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2017-08-20 10:29:06   •   ID: 1636

Mousterian from the Château de la Roche-Courbon site

Figure 1
is a classic, very flat, paper thin, non-Levallois  Mousterian Point from the Château de la Roche-Courbon site (Charente-Maritime; 7x4,5x cm).

It has an uncommon square outline, very rare during the Middle Paleolithic of the old world.

Not far from Saintes, at St. Porchaire, the river Bruant, a small tributary of the Charente, flows through the gardens of the Château de la Roche Courbon, feeding its water features. The Grotte Château de La Roche Courbon (caves of the Chateau La Roche Courbon) are numerous small caverns located south of the castle at the foot of a limestone cliff. The caves were used during the Paleolithic and numerous remains were found in the caves since the 1880ies. The diggings were unsystematically and non-scientific-therefore we have only a vague idea what was present at these sites and what got lost.

Lithics found at Grotte Château de La Roche Courbon come from the Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian and can bee seen in the Museum at the Château. No contextual informations have survived. Much lithic material was discarded during for reasons of space. Other prehistoric sites at the Bruant are known:

  • La Vauzelle ( MTA, Mousterian Quina, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian, Magdalenian)


  • Grottes de La Flétrie (Mousterian and Aurignacian)


  • Grottes du Triangle (engraved Plaquette probably Magdalenian)


Further reading: André Debénath Néandertaliens et Cro-Magons : Les temps glaciaires dans le bassin de la Charente 2006 (e-book for a very cheap price!



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