Castel Merle

Castel Merle (also known as Castel-Merle or Castelmerle) is a complex of ten prehistoric rock shelters (French: abris) in Sergeac, in the Dordogne department of France.

These were made from various materials, including soapstone, bone, shells, mammoth ivory and teeth (animal and human).

The shelters on the left side of the river are open to the public, and the plain in between the rocks houses a small museum.

[2] The museum holds, apart from many prehistoric tools, some remains of necklaces with adornments made from mammoth ivory, and a few engraved rocks.

[2] In this shelter, artifacts have been found from the Périgordian period (35,000 to 20,000 years ago), and earlier occupation from the Aurignacian seems likely here as well.

The prehistoric finds were excavated first in the early 20th century by abbe Landesque, and date to the Aurignacian and the Magdalenian.

[3] In the rock, both at ground level and in the ceiling, small rings have been made which may have been used to fasten a screen of animal skins at the front of the shelter.