The entrance to the Cosquer cave opens at the foot of a cliff on Cap Morgiou, thirty-seven meters below sea level, a few kilometers from Marseille. A discovery made in 1985 by Henri Cosquer, a professional diver.
In July 1991, Henri Cosquer noticed the prehistoric paintings, in a large room 120 meters from the entrance. These paintings and the engravings that accompany them have been preserved because the access gallery slopes upwards and half of the great hall is above water level. If paintings and engravings were made in the submerged areas, as is more than likely, they were destroyed by the upwellings at the end of the last ice age. 20,000 years ago, the sea was a hundred and ten to a hundred and twenty meters lower than today and the shore was then several kilometers away.
A preliminary study of the cave and its works of art was published in 1994 (Clottes and Courtin, 1994). It was based on direct observations of the walls, during two diving missions, in September 1991 and June 1992, supplemented by an in-depth examination of the photographic and video documents brought back and by various analyzes of the pollen and the coals.
Texts and research: Jean Clottes, John CourtinLuc Vanrel.
Reconstruction of the Cosquer cave in the Villa Méditerranée in Marseille
More than thirty years after the discovery in the creeks of marseilles of the Cosquer cave (from the name of its discoverer Henri Cosquer – he did not reveal his secret until 1991), the reconstitution of the Cosquer cave – facilitated by the digitization from the original cave – has been welcoming the public since June 4, 2022 in the Villa Méditerranée in Marseille. Cosquer Mediterranean is open every day (access: promenade Robert-Laffont, 13002 Marseille). Allow about two hours for a complete visit.
In this dossier, we are going to discover the Cosquer cave, an underwater cave, very close to Marseille, which houses prehistoric paintings corresponding to two periods of occupation. This file could well make you want to visit its “replica” made in the heart of the city of Marseille, at the Villa Méditerranée.