Bara-Bahau Cave

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CONTENTS

• Upper Paleolithic Cave
• Location
• Archaeological Site
• Discovery & Excavation
• Cave Art of Bara-Bahau
• Dating
• Caves of the Vézère Valley
• References

Upper Paleolithic Cave

Bara-Bahau is one of numerous decorated paleolithic caves in the Vézère valley of the French Dordogne.

Now, partly collapsed, it is noted for its slightly chaotic collection of rock engravings, as well as a variety of abstract signs. These images date to the final phase of Upper Paleolithic art, around 15,000 BC.

Its name comes from a local Occitan 'translation' of the word bada-boum, referring to the fallen ceiling blocks which are visible in the first chamber.

Bara-Bahau was a popular sanctuary for hibernating cave bears (Ursus spelaeus), who would sharpen their claws on the walls after many months winter sleep. At some point, a rock fall blocked access to cave bears, but modern humans found a narrow passage into the now bear-free cave.

The cave was classified as a historical monument in 1961.

Location

Bara-Bahau Cave is located on a hill near Le Bugue in the Dordogne. It sits on the right bank of the Ladouch stream, a small tributary on the right bank of the Vézère river.

It is the most southerly of all the painted caves along the Vézère river, and Its entrance offers an excellent view over the valley.

Archaeological Site

The cave was formed about 75 million years ago, out of clay-rich limestone. It is roughly 100 metres long, between 8 and 25 metres wide, and between 3 and 12 metres high.

The walls have a striped appearance reflecting the different layers of clay and limestone that make up the rock.

Sitting in the middle of the cave, are huge chunks of stone that have fallen from the ceiling.

The cave is divided into two sections: an entrance chamber with a spacious porch on the outside, and a second chamber following it - known as the Salle des Gravures - where most of the engravings may be seen.

At the entrance, an educational exhibition features explanations and reproductions of artworks in the cave.

Discovery & Excavation

The cave itself had been known for ages, but the petroglyphs were not discovered until April 1951, when the cave explorer Norbert Casteret (1897-1987) along with his son and daughter, Raoul and Maud, investigated the interior.

The engraved drawings were authenticated by the famous French prehistorian Abbé Henri Breuil (1877-1961) some months later.

Four years later, in 1955, the archaeologist Abbé André Glory (1906-1966) excavated the site and made a thorough examination of the cave and its art. With the aid of a large plate of semi-rigid plexiglass, Glory was able to trace the figures onto the plate, from which individual drawings were then reassembled.

Later, the cave was also examined by the paleontologist Frédéric-Marie Bergounioux (1900-83), and by the archaeologists Brigitte (b.1936) and Gilles Delluc (1934-2022), who in 1997 published a monograph on the cave.

The cave also yielded a number of rare stone tools, notably blades, which were believed to belong to the Aurignacian culture, and which exaggerated the antiquity of the engravings. See also: History of Stone Tools.

Cave Art of Bara-Bahau

The cave art at Bara-Bahau comprises a number of engraved drawings, many of which are superimposed.

They include 26 figures traced in a soft limestone rock on a single panel, in the Salle des Gravures, as follows:

• 18 engraved drawings of animals, such as horses, bison, aurochs, ibex, a deer, a cave bear and several indeterminate figures.
• 8 abstract signs and symbols of various types. They include: a crosshatch sign, an oval, as well as a quadrangle and reniform symbol, a scalariform and a tectiform, plus at least one example of finger fluting.
• Also, there is a rare engraving of a human phallus. (Images of female genitalia were much more common.)
• In addition, there is a mysterious grid-like drawing etched into the walls.

There is no cave painting at Bara-Bahau cave.

Dating

Originally the rock art was thought to be Aurignacian, but the prehistorian André Leroi-Gourhan (1911–1986), as well as the Dellucs, attributed the engravings to the Magdalenian culture between 15,000 and 10,000 BC.

This was the final period of the old Stone Age, after which came the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.

Caves of the Vézère Valley

The Vézère Valley is one of Europe's densest hotspots of paleolithic culture, and is world famous for its prehistoric art, as well as its collections of lithic artifacts, and remains of early hominins.

The area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, since 1979. See Vézère Valley Caves, for details.

The valley is home to several famous prehistoric caves decorated with engravings, including:

• La Ferrassie Cave: 60,000 BC
• Abri Blanchard: 36,000 BC
• Abri Castanet: 35,000 BC
• Abri Cellier: 36,000 BC
• Lascaux Cave: 19,000 BC
• La Madeleine: 15,000 BC
• Font de Gaume: 14,000 BC
• Cap Blanc: 13,000 BC
• Les Combarelles: 11,700 BC
• Rouffignac Cave:11,000 BC

References

(1) Glory, A., 1955a: "Bara-Bahau, Le Bugue-sur-Vézère (Dordogne)", Monteuil, Imprimerie spéciale de Banque, 20 p., ill., préface de H. Breuil.
(2) Frédéric-Marie Bergounioux, “Geological interpretation of the Bara-Bahau cave”, Bulletin of the Historical and Archaeological Society of Périgord, 87.‎ 1960, pp.105-109.
(3) Norbert Aujoulat and Nicole Dauriac, "Bara-Bahau", in "The Art of the Caves", 1984 (ISBN 2110808179), pp.92-95.
(4) Norbert Aujoulat, Jean-Michel Geneste, Alain Roussot and Je
an-Philippe Rigaud, "The Vézère from its origins, prehistoric sites, decorated caves and museums", Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1991, p.141.
(5) Brigitte Delluc , Gilles Delluc and Francis Guichard, “The Decorated Cave of Bara-Bahau (Le Bugue). Geology and Prehistory”, Bulletin of the Historical and Archaeological Society of Périgord. 124, No. 1, 1997, pp.31-62.
(6) Brigitte Delluc and Gilles Delluc, “The engravings of the decorated cave of Bara-Bahau”, Gallia-Préhistoire, no 39, 1997, pp.109-150.