Grotte Chauvet, the scientific adventure. Exhibition journal

The journal accompanying the exhibition Grotte Chauvet, l'aventure scientifique at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, on show from 15 October 2024 to 11 May 2025.

Designed as a souvenir of the exhibition, this journal emphasises the interdisciplinary nature of archaeological research. It looks at the discoveries made in the Chauvet cave by researchers whose work and techniques illustrate the cross-fertilisation of these disciplines, which together offer a new approach to solving scientific questions in greater depth. The exploration of the Chauvet cave, an extraordinary site of cave art that is also one of the finest sites of animal occupation in Europe, is presented as a scientific and human adventure. Several areas of research are presented: anthropology and cave art, historical dating, karstology, palaeontology, and the study of large prehistoric carnivores such as the cave bear, which left numerous traces at Chauvet.

Author of texts and interviews: Olivier Quezada 

Scientists interviewed:
Carole Fritz, scientific curator of the exhibition, director of research at the CNRS, director of the Centre de recherche et d'étude pour l'art préhistorique Émile-Cartailhac (CREAP) at the Maison des sciences de l'homme in Toulouse; Hélène Valladas, researcher at the Centre des faibles radioactivités and the Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement (LSCE); Jean-Jacques Delannoy, geomorphologist, anthropo-geomorphologist; Philippe Fosse, CNRS research fellow and palaeontologist attached to the Laboratoire Méditerranéen de Préhistoire Europe Afrique (LAMPEA). 

The exhibition

The Grotte Chauvet, l'aventure scientifique exhibition immerses visitors in the research work of the scientific team studying the cave. It invites visitors to step into the shoes of the scientists and experience the astonishing adventure of the men and women who decipher the cave paintings and analyse the rocks, animal remains, fire tracks, stalagmites and footprints. The prehistoric remains, objects and materials studied, as well as the research tools, are highlighted.

Click to view an extract from the journal