From gorge to Causse in the land of the vultures (Day 2).

6 points of interest

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  History

  Capluc

  Capluc was once a defensive and surveillance site, with a castle that (like many of the village’s houses) no longer exists. Some of the houses were renovated once a track suitable for motor vehicles was opened to the hamlet. The name Capluc is believed to come from cap and luz, meaning head and light, thus symbolising the place illuminated by the first rays of the rising sun. 
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  Agriculture

  Capluc and its terraces

  As you leave Capluc, you become aware of how the site, which at first sight seems barren, has in fact been shaped by humans. All of this south-facing slope, which is protected by the tall dolomite cliffs, was farmed using terraces (grains, fruit trees, grapevines). Temperatures are so favourable that the most southern Mediterranean vegetation of the region grows here (narrow-leaved ash, jasmine, Montpellier maple, holm oak, etc.). 

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  Landscape

  Balcon du vertige (vertigo balcony)

  This site, almost 400m above the bed of the Jonte, deserves it name. It is the only spot on the walk from which you have such breathtaking views over the gorge. Opposite you is the Causse Noir, with a heavily fissured rock in the foreground, the Ranc del Pater, on which remain some wall sections of Saint Michael’s hermitage (former château of Montorsier). The tall rectangular cliff on its right is known as Roc Fabié. If you lean forwards, you can see, from upstream to downstream, La Caze and Le Truel hamlets, and below you the Maison des Vautours (vulture belvedere), which was opened in 1998 and traces the local history of vultures. 

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  Fauna

  Vultures

  You are close to the historic site where the griffon vulture was reintroduced from 1982 onwards. Since then, the cinereous vulture (1992) and the bearded vulture (2012) have also been reintroduced. The Egyptian vulture returned of its own accord in 1986. It nested locally in 1997, but it remains rare and very localised in this region. In the Mediterranean basin, the presence of vultures is associated with sheep farming and herd mortality.

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  History

  L'Homme-Mort (Dead Man’s) Cave

  In 1867 Dr Barthélémy Prunières and Prof Paul Broca discovered some 50 human skeletons from the Chalcolithic or Copper Age (2,200 to 1,800 BC) in this cavity with its almost round entrance. It was the first ever discovery in France of skulls bearing signs of trepanning-style lesions that were in the process of scarring over. Trepanning was carried out using a flint drill. The surgeon operated rather brutally to begin with, but once the cancellous bone had been penetrated, he seems to have drilled into the internal table of the skull bone more carefully. The individuals treated in this way were normally adults.
  In some cases, where the skull had previously been staved in, the purpose was probably to relieve the injury.

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  Fauna

  Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)

  A hyperactive on its perch. With its long pointed wings, it flutters very rapidly, swallowing insects in the process. It has difficulty hiding its agitation as it perches in well-exposed places, rapidly flexing its legs and moving its tail as if it has the hiccups.