The Mysterious Rock of Solutre

The discovery of the “Crôt du Charnier” in 1866, in the region of Beaujolais in Burgundy, was a conclusive step in the history of Prehistoric Sciences. Occupied by hunters from the four main Upper Paleolithic cultures (from 40,000 to 10,000 years before our era)  - the Aurignacian, the Perigordian, the Solutrean and Magdalenean, this exceptional place, at the foot of the Rock of Solutré, has become a national interest site since 1985. The excavations enabled to better define this period of the Late Stone Age now called “Solutrean” and characterized by a zenith of flint cutting. They are also at the origin of one of the greatest riddles of prehistoric archaeology. On the location itself of the regional Museum of Prehistory, four superimposed layers were excavated over more than eight meters deep.  Above the strata of the Mousterian (Middle Paleolithic) or Aurignacian, a thick magma took form, covering more than a hectare and containing the bones of approximately 100,000 horses. This sensational discovery incited one of the archaeologist, Adrien Arcelin, to publish the first novel on prehistory in 1872. It describes how the hunters would have thrown the horses from the rock, and paved the way to a legend. The magma does not hold any complete skeletons, and Henry Testot Ferry who worked on the site for many years, showed that this is mere fiction. The horses on their seasonal migration path were watched  by the prehistoric hunters who killed them in quantities. This collective suicide of 100,000 horses falling from the rock was an easy way to also explain how cetacea come and die on the shores in a desperate warning signal launched to the inhabitants of our  planet. Seventy human skeletons were also found here, they belong to Burgundians or Merovingians.  An interesting Museum of Prehistory will teach you all about this fascinating period.  

Soon after World War II, François Mitterrand and his companions in the Resistance, came here each year for Pentecost and made the ascent of the Rock of Solutré. When he became President of the French Republic, Monsieur Mitterrand continued his pilgrimage with his friends and some ministers. This was the occasion for journalists to catch anecdots and words the President was willing to say.  He had also met his wife for the first time in the village of Solutré-Pouilly. In his book “La Paille et le Grain”, François Mitterrand wrote: “These days of Pentecost, slightly before the solstice, really are the summit of the year. In a while, my back resting on a cherry tree, I will observe the slow curve of the sun”. Indeed, the vista from the top is breathtaking.

The vineyard around this picturesque place gives the excellent and famous white wine called Pouilly-Fuissé.

The Mysterious Rock of Solutré.

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Vista from the top of the Rock of Solutré.

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Empiric image of the Horses of Solutré.

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View of the village of Solutré-Pouilly.

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The Rock of Solutré.

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Flint – Laurel leaf of the Solutrean.

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The Horse from Camargue is considered close to the Solutrean Horse.

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