Les Fraux cave
| Les Fraux cave
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| Location: | Commune of Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas , Dordogne department , France | |
| Height : | 235 m | |
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Geographic location: |
45 ° 26 '49 " N , 0 ° 51' 15" E | |
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| Geology: | Dolomitic marls and sandstones - Lias | |
| Type: | Karst cave with two branching corridor systems | |
| Discovery: | 1989 | |
| Overall length: | 1200 m | |
| Level difference: | low | |
| Average annual number of visitors: | Locked to visit | |
| Particularities: | exceptionally good state of preservation | |
The cave of Les Fraux , French cave of Fraux , is a Bronze Age used the cave of the municipality of Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas in Canton Thiviers , in the north of the department of Dordogne , France . In addition to several well-preserved fireplaces, it contains many incised drawings .
Geography and access
The cave of Les Fraux is located on the slope to the left above the eponymous farm Les Fraux in Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas. The farm can be reached by taking the local road from Saint-Jean-de-Côle to Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas. About one kilometer before reaching the center of Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas, a road turns right to La Rebière , which, after crossing the hamlet, connects to the D 98 in a northerly direction. One kilometer after La Rebière there is the junction to Les Fraux on the left . The entrance is on the slope directly behind a barn at around 235 m above sea level . It is now covered by a simple vestibule construction and is closed to the public due to ongoing research and the risk of collapse. The cave is privately owned.
geology
There are only sediments from the Lias that plunge slightly to the west . It is beige to ocher colored, dolomitic marls and sandstones . In the immediate vicinity, the generally south-east trending and south-westerly dipping marginal fault of the north-western Massif Central passes, on which the paragneiss of the metamorphic basement in the north was slightly raised. The tunnel system of the cave was washed out of the marl parts, the more resistant sandstone layers form the roof area.
history
The entrance to the cave was discovered after the sudden loss of water from a small pond on the slope in 1989. Norbert Aujoulat and Christian Chevillot first described the cave from the same year. The cave has been designated as a Monument historique since October 1995 . Since 2006, multidisciplinary research has been carried out under the direction of Laurent Carozza from the Center de Recherche et d'Etudes pour l'Art Préhistorique Emile Cartailhac (CREAP). State-of-the-art techniques ( laser scanning and photogrammetry ) are used for spatial mapping of the cave .
Description of the cave
The cave consists of a network of relatively narrow corridors (two to five meters wide) that reach a total length of 1200 m and follow the same level. Crossings can be over 10 m wide. Immediately behind the entrance, the cave is divided into two bundles of corridors, which have been divided into individual sectors. Sectors 1 to 10 are located in the right bundle of aisles, sectors 11 to 28 in the left, much more extensive bundle of aisles 150 to N 160) is superimposed. These two main directions are also represented in the marginal fault in the immediate vicinity, so they should be geologically mapped out. The entrance area had been buried by a collapse in the roof - this circumstance enabled the exceptionally good preservation of the cave and its contents for more than three millennia.
Finds
The shards of around 1000 vessels were found on ceramics , 50 of which were completely preserved. The ceramic objects are not randomly distributed, but rather placed in a targeted manner; there is undoubtedly a connection in their arrangement with associated pictorial elements on the cave walls. Bronze jewelry was also present, including a choker. Numerous bones, mostly of animal origin, lay scattered on the ground. Noteworthy are the numerous fireplaces that were created over a distance of 50 m as recesses in the clayey soil. As a result of the intensive use of fire, sandstone blocks that had fallen down were colored red, the pitches on the sides and on the floor are ash-colored. There were also several circular post holes in the floor, in one of which there was even a piece of wood.
In the clayey side walls, partly also in the ceiling area, incised drawings can be seen in several places , which mostly represent geometric symbols (mainly crosses, circles, Y- and U-shaped signs, meander, zigzag or rectangular grid patterns). The motifs used are reminiscent of similar depictions in Val Camonica in northern Italy. Line patterns drawn with fingers in the damp clay were also applied. Occasionally, color pigments and impressions (from fabric remnants?) Were also used. Also noteworthy are the numerous (intended?) Traces of impact on the walls, which come from metal tools.
A black-drawn, anthropomorphic depiction, associated with tectiform (house-shaped) signs, functions as a cave painting . The latter depiction is reminiscent of a similar find in the Rancogne cave in the Charente department .
Scratch marks from cave bears can be found almost everywhere in the cave. Isolated roof marks are likely to be more recent.
Dating
In Sector 8, the remains of a torch stick were measured using the C 14 method from 1450 to 1290 BC. Dated to the end of the middle to the beginning of the younger Bronze Age . This period is also confirmed by typochronological dating of ceramic finds (vessels of the so-called Duffaits group of the late Middle Bronze Age).
Web links
- Blog of the ongoing research in the cave of Les Fraux
- CREAP website on Les Fraux caves
- Modern 3D research methods in the cave (PDF; 4.8 MB)
literature
- P.-L. Guillot et al .: Feuille Thiviers . In: BRGM (ed.): Carte géologique de la France à 1/50000 . Orleans.
- D. Richard et al .: Le Guide Dordogne Périgord . Fanlac, Périgueux 1993, ISBN 2-86577-162-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ N. Aujoulat, C. Chvillot: Une découverte exceptionnelle: la grotto of Fraux in Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas (Dordogne) . In: Documents d'Archéologie Périgourdine . t.4, 1989, p. 39-44, 2 f.ig .
- ↑ L. Carozza, A. Burens-Carozza, Y. Billaud, O. Ferullo, R. Bourrillon, S. Petrognani, C. Fritz, G. Tosello, E. Goinaud, M. Goinaud: L'horizontal et le vertical - L'âge du Bronze de la grotte des Fraux (Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas - Dordogne) . In: De Méditerrannée et d'ailleurs ... Mélanges offerts à Jean Guilaine . 2009, p. 159-172 .
- ↑ Burens, Albane, Grussenmeyer, Pierre, Guillemin, Samuel, Carozza, Laurent, Bourrillon, Raphaelle & Petrognani, Stéphane: 3D scanning of the archaeological cave "Les Fraux" Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas, Dordogne, France. Multi-scale approach. Ed .: Collection EDYTEM. N ° 12, 2011, p. 183-189 .
- ^ N. Aujoulat, C. Chevillot: À propos de gravures pariétales de l'ge du Bronze enDordogne . In: Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest . n ° 6, 2, 1999, p. 175-187, 12 f.ig .