The caves in the area can be roughly be divided into 3 categories
– prehistory containing cave paintings or sculpture e.g Grotte de Font de Gaume, Abri Cap Blanc
– troglodytic e.g Roque St. Christophe, Roc de Cazelle, some were inhabited until the 20th C
– geological, including the Grand Roc at Les Eyzies and at Le Bugue, Gouffre de Proumeyssac
The density and variety of the crystallisations which decorate the walls of these caverns are spectacular.
The caves of Lascaux near Montignac (30k) are among the most famous pre-historic sites of early man. The cro-magnon people lived and hunted here, as long as thirty thousand years ago. Although the original cave paintings are protected from the harmful effects of changes in the temperature and humidity, a centimetre perfect duplicate of the caves has been created for people to visit and marvel at.