Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Layer by layer: the Upper Palaeolithic at Mas d’Azil cave revealed


The upstream entrance of the cave of Mas d’Azil/cleaning of the upper archaeological layers. Images: © Marc Jarry / Inrap

Mas d’Azil is an immense cave and is one of the major prehistoric sites in France. Classed as an historic monument since 1942, it is also a very popular tourist site. The construction of a visitor centre and site path by the commune of Mas d’Azil requires archaeological intervention and two phases have already been completed. The first; a trench to house the buried pipes that traverse the road and the second; the visitor centre located inside the cave.

The cave of Mas d’Azil and French prehistory

The first research at this site was carried out in 1860 with Félix Garrigou presenting the general stratigraphy in 1867. Twenty years later, Édouard Piette conducted extensive excavations. Throughout these years, thousands of flint tools and hundreds of portable art objects were recovered.

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