The Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arc belongs because it preserves an extraordinary record of early human artistic activity in its original subterranean setting. On a limestone plateau above the Ardèche River, the property contains more than 1,000 drawings, predominantly of animals, dating as early as the Aurignacian period between 30,000 and 32,000 years BP. Their importance lies not only in age, but in the range of motifs, techniques and surviving archaeological evidence.

This is not a conventional cave attraction, and the distinction is essential. A rock fall sealed the cave for approximately 20,000 years until its rediscovery in 1994, helping preserve drawings, paintings, fauna remains and human footprints. The images include mammoth, bear, cave lion, rhinoceros, bison and auroch, with shading, engraving, colour, anatomical precision and suggestions of volume and movement. The property includes the subterranean space, structurally relevant parts of the plateau, the entrance situation and immediate surroundings.

The cave’s authenticity depends on limiting human impact. Strict access restrictions, climate monitoring and reversible stainless-steel bridges protect floor traces and finds while allowing controlled access to parts of the interior. The original cave is protected at the highest national level as a historic monument, and its buffer zone has the highest level of national protection and does not permit future development. Any visit planning must therefore distinguish the protected archaeological property from interpretation or visitor arrangements outside it.