Grotte de Cotencher

The Grotte de Cotencher is a cave in the Jura Mountains located in the Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It is a high-altitude Mousterian site, the first of its kind discovered in Switzerland in 1867, and it has served as a reference for research on the fauna contemporary with the Mousterian since the first major excavations.

Photo: JPGeiss, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Type: Cave
Description: cave and archaeological site in Rochefort in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Also known as: “Cotencher, Palaeolithic residential cave” and “Hohle von Cotencher”

Places of Interest Nearby

Highlights: Le Château, ruins of Rochefort castle - Middle Ages and Chambrelien railway station.

Le Château, ruins of Rochefort castle - Middle Ages

Castle

Photo: Finsteraarhorn, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Le Château, ruins of Rochefort castle - Middle Ages is situated 410 metres northwest of Grotte de Cotencher.

Chambrelien railway station

Railway station

Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Chambrelien railway station is a railway station in the municipality of Rochefort, in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. It is a reversing station on the standard gauge Neuchâtel–Le Locle-Col-des-Roches line of Swiss Federal Railways. Chambrelien railway station is situated 1 km northeast of Grotte de Cotencher.

Rocher des Tablettes

Peak

Photo: Micmac, CC BY 1.0.

The Rocher des Tablettes is a mountain of the Jura, located west of Rochefort in the canton of Neuchâtel. Its south side consists of steep limestone cliffs overlooking the valley of the Areuse.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include Bôle and Boudry.

Bôle

Village

Photo: Nfriedli, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bôle is a former municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The municipalities of Auvernier, Bôle and Colombier merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Milvignes. Bôle is situated 2½ km east of Grotte de Cotencher.

Boudry

Village

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Boudry is a municipality in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Boudry is situated 3 km southeast of Grotte de Cotencher.

Bevaix

Village

Photo: Renhour48, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bevaix is a former municipality in the district of Boudry in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Bevaix, Saint-Aubin-Sauges, Gorgier, Vaumarcus, Montalchez and Fresens merged into the new municipality of La Grande-Béroche. Bevaix is situated 4 km south of Grotte de Cotencher.

Grotte de Cotencher

Categories: archaeological site and landform
Location: Rochefort, Boudry District, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Central Europe, Europe
View on OpenStreetMap

Latitude

46.96375° or 46° 57′ 50″ north

Longitude

6.80224° or 6° 48′ 8″ east

Open location code

8FR8XR72+FV

OpenStreetMap ID

node 393372054

OpenStreetMap feature

natural=cave_entrance

Wikidata ID

Q1643779

This page is based on OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.

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Satellite Map

Discover this place from above in high-definition satellite imagery.

In Other Languages

From French to German—“Grotte de Cotencher” goes by many names.

French: “Cotencher, grotte paléolithique”
French: “Grotte de Cotencher”
German: “Cotencher, altsteinzeitliche Wohnhöhle”
German: “Höhle von Cotencher”
“Grotte de Cottencher”

Notable Places Nearby

Highlights: Grotte du Chemin de Fer and Centrale hydroélectrique Combe-Garot.

Nearby Places

Places to explore: 24+ and 27.

Switzerland: Must-Visit Destinations

Worth a closer look: Zurich and Bern.

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