Archeotrail: the domain of Neanderthal

The ruins of Goulandière tell the story of men who came to cultivate the land in this hamlet lost in the heart of the forest of Coulmes, without any water, as a challenge to nature. The houses are built on the rock, not to reduce the fields gained on the forest. The recent rehabilitation of the hamlet makes it possible to imagine this rude existence. Theme circuits invite you to discover the lifestyles of the Middle Ages.

Le hameau de la "petite" Goulandière prolonge l'implantation humaine passée. L'agriculture et l'exploitation du bois étaient alors les seules ressources, comme en témoigne encore quelques traces dans le paysage.

From the path, a belvedere allows you to admire the waterfall of Moulin Marquis and the Cirque du Bournillon. With its 400 m of fall, it is one of the most important waterfalls in France. At its foot stands the cave of Bournillon with its magnificent porch. This cave is today the temporary emergence of the largest karst basin of the Vercors.

The cave of Preletang is the witness of human and animal occupations dating back several tens of thousands of years. Indeed, it has been the den of cave bears, species now disappeared, as evidenced by the rock made smooth by their repeated friction against the walls of the cave ("bear polis"). And the collapse of part of the porch sealed the traces of the Neanderthals who had stayed there 46,000 years ago.More than 300 flint tools were discovered on the site. They are made up of scrapers, spearheads, and waist chips. Most of the tools were not made locally but brought by the Neanderthals who were sheltering under the porch of the cave during hunting expeditions. The remains of wildlife brought to light consist of stag, deer, wild boar, marmot and ibex.Thus, thanks to this exceptional site, it is known that Neanderthals traveled the plateau of Vercors before the last glaciation. These men, our distant cousins, knew perfectly where to shelter, hunt and collect flint. It will be necessary to wait until the end of the last ice age (the Würm) so that the man, this time modern, ventures again on the massif.

Near the parking lot, a little further up the road you will find the Pétouze fountain and its picnic area. This fountain is one of the few permanent sources of the Coulmes massif, which has very few water points on the surface.Indeed, on a karst ground, water tends to infiltrate quickly and deep into the ground to reemerge further and lower. On the Coulmes massif, the rain and melting water emerge in the valleys of the Nan, the Isère and the Bourne.