The Huchard Cave (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche; Ardèche): Chronological Approach of a Palaeolithic Rock Art Cave at the End of the Ardèche River Gorge ; La grotte Huchard (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche ; Ardèche) : approche chronologique intégrée d'une grotte ornée paléolithique à la sortie des gorges de l'Ardèche

International audience ; Research was carried out at Huchard Cave in 2020 and 2021 as part of the "Cave Art Dating" project. The aim of this project, since 2008, is to investigate the chronology of human and animal activities in the Palaeolithic rock art caves of the Ardèche river gorge, and the ways prehistoric human groups made sense and symbolically inscribed subterranean landscapes, as well as the socio-cultural contexts in which Palaeolithic cave art was created.In 2016, a visit to Huchard Cave highlighted its chronological potential and the interest in resuming research at the site.Huchard Cave, also known as Grotte du Ranc Pointu no1 or Grotte du Squelette, is located in the last meander of the Ardèche river gorge (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche; Ardèche). In 1908, P. Raymond reported deep engravings, attributed to the Upper Palaeolithic in its penumbra zone, between 2.5 and 3.5 m above the current ground.The position of Huchard Cave among a series of seven rock art caves in the “Ranc Pointu site complex” raises the question of the possible complementarity of their – functional and/or symbolic – uses. The proximity of Deux-Ouvertures and Huchard Caves, and the latter's position as a compulsory passageway to the former raise the question of whether they should be considered as a single site. Are there contemporaneous phases of use of these two caves, as well as the other rock art caves in the Ranc Pointu meander? And, if so, what reciprocal interactions could have existed between them at an anthropological and sociological level?While the chronology established in the Deux-Ouvertures and most of the rock art caves of the Ranc Pointu meander provide an overview of human activity in the sector, Huchard Cave had not yet benefited from an in-depth study. Since the end of the 19th century, various archaeological operations have been carried out at Huchard Cave. But the chronology of human activity in the cave during the Upper Palaeolithic remained imprecise.In 2016, we identified against the walls some remains of the ...