Mas-d'Azil, a road that passes through a natural cave inhabited since prehistoric times

Hills and mountains are geographical features that pose serious obstacles to road communication.

The great cave of La Cuevona de Ribadesella, in Asturias, and its beautiful natural surroundings
Shegeng Chuandong, an enormous natural arch crossed by a road

To overcome these obstacles, humanity has built bridges and tunnels since ancient times. In other cases, they have taken advantage of nature's own work, as Aventuras Entresierras showed us in February in their video about the natural cave of La Cuevona de Ribadesella, in Asturias. 522 kilometers east of this place, in southern France, there is another very old cave which, like that Asturian cave, is crossed by a road.

The Mas d'Azil cave is a natural grotto 460 meters long. It is located in the village of Le Mas d'Azil, in the Arize Valley, in the Ariège Department. This cave is the result of erosion caused by the Arize River in the Plantaurel massif, in the Ariège Pyrenees, over millions of years. In 1857, construction began on a road through the cave, and during the works, the archaeological treasures hidden within were discovered.

This cave has been inhabited since prehistoric times. For 40 years, the Catholic priest and paleontologist Jean-Jacques Pouech investigated and studied the remains found in Mas-d'Azil, which include cave paintings, ceramic remains, tools, fossils of different types of animals and bone remains of a girl from 15,000 years ago, who is popularly known today as Magda.

Today, the cave not only houses a paved road, used by various types of vehicles, but also a museum that allows visitors to see some of its archaeological treasures. In recent years, dwellings dating back some 35,000 years have even been discovered.

The Mas-d'Azil cave remains an archaeological site under investigation by a team from the University of Toulouse-Jean-Jaurès, who have been working inside for twelve years. Among the animal remains found there are woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and cave bears. This cave is an example of how the needs of the modern world can coexist with a site dedicated to researching our most distant past.

This Monday, The Tim Traveller posted a video in which he takes a bike ride through the interior of the Mas-d'Azil cave, showing its interior and some of the findings that were discovered there:

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Main photo: JYB Devot.