Les Combarelles

Les Combarelles, long, narrow cave near Les Eyzies in Dordogne, France, famous for its prehistoric engravings.

The cave’s hundreds of sometimes superimposed engravings, dating to the mid-Magdalenian Period of Paleolithic art (about 14,000 years ago), were discovered in 1901. Most of the images depict horses, bison, deer, and mammoths, but the cave also contains noteworthy images of bears, rhinoceroses, a big cat, and numerous “anthropomorphs,” or humanlike figures. Some of the engraved animals are drawn in a practiced, gestural manner, while others are more static. Most scholars rank the engravings of Les Combarelles among the finest products of Ice Age art.