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Grotte de Gabillou

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Site type:
Cave
Site function:
Decor cave
Lat/Long:
45.03, 0.38
Country:
France
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The Grotte de Gabillou also known as Grotte de las Agnelas is a cave in France in which prehistoric ornaments stemming from the Paléolithitic period exist. It is situated in the commune of Sourzac in the department of Dordogne, Nouvelle Aquitaine, and is a private property. Its sediments are from the Maastrichtian era.

It is assumed that some of the ornaments stem from the Magdalenian. The cave contains more than 200 ornaments, fifty-six horses, twenty-one reindeer, eighteen birds, twelve bison, eight ibex, and some bears and rabbits. The animals are mostly depicted as a whole and their proportions were observed; sometimes the animals are in movement, while others are seated. Other engravings depict humans like a woman giving birth. A remarkable example is the ornament known as The Sorcerer, which is described as a horned and bearded man-like figure with a foot and leg that resembles the one of a human. Stéphane Petrognani and Georges Sauvet have compared the engraved horses at the Grotte de Gabillou with the ones of the Cave de Lavaux. They also noted that the horses in Gabillou often display elaborate sensorial organs like eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.