Grotte des Baumes-Chaudes, Cave in Massegros Causses Gorges, France

The Grotte des Baumes-Chaudes is a cave on the edge of the Causse de Sauveterre in the Massegros Causses Gorges area of France. It has several entrances that open into a wide corridor leading down into deeper sections with vertical shafts.

The cave served as a burial site at the end of the Neolithic period, and the doctor Prunières uncovered around 300 skeletons there in the 19th century. These finds made the site a reference point in European prehistoric research.

The Grotte des Baumes-Chaudes sits below the southern edge of the Causse de Sauveterre and can be reached from the parking area near the Point Sublime. From the entrance, the view over the Gorges du Tarn opens up, making the walk there worthwhile on its own.

The path to the entrance is easy to walk and manageable for families, but the inside of the cave requires some climbing experience to reach the deeper sections. Bring sturdy footwear and a flashlight before heading in.

Prunières's excavations yielded about 300 skeletons, many with deliberately perforated skulls whose healed bone edges show that most of those operated on survived. The elongated, dolichocephalic skulls led specialists to speak of a "Baumes-Chaudes race", later renamed the "Baumes-Chaudes type", compared to Cro-Magnon people.