Mandrin cave

About

The Mandrin Cave is a French rock shelter located in the commune of Malataverne, in Drôme, in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in the natural and historical region of Tricastin. The cave is the subject of archaeological excavations. It was occupied in the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, 120,000-42,000 years before the present, by Homo sapiens and Neandertalians, sometimes within a few years, suggesting possible interactions between the two populations. For the oldest period, the Eemian, a particularly temperate interglacial period, temperatures were even very high over fifteen millennia.

Situation and description: This rock shelter is located about 2.5 km southeast of downtown Malataverne (about ten kilometers south of Montélimar, Drôme), on the left bank of the Rhône to the east of the A7 motorway, at an altitude of 226 metres, on the north-west side of a limestone rock called "Roucole" which peaks at 392 metres. Roucoule is also the name of the place called Malataverne on which the rock is situated, on the boundaries of the municipalities of Allan and Roussas. The opening of about 12 m wide is facing north. The ceiling...