L’abri Pataud is the only prehistoric site in the Dordogne to have been converted into a museum. It is situated 15 metres above the river Vézère at the foot of an imposing cliff which dominates the village of les Eyzies-de-Tayac. Not far away to the north is the famous Cro-Magnon shelter whose discovery made the village of Les Eyzies known to all prehistorians. In the remains of a prehistoric shelter which has now largely collapsed there is an excavation site where you can follow the successions of prehistoric occupations by looking at a stratigraphic section which is more than 9 metres high. Archaeological digs have revealed that there were more than forty encampments there between 35,000 and 20,000 years ago covering the Aurignacian, Gravettian and Solutrean periods. Some metres away, there is an area of the shelter which is still intact. The museum is located inside this cave, where artefacts found at this site are displayed along with the results of research by prehistorians (panels, models, reconstructions …) which allow us to understand better who Cro-Magnon was and how he lived.