Montesquieu-Avantès

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Montesquieu-Avantès
Commune
The church in Montesquieu-Avantès
show Location of Montesquieu-Avantès Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Montesquieu-Avantès Montesquieu-Avantès Show map of FranceShow map of OccitanieShow all
Coordinates: 43°01′28″N 1°11′51″E / 43.0244°N 1.1975°E / 43.0244; 1.1975Coordinates: 43°01′28″N 1°11′51″E / 43.0244°N 1.1975°E / 43.0244; 1.1975
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Department	Ariège
Arrondissement	Saint-Girons
Canton	Portes du Couserans
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Éliane Milhorat
Area 1	16.52 km2 (6.38 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2018)[1]	248
• Density	15/km2 (39/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	09204 /09200
Elevation	430–690 m (1,410–2,260 ft) (avg. 470 m or 1,540 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Montesquieu-Avantès is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.

History[]

Clay sculpted bison from Trois Frères (facsimile)

Montesquieu-Avantès has a significant prehistory in the Pyrenees. The cave-complex was carved out by the Volp River resulting in three extensive caverns:  [fr], Trois-Frères and Tuc d'Audoubert.^[2] They were discovered by the Begouën children on October 10, 1912.^[3]

The caves contain unique works of art. The Salle des Bisons features two masterfully modelled bison, which were sculpted in clay with a stone spatula-like tool 17,000 years ago and show the imprint of the artist's fingers. The pair are among the largest and finest surviving prehistoric sculptures.^[4]

Occupied in the Upper Palaeolithic, notably during the Magdalenian Epoch, the caves have been extensively studied. These works on Tuc d'Audoubert were compiled in 2009 in a monograph entitled "The Secret Sanctuary of the Bison". A subsequent book entitled "The Cave of the Three Brothers" ("La Caverne des Trois-Frères")^[5] documents a century of research. It was published in 2014 on the centenary of its discovery, on July 20, 1914.

These extremely fragile caves are closed to the public for the purposes of preservation.

Montesquieu was a country house founded in 1272 on the initiative of the Comte de Comminges Bernard VI.

Population[]

See also[]

• Communes of the Ariège department

References[]

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