Glide the mouse over the image      cabinet Guy Perazio

From 130 to 100 million years ago, this part of the Ardèche region consisted of high sea bottoms that surrounded the island that is now the Massif Central. Shell, coral, and other fossil deposits produced very thick layers that formed a large sedimentary block. Since the Tertiary era, the Ardèche River has carved this block with several meanders. The Combe d'Arc is located in the curve of one of these meanders. The following meander is that of the Pont d'Arc, a geological curiosity that must have been even more impressive during prehistoric times. During the Quaternary era (less than 2 million years ago), the water infiltrated into the block of deposits and formed underground cavities. Other cavities in close proximity to the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave were also visited, and sometimes decorated, by prehistoric humans.
The climatic conditions during the Aurignacian period in this region alternated between temperate and cold phases. Meanwhile, the cold phases dominated, as shown by the formation of steppe landscapes (vast savannas with thickets of trees in valleys and on river banks). The animals present at this time are the same as those represented in the cave. It is probable that there were also small mammals such as fox, hare and rabbits, as well as lagopeds and wolves.