Rochereil is a prehistoric

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

near Lisle in the French

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

. Besides around 4000 stone and bone artifacts it contained the tomb of an adult human, the perforated skull of a two-year-old child and fossilized bones of two adolescent individuals.

Geography, geology and site description

The Rochereil cave, sometimes also written ''Rochereuil'', belongs to the commune of Grand Brassac. It was named after a nearby

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

, ''Moulin de Rochereil''. The cave is situated at the right embankment of the

Dronne The Dronne (, also , ; oc, Drona) is a long river in southwestern France, right tributary of the Isle. Its source is in the north-western Massif Central, east of the town of Châlus (south-west of Limoges) at an elevation of . It flows south-wes ...

River, not far from the confluence of the Euche, a right tributary. Lisle is about farther south. The cave formed in a vertical high

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cliff made up of flat-lying Coniacian. In front of the cave passes a small road leading to the hamlets of ''Lonlaygue'' and ''Renamon''. Only a little way upstream the departmental road D 2 from Saint-Just to Bussac crosses the Dronne. Over the bridge on the left side of the Dronne is a small cliff with the

abri A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves ( karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alwa ...

of Pont d'Ambon another notable site of the Lower Paleolithic. About farther south another site was discovered near La Peyzie containing remains from the Upper Magdalenian. The very small cave (not more than in area) opens to the south, less than downstream from the mill. The entry, set back about from the Dronne, is only a few metres above river level and has somewhat been blocked by rockfall. The archeological finds were made in the interior of the cave and immediately in front of it.

History

The first excavations at the Rochereil cave were undertaken around 1900 by the Marquis de Fayolle and by M. Féaux. This venture was overshadowed by a fatal accident due to rockfall. More detailed prospecting was done by Dr. P. E. Jude in the years 1935 till 1939. His report was published in 1960. The Rochereil cave was treated as part of Christine Duchadeau-Kervazo's master thesis in 1982. The finds are now displayed in the museum at Brantôme.

Stratigraphy

The deposits of Rochereil cave can be divided into two archeological levels further subdivided into single strata. The older succession dates back to the Magdalenian VI and the younger one to the

Azilian The Azilian is a Mesolithic industry of the Franco-Cantabrian region of northern Spain and Southern France. It dates approximately 10,000–12,500 years ago. Diagnostic artifacts from the culture include projectile points (microliths with ro ...

Inventory

Magdalenian VI

The succession of the Magdalenian VI is characterised by the following stone artefacts: * burins. Very abundant (about 60% of the total). Are mainly composed of dihedral burins, but some ''bec de perroquet''-burins also occur. * scrapers. Fairly unimportant (about 10%). *

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

with a squared-off back. * spearheads of the Laugerie-Basse, Teyjat and Hamburg type. An impressive 2000 stone artefacts were found made mainly from bluegrey

silex Silex is any of various forms of ground stone. In modern contexts the word refers to a finely ground, nearly pure form of silica or silicate. In the late 16th century, it meant powdered or ground up "flints" (i.e. stones, generally meaning the c ...

. The silex occurs enclosed in

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya (million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 mya. ...

limestones which crop out in the vicinity. Several varieties of brown

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

s were also used, mainly for burins and knives. Amongst the bone tools the following items were found : * chisels. * needles. * piercers. * doubly chanfered spearheads. * pierced batons. * hooks. * harpoons with two rows of barbs. Many of the bones showed fine engravings that were executed in a very realistic manner. Towards the top of the succession the designs become more geometric. River gravels engraved with strange patterns were also discovered. The trepanned skull of a two- to three-year-old also dates back to the Magdalenian VI.

Azilian

The Azilian finds are almost as rich as the Magdalenian ones. They stand out with their typical spearheads and flat harpoons made from deer antlers. The Azilian succession also contained the tomb of a human adult (a 1.68 meter tall male strongly resembling the Chancelade type) and the remains of two adolescents with calcined bones. The skeleton of the adult was not calcined, but instead surrounded by layers of ash and burnt soil – a possible indication for a burial ritual. Very rich Azilian finds were made at the Pont d'Ambon site.

Age

The Rochereil cave has not been dated absolutely, but the unearthed artefacts are characteristic for the Magdalenian VI and for the Azilian. This corresponds to the age period of 12.500 to 10.500 years BP.

Literature

* Delluc, B. & G., Roussot, A. & Roussot-Larroque, J. (1990). Connaître la préhistoire en Périgord. Éditions SUD-OUEST, * Jude, P.E. (1960). La grotte de Rochereil: station magdalénienne et azilienne. In: Archives de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, mém 30. Masson, p. 75. * Platel, J.-P. et al. (1989). Périgueux (Ouest). In: Carte géologique de la France à 1/50 000. BRGM, Orléans, {{ISBN, 2-7159-1758-9 History of Dordogne Prehistoric sites in France Caves of Dordogne Azilian