Excavations at Roc de Marsal

The current project follows the previous excavation at the site by a local amateur in the mid-1900s.

Where

Western Europe

When

80,000–40,000 BP

Researchers

• Dr. Harold Dibble, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Shannon McPherron, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
• Dr. Alain Turq, Musée Nationale de Préhistoire
• Dr. Dennis Sandgathe, Simon Frasier University

Project Overview

Our goals are to get more information that will allow us to understand better the context of the Neanderthal infant who was presumably buried there and to investigate the hearths and their contents. Compared to other Neanderthal sites, Roc de Marsal is unusual in having discrete fire features; analysis of these will help us better interpret Neanderthal cultural behavior.

Additional Sponsors

University of Pennsylvania