificial means (ladders, tree trunks).
phase: between 18.000 and 19.000 years ago.
It comprises the majority of animals represented, about 125 to date. Horses are the dominant animal by far, followed by caprids (ibex, chamois), bovids (bison, wild ox), cervids (megaloceros, red deer) and marine animals (seals and penguin). Most of the animals are engraved, less than a third painted. A number of geometrical signs were discovered in 1994, several of them, rectangular and having a sort of appendage being quite original in franco-cantabrian art.