The Hillaire Chamber

The surfaces of its weathered walls are sometimes so soft that they become perfect for drawing on.

Many imprints were made with fingers or a tool such as the etched horse panel...

...or an etched owl whose head is turned 180° from the rest of its body and whose wings are clearly visible. The graphic intention here was to create the cave as a stage, but we cannot know its true meaning.

This bird, the only one in the whole cave, is located on a pendant that overwhelms visitors, reminding them that the cave is a product of human visualization and artistic design.

There is a fresco visible when entering the Hillaire Chamber. The eye-catching whiteness of the scraped wall where the black drawings of the emblematic Panel of the Horses stand out.

Three panels make up this approximately 15 m (49 ft) long Paleolithic triptych: the Panel of the Horses on the left, in the center the Alcove of the Big Cats articulated around a small, still active very small resurgence and, on the right, the Reindeer Panel (not visible in the picture).