Jean-Marie Chauvet gave his name to a cave now known throughout the world. The Chauvet cave which he discovered on December 18, 1994 with two friends, Eliette Brunel and Christian Hilaire. Thirty years later, he still remembers with precision and emotion these extraordinary moments when he discovered the cavity just above the Pont d’Arc in the Ardèche gorges. He was the guest of France Bleu Drôme Ardèche this Wednesday.
France Bleu Drôme Ardèche – 30 years ago, it’s a Sunday afternoon, why are you going towards this blower hole, do you know that there is a cavity behind it?
Jean-Marie Chauvet – Yes, a cavity, you’re never sure that the cavity will actually turn into a cave, but that day, it was exceptional. Because really, we didn’t expect to find a cave of this magnitude.
You go down this hole with Eliette Brunel and Christian Hilaire. What do you see first?
The first thing, once we got down the ladder, we said to ourselves “we are on a big hit”. It was so vast compared to our small lights! In fact, we followed a straight path but we didn’t necessarily see all sides and we didn’t see any painting. It was while passing through what we today call the room of the wallows, then the gallery today called the cactus that Éliette saw two lines in red ocher and she wrote “they came”! But who came? “Prehistoric men, of course!” From there, we entered prehistory. Because if there is red ocher, it is because there is it elsewhere. And we kept going down. That’s where we saw the bear, I call it the balou. And then, it was magnificent, it was white, immaculate, the beautiful concretions. Then we went back up and it was at the red sign that we said to ourselves, “we are in front of a Lascaux”. Because it is a reference. In our eyes as kids, Lascaux was always a great adventure.
“We didn’t have enough lighting, we were afraid of breaking down since we didn’t know the cavity that continued”
But do you have lamps that don’t light very well and have a limited lifespan?
Yes, we didn’t have enough lighting, we were afraid of breaking down since we didn’t know the cavity that continued. The lights were dimming so we went out and resealed. And when we arrived at Eliette’s house, we told Carole (Eliette Brunel’s daughter, editor’s note) that we had found a Lascaux. But Carole said: “I don’t believe you, I want to see.” “No, no, we don’t want to go now, it’s late”. And in fact, we went back and that’s where the adventure began.
Do you understand right away that this is a huge discovery, that it’s absolutely fabulous?
Oh yes ! I was a surveillance agent for the decorated caves. I have been researching painting in the Sahara since the 80s. So we know about cave art. We are cavers first and foremost but the cavity was so beautiful. And when we went back, we had taken some lighting, and there we saw the horses sign, we were 20 meters away. And that’s when I shouted “horses”.
These paintings are more than 36,000 years old but we will only learn that later. Did you know at that point that it was older than Lascaux?
Yes, that is to say seeing mammoths, but seeing rhinoceroses, lions. We said to ourselves: there are not any in all the decorated caves of the Ardèche gorges. But it was a deduction, an interpretation.
Are there other decorated caves, other treasures that you think are still dormant?
Of course ! They did not train at Chauvet to make drawings. There is a whole scenography in Chauvet. According to the latest discoveries, between Ardèche and Gard, there is still a lot to find.
Beyond the official party this Wednesday morning, will there also be a party between you in Saint-Remèze?
Of course, we’re bringing all our friends together today for the 30th anniversary of this discovery. And above all we should thank all the people who worked for the good of this cave and for all that was the media broadcast and which brought this cave to life. Today, we have a space for restitution, there are jobs being created. All of this is a source of pride for us speleologists to have brought this element.
