Grotte de Teyjat

Grotte de la Mairie

Useful Information

photography — Reindeer, horse, cave bear, and another horse, engraving, Grotte de la Mairie, France. Public Domain.

Location:	Teyjat, town square. (45.586082, 0.574741)
Open:	JUL to AUG Sat 10-17. Booking and tickets at the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume [2011]
Fee:	Adults EUR 3, Children (0-17) free, Reduced EUR 2.50, Students (18-25) from the EU free, Disabled free, Unemployed free. Groups (20+): Adults EUR 2.80. [2011]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	lamps provided.
Dimension:	L=60m
Guided tours:	D=15 min, max 5 Persons.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Hall d'accueil de Font-de-Gaume, 4 avenue des Grottes, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, Tel: +33-553-068600, Fax: +33-553-352618 E-mail: La Grotte de Teyjat, 24300 Teyjat, Tél: +33-553-068600/+33-553-564773, Fax: +33-553-352618.
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

1889	first excavations.
1903	first paintings discovered by Pierre Bourrinet and Denis Peyrony.
1910	declared a Monument Historique.
1913	cave developed, cave door installed.
1929	end of the excavations.

Description

The Grotte de Teyjat (Cave of Teyat) is also called Grotte de la Mairie (Town Hall Cave), because it is located close to the town hall of the village Tayat. It was known for a long time, but in 1889 a first excavation was made. The paintings were discovered in 1903 by Pierre Bourrinet, the teacher of Teyat, and Denis Peyrony. A few years later the cave was declared a Monument Historique and finally in 1913 the cave was closed with a door to protect it.

The rock art in this cave is very young, only 10,000 years old from the end of the Würm Ice Age. 48 figures of animals show great abilities of the artist, which is generally attributed to the young age. Obviously this theory implicates, that there was not only the sporadic artistic genius, but an organized art school. The displayed animals are mostly reindeers (10) and horses (10). But there are also three bears.

200 m to the east is another important excavation site, which is called Abri Mège. Excavations revealed numerous items, beneath flint tools there were needles, scissors, and ivory sticks with enigmatic engravings. Many items are on display in the small museum which was created by the village and the Monuments Nationaux. It was named espace muséographique Pierre Bourrinet (Museum Pierre Bourrinet) after the teacher who discovered the engravings. The museum is located inside the town hall.