Arago Cave, Tautavel

Caune de l'Arago

France · Occitanie, Pyrénées-Orientales

CaveExcavation ongoing
Approximate periodLower Paleolithic, Middle Pleistocene See on the map ↓

In brief

The cave near Tautavel contains layers documenting repeated stays by Middle Pleistocene humans. Excavations beginning in 1964 uncovered human fossils and assemblages of stone tools and animal bones.

What was found?

  • 1Arago 21 skull remains

    These include the facial and forehead portions of the fossil known as Tautavel Man. It is an important comparative specimen for studying the anatomy of Middle Pleistocene humans.

  • 2Arago 151 human tooth

    It was found in 2018 in a 560,000-year-old occupation layer. It is among the finds linking the cave's human fossil record to earlier phases of occupation.

  • 3Bifacial stone tools and flakes

    The tools were made from different rocks; some raw materials were brought from beyond the cave's immediate surroundings. This diversity allows investigation of people's ranges of movement and stone choices.

  • 4Processed animal bones

    Bones of animals such as bison, horses and reindeer display cut marks and fractures made to access marrow. These document the butchering and processing of animals in the cave.

What does it point to?

The stones and bones show that the cave was repeatedly used to process game animals. According to researchers, different layers reflect forms of use ranging from brief hunting stops to longer stays.

What did it teach us?

  1. The human fossils provided important data on the anatomy of Middle Pleistocene European humans.
  2. The layers made it possible to trace the cave's intermittent use alongside changing climatic conditions.
  3. The stone raw materials showed that people transported materials from different regions.

Record

First modern dig
1964
Team / historical
Christian Perrenoud; Tautavel research team
Coordinates
42.8394°, 2.7550°

Sources

  1. archeologie.culture.gouv.fr
  2. sciencesdupasse.univ-toulouse.fr
  3. en.wikipedia.org
  4. patrimoines.laregion.fr
  5. Fransa Kültür Bakanlığı — Yaşam Biçimi

Nearby excavations


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12.000

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