Just north of the cave the Beauronne starts to meander forming a first loop which is accompanied on its left side by a steep, rocky ledge.

During the construction of the railway line from Périgueux to Brantôme the deposits in front of the cave (including many stone and bone artefacts) were erroneously used as gravel for the track foundations and consequently spread out over nearly a kilometer !

After this vandalism with irreparable damage Hardy and M. Féaux started a systematic study of the site which lasted till 1888.

Their endeavours were crowned by success because at the base of the archeological layer they found a tomb with human remains.

The recovered artefacts were then brought to the Musée du Périgord in Périgueux but regrettably their exact position within the succession was never recorded.

The excavations in front of the cave by Didon and Bouyssonie also distinguished four layers, but they were older and had to be attributed to the Magdalenian I – III.

In this cave remains dating back to the Mousterian (MTA-type), to the Lower Périgordian and to the Aurignacian were found.

The main cave spans the entire Magdalenian which corresponds roughly to the interval 17.000 to 11.000 years BP.