It can be accessed via the D 82 from Villars to Saint-Saud-Lacoussière; after a right-turn at Le Cluzeau one crosses the hamlet and reaches the ample parking area on a hill.

The cave was formed by karstic phenomena affecting the outcropping oolithic limestones of Upper Bajocian (Jurassic) age.

On the other side of the valley arrives a southeast-trending fault which most likely disrupted the cohesion of the local strata and triggered the erosional shaping of the similar oriented cave system by carbon dioxide-laden waters during the Quaternary.

The Villars Cave was discovered in December 1953 by members of the Spéléo Club de Périgueux after their attention was drawn to a fox hole exuding steam.

A steep stone staircase, not suitable for people in wheel-chairs, leads down to the new entry which is somewhat below and farther to the northwest then the original one.

It is a combination of rooms and passageways, which begins with the salle de bénitiers (holy water fonts room ), continues in the fairly narrow le passage (passage) and ends in the grand balcon (great balcony) with the grand stalagmite (big stalagmite).

After the salle des griffades (scratch room) the passage swings into a south-southeasterly direction and therefore meets up again with the right-hand branch just before the great balcony.

In the 30-metre-long and 15-metre-wide chaos room a partial collapse of the ceiling has happened so that big limestone blocks and slabs were covering the floor.

Yet at the same time the coating has protected the art work from external influences and the Villars Cave does not seem to have the problems that affected Lascaux.

[1] Absolute age dating with the radiocarbon method was done by Michel Genty on a burnt tooth found in a fireplace below the man and bison.

[2] The close stylistic resemblance of the man and bison scene with similar depictions in Lascaux and in Roc-de-Sers also indicates an age range of 18,000 to 17,000 years BP.