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At the Terra Amata site near Nice, the remains of shallow huts, made of wooden poles supported by stones, have been found. Some of the huts, which date between 450,000 and 380,000 BC, had hearths which are believed to be the earliest evidence of humankind’s controlled use of fire. A dwelling of animal skins draped over a wooden framework, found inside Lazaret Cave, may be even older; at between 500,000 and 400,000 BC, it predates Neanderthal man. These finds, which can be viewed nearby at the Prehistoric Museum of Terra Amata, include axes and stone tools as well as the bones of elephants, rhinos, red deer and giant oxen.
The first visitors were probably seasonal nomads. For many years, archeologists believed that poor local hunting precluded any long-term, early settlement in Provence. As proof, they cited the absence of early cave paintings of large game animals such as those found at Lascaux. But in 1991, a remarkable discovery by a local diver, Henri Cosquer, changed everything.
COSQUER’S CAVE Diving in the calanques, deep narrow inlets in the rocky coastal cliffs between Cassis and Marseilles, Cosquer entered a cave about 120 feet below sea level and, after swimming upward into a vast, air-filled chamber, found himself surrounded by pictures of stenciled human hands, animals and, unusually for Paleolithic cave paintings, sea creatures. Scientists found enough charcoal and carbon in the primitive artwork for very accurate radio carbon dating. Tests showed that Cosquer’s Cave was in continuous use over a period of almost 9,000 years, until the seas rose and concealed the entrance after the last Ice Age. The stenciled hands have been firmly dated to 27,000 years ago. Some of the animals, including aurochs, horses, chamoix and megaloceros, a giant Ice Age deer, are about 18,500 years old. Cosquer’s Cave is considered one of the most important and well-dated Paleolithic caves in the world. The entrance is now blocked, but Henri Cosquer still takes divers on tours of the calanques. |
Elsewhere in Provence, the bories (pages 114-15) provide more evidence of Prehistoric, probably Iron Age, habitation. Thousands of these beehive-shaped, mortarless stone dwellings are scattered across the Lubéron and the Vaucluse Plateau. Water-tight, thick-walled and relatively warm inside, Bories remained in use as animal pens, tool sheds and, occasionally, dwellings, through the 18th century.
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