While doing some reading about the history of the Luberon valley last autumn I came across a reference to a neolithic cave - La Grotte Sépulcrale de la lave at Saint-Saturnin les Apt and realised that it was very near to Les Bassacs. David and I set about trying to identify it, armed with this picture of the excavation in 1934. The cave was apparently used as a burial chamber and housed the remains of 66 men and women and children, some as young as two years old. Many of the skeletons had shards of flint in their bones indicating that they had sustained the injuries in fights against an enemy armed with flint arrows. There were also some little broken pots filled with red earth and some bone tools. They appeared to have been a group of stone-age people living in the valley, fairly well protected from incomers, although the archaeologists speculated that they were engaged in defending their territory from invaders probably coming up from the Pyrenees. The examination of the leg bones showed that they were hunter gatherers who had hard lives and had physically adapted to the harsh and mountainous terrain. The men measured 1m 63 on average and the women 1m 50. They had elongated skulls, a well-developed forehead and long straight noses. Ethnically they represent the oldest inhabitants of France. As hunter gatherers they left traces of their daily fare in the cave. They found evidence of dogs, foxes, wild cat, pole cat, wild bore, deer, sheep, goat, rabbits and hares and badger bones. There were no traces of wolves which surprised the researchers as the area was known for an abundance of wolves right up to the 18th Century. There were apparently no wild horses in the area.
I was glad to know that we weren't going to be eaten by wolves at any rate! Pascal who works at the Mairie and lives in Les Cordiers gave me a rough idea of where the cave was and we set off on our bikes out the back of the hameau, through the cherry orchards and towards the gorge that leads up to Sault. It took us an hour to find the cave, in the end we identified it by the shape of the overhanging rock. The entrance is entirely covered by bushes. I would imagine that in 1934 when it was excavated there were many more goats and sheep grazing in the valley to keep the vegetation down. The funeral cave and the cave that was used as shelter, directly next door, are both beautiful shapes, with almond shaped entrances. David took this picture looking out of the funeral cave towards the gorge.
While doing some reading about the history of the Luberon valley last autumn I came across a reference to a neolithic cave - La Grotte Sépulcrale de la lave at Saint-Saturnin les Apt and realised that it was very near to Les Bassacs. David and I set about trying to identify it, armed with this picture of the excavation in 1934. The cave was apparently used as a burial chamber and housed the remains of 66 men and women and children, some as young as two years old. Many of the skeletons had shards of flint in their bones indicating that they had sustained the injuries in fights against an enemy armed with flint arrows. There were also some little broken pots filled with red earth and some bone tools. They appeared to have been a group of stone-age people living in the valley, fairly well protected from incomers, although the archaeologists speculated that they were engaged in defending their territory from invaders probably coming up from the Pyrenees. The examination of the leg bones showed that they were hunter gatherers who had hard lives and had physically adapted to the harsh and mountainous terrain. The men measured 1m 63 on average and the women 1m 50. They had elongated skulls, a well-developed forehead and long straight noses. Ethnically they represent the oldest inhabitants of France. As hunter gatherers they left traces of their daily fare in the cave. They found evidence of dogs, foxes, wild cat, pole cat, wild bore, deer, sheep, goat, rabbits and hares and badger bones. There were no traces of wolves which surprised the researchers as the area was known for an abundance of wolves right up to the 18th Century. There were apparently no wild horses in the area. 
I was glad to know that we weren't going to be eaten by wolves at any rate! Pascal who works at the Mairie and lives in Les Cordiers gave me a rough idea of where the cave was and we set off on our bikes out the back of the hameau, through the cherry orchards and towards the gorge that leads up to Sault. It took us an hour to find the cave, in the end we identified it by the shape of the overhanging rock. The entrance is entirely covered by bushes. I would imagine that in 1934 when it was excavated there were many more goats and sheep grazing in the valley to keep the vegetation down. The funeral cave and the cave that was used as shelter, directly next door, are both beautiful shapes, with almond shaped entrances. David took this picture looking out of the funeral cave towards the gorge.
Wow , one doesn't imagine just how much history there is so close by .Very interesting !
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