Vézère Valley Quiz: Prehistoric Caves Beyond Lascaux
This Vézère Valley quiz explores the Dordogne valley known as the capital of prehistory. Play 10 interactive questions on its 1979 UNESCO listing, Lascaux and its replica, Font-de-Gaume's original paintings, Combarelles engravings, Rouffignac's cave of a hundred mammoths, Les Eyzies, the Cro-Magnon shelter of 1868 and the cliff village of La Roque Saint-Christophe.
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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds
Region
Which French area is the Vézère Valley in?
UNESCO
When were its prehistoric sites listed by UNESCO?
Lascaux
Why can't visitors enter the original Lascaux cave?
Font
What is special about Font-de-Gaume?
Engrave
What is Combarelles known for?
Mammoths
Which cave is called the cave of a hundred mammoths?
Capital
Which village calls itself the world capital of prehistory?
CroMagnon
What was found at the Cro-Magnon shelter in 1868?
Cliff
What is La Roque Saint-Christophe?
River
What helped make the valley ideal for early people?
Your score
0/10
Scroll down to see the explanation for each question.
Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions
- Q1: Which French area is the Vézère Valley in?
Answer: Dordogne
It is in southwest France.
- Q2: When were its prehistoric sites listed by UNESCO?
Answer: 1979
Dozens of decorated caves are included.
- Q3: Why can't visitors enter the original Lascaux cave?
Answer: It was closed to protect the paintings
Replicas let people see the art.
- Q4: What is special about Font-de-Gaume?
Answer: Visitors can still see original polychrome paintings
Group sizes are strictly limited.
- Q5: What is Combarelles known for?
Answer: Hundreds of engravings
Animals are scratched into the walls.
- Q6: Which cave is called the cave of a hundred mammoths?
Answer: Rouffignac
A little train carries visitors inside.
- Q7: Which village calls itself the world capital of prehistory?
Answer: Les Eyzies
The national prehistory museum is there.
- Q8: What was found at the Cro-Magnon shelter in 1868?
Answer: Early modern human skeletons
They gave Cro-Magnon people their name.
- Q9: What is La Roque Saint-Christophe?
Answer: A cliff with rock-shelter dwellings
People lived there for thousands of years.
- Q10: What helped make the valley ideal for early people?
Answer: Rivers, cliffs and rock shelters
Shelters protected them from weather.
Decorated Caves Beyond Lascaux
The Vézère Valley in France's Dordogne is often called the capital of prehistory. Its limestone cliffs and rock shelters near the river sheltered Ice Age people, who painted and engraved animals deep inside caves. In 1979 UNESCO listed its prehistoric sites and decorated caves.
Lascaux is the most famous, but the original was closed in 1963 to protect its paintings; visitors now explore detailed replicas. At Font-de-Gaume, small groups can still see original polychrome paintings of bison and horses. Combarelles has hundreds of engravings, and at Rouffignac a little train carries visitors past drawings of mammoths.
The village of Les Eyzies holds France's national museum of prehistory. In 1868 workers there found early modern human skeletons at the Cro-Magnon shelter, giving the Cro-Magnon people their name. Nearby, La Roque Saint-Christophe is a cliff with rock shelters lived in for thousands of years.
What This Quiz Teaches
Prehistory fans will enjoy these questions.
- Where the valley is
- Which caves hold art
- Why some caves closed
- What was discovered there
- How people lived there
Did You Know?
- Cave art was often made with charcoal and ochre.
- Ticket numbers are limited to protect fragile caves.
- Canoeing on the Vézère is popular in summer.
- Some cave animals are now extinct, like woolly rhinos.
- The Lascaux IV replica opened in 2016.
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