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La sépulture du Roc-de-Cave a été fouillée en 1928 dans des conditions difficiles. Longtemps délaissé car considéré comme douteux, ce squelette largement ocré, archéologiquement complet, vient de faire l'objet d'une étude qui a permis de bien le dater: 11 210±140 B.P. Il s'agit probablement d'un(e) adolescent(e) âgé(e) de 15 à 18 ans, de sexe indéterminable, de stature moyenne (1,50 mètre). Le contexte archéologique (lamelles à dos courbe) et la présence de canines de cerf confirment bien son attribution culturelle à la fin du Magdalénien.
The burial of the Roc-de-Cave was excavated in 1928 under difficult conditions. Long neglected because considered impaired, this skeleton was sprinkled with ochre, is archaeologically complete, and came to be the object of study which has permitted the skeletion to be well dated: 11 210 ± 140 BP. It is probably an adolescent aged between 15 to 18 years, sex indeterminate, and is of average stature (1.50 m). The archaeological context (curve-backed blades) and the presence of deer teeth confirm its cultural attribution to the late Magdalenian.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Original on display at Le Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
The skeleton has been very well presented.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Original on display at Le Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
The skull has been well preserved.
In 1928, M.Vialle found the skeleton, probably a burial, just outside "Roc-de-Cave" cave, in the vallon de la Melve, Saint Cirq Madelon (Lot). (J.Blanchard 1934, Une nouvelle Lampe paléolithique (Saint Cirq-Madelon), Bull. Soc. prehist. fr. 31: 515.) Artifacts belonging to several phases of the Upper Palaeolithic (Solutrean, Magdalenian) and the Azilian have been found in the cave. The human material is attributed, with reservation, to the Azilian. d.Peyrony 1949, le perigord prehistorique, perigueux: 21.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Original on display at Le Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
Text: Adapted from http://gbs.ur-plaza.osaka-cu.ac.jp/kaseki/europe/roc_de_cave.php
Map of the area in which the skeleton was found.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Display at Le Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac
La parure du Roc-de-Cave Canines de cervidés percées et gravées, perles en stéatite et coquillages (Trivia europea)
The parure of Roc-de-Cave includes 70 pierced and engraved deer canine teeth, soapstone beads and shells (Trivia europa, now called Trivia monacha)
Photo: (Left) http://www.musee-prehistoire-eyzies.fr/pages/page_id19260_u1l2.htm
Photo: (Right) Wikipedia, Trivia monacha shells, hand-picked from beachdrift, from near Aberffraw, Anglesey. Scale is in cm. Trivia monacha, also known as the European cowrie or spotted cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Triviidae.
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