Cave Art : A Guide to the Decorated Ice Age Caves of Europe

The decorated Ice Age caves are some of mankind’s greatest artistic achievements, and there is no substitute for seeing the caves themselves. There you can see the art – paintings, engravings, bas-reliefs, or drawings – in its original, natural setting, and stand where the artists did 30,000–10,000 years ago.

For speleologists and holidaymakers alike – indeed anyone who wants to add a visit to a cave to their itinerary – here is an essential handbook. The first guide to all the decorated Ice Age caves in Europe that are open to the public, Cave Art covers more than 50 caves in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well as relevant museums and centres.

The guide has been fully revised and updated for this new, third edition.

‘A thoroughly practical guide to visiting [the] cave art sites in Europe that are open to the public… [Bahn] writes most evocatively of caves that are less adapted to visitors, the dark, damp and slippery bat-infested holes that you crawl into and where one feels closest to the world of the original cave artists.’ – Current Archaeology