Occupation Multiple prehistoric groups settled in the cave. The remains include the
Faon aux oiseaux (Fawn with Birds), a spear thrower dated to the Middle
Magdalenian (15,000 to 13,500 years
BP), the
Coco des roseaux, a Magdalenian hunting scene with a rudimentary human figure, engraved on a fragment of an animal shoulder blade, as well as a young girl's skull, "Magda" (15,000 years old) with two carved bone plates simulating eyes in the orbits. The cave also contains several decorated galleries, such as the Breuil gallery or the Reindeer gallery, The cave gave its name to the
Azilian, a prehistoric culture of the
Epipaleolithic (around 12,000 to 9,500 years BP) between the
Magdalenian and the
Mesolithic. There is a
microlithic industry, with flat harpoons and many painted pebbles (with red ochre dating back 10,000 years). In the
Neolithic period (5,000 to 2,500 BP), many
dolmens were erected in and around the village. Pottery, included from the
Gauls, was also found in the cave.
Archaeological excavations The road within the cave was constructed based on a 1857 plan. The excavation work caused the deplacement of
sediment, and archaeological remains then appear on the right bank in the area. For almost 40 years (between the end of the 1840s and the 1880s), geologist studied the cave. He mainly looked for fossil bones and
topographed the area. After the flood of the
Arize in 1875, new excavations were organized by Félix Régnault and Tibulle Ladevèze. From 1887 to 1894, Édouard Piette explored the cave, established a prehistoric chronology based on the evolution of artistic productions and introduced the term of
Azilian. One room bears his name today. In 1901 and 1902, Henri Breuil studied
parietal art. Research resumed in the middle of the 20th century by Marthe and . In 1937, they explored the Silex gallery and discovered one of the most important Magdalenian habitats in the
Pyrenees. They discovered objects there such as the
Faon aux oiseaux (in 1940) and the pierced stick with a horse protome. From the mid-1930s to 1950s, Joseph Mandement and his wife explored the right bank of the cave by unblocking and clearing new galleries and cavities. They found, among others, the Bear gallery (''Gallerie de l'ours'') and the skull called "Magda" in 1948. André Alteirac conducted a series of excavations and studies during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1977, he invited Denis Vialou, a member of the
National Museum of Natural History, to study the parietal art of the "Breuil Gallery". In the 1980s, François Rouzaud, an archaeologist and speleologist, produced a plan of the cave for the Ministry of Culture, which was never published. During a preventive excavation carried out by the Inrap (), dwellings from 35,000 years BP, from the
Aurignacian period, were discovered. A team of researchers from the
University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès has been working in the cave since 2013. They are carrying out a major general inventory of the cave and the entire massif. Several lines of research are being developed around cartography, geology and archaeology.
Some objects found in the cave Spear-thrower titled "Fawn with birds" () File:Faon aux oiseaux face 1.jpg|Full view of the
spear-thrower File:Propulseur - Faon aux oiseaux.jpg|Part view of the spear-thrower File:Faon aux oiseaux detail.jpg|Detail of the spear-thrower
Other carvings File:Paleolithic horse3.JPG| File:Figurine féminine dans une dent de cheval - Mas D'azil (Ariège).jpg| File:Musée d'Archéologie Nationale grotte mas d'azil propulseur.JPG|
Bone carvings File:Harpon 2010.0.3.5. Global simple .JPG| File:Harpons aziliens - MAN 18 19.jpg| File:Fragment osseux peint du Mas d'Azil - MAN.jpg|
Stone carvings File:Perçoirs aziliens - MAN 26 27 28.jpg| File:Pointes aziliennes MAN 29 30 31.jpg|
Painted pebbles File:Galet peint MHNT.PRE.2006.0.100.jpg| File:Galet peint MHNT.PRE.2006.0.93.jpg| File:Galet peint MHNT.PRE.MAZ.15.jpg| File:Galets peints Mas d'Azil - MAN 61 62 64 65.jpg| File:Galets peints Mas d'Azil - MAN 61 62 63.jpg|
Engraved pebbles File:Galet gravé Mas d'Azil - MAN 55.jpg| File:Galet gravé Mas d'Azil - MAN 45.jpg| == History ==