Abstract Located on the same hillside as Pech Merle, 800 metres from the entrance of that famous decorated cave, the site of Petit Cloup Barrat opens onto the edge of a small doline. Though partially excavated at the beginning of the 20th century, this site has never been published. A test pit in 2003 was followed by excavations at the entrance of the cave in 2004 and 2005. The stratigraphic sequence, whose base is still unknown, yielded abundant lithic and organic remains attributed to the Middle Magdalenian, Badegoulian and Solutrean. In the upper ensemble, attributed to the Middle Magdalenian, numerous flint blade tools (scrapers, burins, borers and retouched blades) coexist with backed bladelets. The Badegoulian is identified based on flake tools, including raclettes and transverse burins on notches. The Solutrean, still little excavated, is characterized by fragmented shouldered points and one fragment of a Willow Leaf Point. The bone industry includes eyed needles, matrices on fox tibias and retouchers on medium-sized ungulate diaphyses. The antler projectile points are highly variable (with or without groove, double or median bevel, round or oval section). A fragment of a barbed element and a fragment of a bâton percé complete the inventory. Sawed and/ or pierced shells, principally dentalia, and herbivore incisors (reindeer, ibex) were used to make personal ornaments. A few fossils, some with distant origins, were also discovered. Archaeozoological analysis shows the marked presence of reindeer, followed by horse. Red deer and fox are attested by a few remains. The osseous material preserved in the cave permits precise observation of hunting seasons, butchery traces and modes of combustion. The site of Petit Cloup Barrat is localized within an ensemble of Upper Palaeolithic sites around the confluence of the Lot and Célé Rivers, including Cuzoul de Vers and Les Peyrugues. The study of this plateau site is thus integrated in a context of palaeoethnographic hypotheses that have already been partially proposed. The analysis of the material and integration of the results will contribute to a characterization of the subsistence economy in a still little-known natural environment and clarify its relationship with the sites that constitute its environment on different scales. The proximity of Pech Merle Cave and the possibility of establishing links between a dwelling site and a decorated cave constitute an additional motivation for our research.