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This region is mainly a large valley surrounded by enormous limestone cliffs and caves.

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It is one of the most famous Paleolithic rock painting sites in the world. It is located inside a cave situated in the Ardèche region of southern France.

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This cave is world famous thanks to its remains of prehistoric art dated between c. 30,000 and c. 33,000 years ago.

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One big difference between how the site was during the Aurignacian Culture era and how it’s now, is the entrance of the cave. It used to be in a strategic place where the valley and the plateau met, forming a natural corridor, used as a bridge, for both humans and animals.
This picture shows the original entrance and the modern one.

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During the last glaciation, the southern France region was similar to the steppes of Central Asia nowadays with a climate that could reach +15° in summer and that fell  to -20° in winter.

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During the Quaternary era, herbivores such as reindeers, bisons, horses, ibex and woolly mammoths lived in this region.

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Since ice covered most of this region, it was extremely arid. The strong winds kept precipitation away and covered the ground with thick layers of dust and sediment.

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There were also larger animal species such as woolly rhinoceros and megaloceros.

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Rodents (marmot and collared lemming), birds (the snowy owl, grouse, ptarmigan and yellow-billed chough), fish, reptiles, amphibians etc.

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They were Homo sapiens that coexisted sometimes with the Neanderthals. This culture developed in Europe and the Near East over a long period of time.

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The Aurignacian culture is the first to develop symbolic expressions such as cave art and use personal ornamentation. They also had a more diverse range of flint tools and a larger production of weapons and tools made out of bones and antlers.

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They used personal ornamentations made out of organic materials such as teeth and seashells.

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They created musical instruments out of bones and ivory, and performed rituals with music and dances. They also represented animals in little statues and in cave paintings, because of their importance as preys.

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The Chauvet Cave has many chambers all of which have been explored.

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The Chauvet Cave paintings depict animals such as mammoths and bears, hands, and other symbols.