In 1860, he made the now famous speech entitled "Antediluvian Man and his works" in which he affirmed that humans were contemporary with extinct animals, such as mammoth.
In 2006, at Caours, a small village located a few kilometres from Abbeville, an Inrap team revealed an fundamental site for our knowledge of Neandertals.
This site has been known in the archaeological literature since the late 20th century. Several notes were published concerning the presence of large Palaeolithic mammal remains, such as deer antlers attributed to an interglacial period.
Following these observations, a research excavation was undertaken in 2005. Five, well preserved human occupation levels were identified within a thick formation of tufas. Tufas are carbonated sediments deposited in a fluvial context in temperate conditions. This limestone formation was dated to approximately 122,000 years ago, thus allowing attribution of the human occupations of Caours to a recent phase of the Middle Palaeolithic, and more precisely within the Eemien, the last interglacial period before that of today,.
These dates make Caours a site of exceptional interest. Though northern France is rich in Middle Palaeolithic sites, until now none were dated to this interglacial period. They were attributed to phases contemporary with the beginning of the last glacial period, or pleniglacial phases. A review of the literature confirms the rarity of open-air sites attributable to the Eemien interglacial period in western Europe. The only known contemporary open-air sites are in Germany where several archaeological levels found in interglacial age tufas attest to the presence of humans during this period.
The site of Caours thus demonstrates that, in contrast to certain theories, Neandertals were present in north-west Europe during temperate periods and was not confined to a cold climate and open environment (steppe).
Due to their high limestone content, the tufas preserved the bone remains associated with stone artefacts. These remains belong to animals adapted to a temperate climate comparable to that of today, and a wooded environment: red deer, roe deer, aurochs, prairie rhinoceros, prairie elephant, wild boar, etc.
Excavation of the five occupation levels at Caours thus provides unique and essential data concerning the subsistence behaviour of these nomadic hunters of the Middle Palaeolithic. Some of these animals were hunted and consumed by the Neandertals. The anatomical representation of these bone remains shows different proportions, which attest to a differential treatment of carcasses according to the size of the animals. According to the currently available data, Caours would have served as a butchery site: the animals hunted a short distance away would have been brought to the site to be butchered and consumed. These alimentary activities are attested by numerous bone fragments with cut marks made by flint tools. Others show traces of intentional fracturing in order to recover the marrow, which was highly valued for its nutritional qualities.
Numerous stone artefacts are associated with these bone remains. The objective of flint knapping at the site seems to have been to rapidly produce flakes that could serve as knives in the butchery activities. These flakes were rather short, some having a natural back opposed to a sharp edge that was used unretouched.
After only two years of research, the results are already exceptional. This project, undertaken in the context of a research program focussing on interglacial deposits and limestone tufas in fluvial sequences in northern France (Sitep), Eclipse II-CNRS) associates Inrap and CNRS researchers. Excavation of the remaining several hundred meter squares will allow us to more precisely understand Neandertal habitats and lifeways 122,000 years ago, and to reconstruct the environment in which they evolved.
In 2006, at Caours, a small village located a few kilometres from Abbeville, an Inrap team revealed an fundamental site for our knowledge of Neandertals.
This site has been known in the archaeological literature since the late 20th century. Several notes were published concerning the presence of large Palaeolithic mammal remains, such as deer antlers attributed to an interglacial period.
Following these observations, a research excavation was undertaken in 2005. Five, well preserved human occupation levels were identified within a thick formation of tufas. Tufas are carbonated sediments deposited in a fluvial context in temperate conditions. This limestone formation was dated to approximately 122,000 years ago, thus allowing attribution of the human occupations of Caours to a recent phase of the Middle Palaeolithic, and more precisely within the Eemien, the last interglacial period before that of today,.
These dates make Caours a site of exceptional interest. Though northern France is rich in Middle Palaeolithic sites, until now none were dated to this interglacial period. They were attributed to phases contemporary with the beginning of the last glacial period, or pleniglacial phases. A review of the literature confirms the rarity of open-air sites attributable to the Eemien interglacial period in western Europe. The only known contemporary open-air sites are in Germany where several archaeological levels found in interglacial age tufas attest to the presence of humans during this period.
The site of Caours thus demonstrates that, in contrast to certain theories, Neandertals were present in north-west Europe during temperate periods and was not confined to a cold climate and open environment (steppe).
Due to their high limestone content, the tufas preserved the bone remains associated with stone artefacts. These remains belong to animals adapted to a temperate climate comparable to that of today, and a wooded environment: red deer, roe deer, aurochs, prairie rhinoceros, prairie elephant, wild boar, etc.
Excavation of the five occupation levels at Caours thus provides unique and essential data concerning the subsistence behaviour of these nomadic hunters of the Middle Palaeolithic. Some of these animals were hunted and consumed by the Neandertals. The anatomical representation of these bone remains shows different proportions, which attest to a differential treatment of carcasses according to the size of the animals. According to the currently available data, Caours would have served as a butchery site: the animals hunted a short distance away would have been brought to the site to be butchered and consumed. These alimentary activities are attested by numerous bone fragments with cut marks made by flint tools. Others show traces of intentional fracturing in order to recover the marrow, which was highly valued for its nutritional qualities.
Numerous stone artefacts are associated with these bone remains. The objective of flint knapping at the site seems to have been to rapidly produce flakes that could serve as knives in the butchery activities. These flakes were rather short, some having a natural back opposed to a sharp edge that was used unretouched.
After only two years of research, the results are already exceptional. This project, undertaken in the context of a research program focussing on interglacial deposits and limestone tufas in fluvial sequences in northern France (Sitep), Eclipse II-CNRS) associates Inrap and CNRS researchers. Excavation of the remaining several hundred meter squares will allow us to more precisely understand Neandertal habitats and lifeways 122,000 years ago, and to reconstruct the environment in which they evolved.
