La Ferrassie

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The sagittal section through the large rock shelter at La Ferrassie

La Ferrassie is an archaeological site in Savignac-de-Miremont, in the Dordogne department, France.[1] The site, located in the Vézère valley,[2] consists of a large and deep cave flanked by two rock shelters[3] within a limestone cliff, under which there is a scree slope formation.[1]

Age

Vulva engraving from the rock shelter

Artifacts found at the site are the productions of Mousterian (300-30,000 BP), Aurignacian (45–35,000 BP), and Périgordian (35–20,000 BP) cultures.[4] The cave area contains Gravettian (32–22,000 BP) objects and the scree contains objects from all these ages as well as the Châtelperronian (35-29,000 PB). The site was abandoned during the Gravettian period (27 kya).[3] Complex Mousterian burial structures found at La Ferrasie finally provided the evidence of Neandethal burial practice.[5]

Exploration history

A small area of the site was initially investigated by M. Tabanou in 1896,[3] a teacher who died of a landslide at the Badegoule rock shelter shortly thereafter.[6] Denis Peyrony and Louis Capitan explored the site in 1905, 1907 and 1912; Peyrony in 1934, Henri Delporte in 1969 and 1984, and Delporte with Tuffreau in 1984.[4][1]

Fossils

Eight buried Neanderthals have been found in La Ferrassie, including infants and two fetuses.[7]

Name Geological
age (Kya) 		Develop-
mental age 		Note
La Ferrassie 1 68–74 45 The skeleton of an adult male, including the most complete Neanderthal skull ever found.[7] Discovered in 1909.[3]
La Ferrassie 2 68–74 25–30 An incomplete cranium and skeleton of a female Neanderthal found in 1910 and dated to 68-74,000 before present. This is now kept in the Musée de l'Homme.[3]
La Ferrassie 6 68–74 3–5 Nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile discovered in 1921.[3]
La Ferrassie 8   2,5 Another Neanderthal of approximately two and a half years of age, found in 1982.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Peregrine & Ember 2001
  2. ↑ Blades 1999, Abstract
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Wood 2011
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Blades 2009
  5. ↑ Binford 1968
  6. ↑ Peyrony 1934
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Smithsonian 2010
  8. ↑ Quam, Martínez & Arsuaga 2011

References

  • Binford, SR (1968). "A Structural Comparison of Disposal of the Dead in the Mousterian and the Upper Paleolithic". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 24 (2): 139–154. JSTOR 3629419. 
  • Blades, BS (July 1999). "Aurignacian lithic economy and early modern human mobility: new perspectives from classic sites in the Vézère valley of France". J Hum Evol. 37 (1): 91–120. doi:10.1006/jhev.1999.0303. PMID 10375477. 
  • Blades, BS (2009). "Aurignacian Core Reduction and Landscape Utilization at La Ferrasie, France". In Blades, BS; Adams, B. Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 186–95. ISBN 9781444311969. 
  • Peregrine, PN; Ember, M, eds. (2001). Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Volume 4: Europe. Kluwer Acad. ISBN 9780306462641. 
  • Peyrony, D (1934). [http://193.146.160.29/gtb/sod/usu/$UBUG/repositorio/10321301_13201904.pdf

La Ferrassie: Moustérien — Périgordien — Aurignacien] (in French). Reprinted by Kraus Reprint in 1976. "En 1896, j'y fus amené par Tabanou, ce malheureux instituteur qui devait un peu plus tard périr sous un éboulement dans ses recherches à Badegoule." 

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Coordinates: 44°57′07″N 0°56′17″E / 44.95194°N 0.93806°E / 44.95194; 0.93806

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