Musée National de la Préhistoire
In the shadow of the limestone cliff that hovers above the village, this museum had a major overhaul and is now set in a modern limestone building next to a fortress-castle from the 16th century. One of the largest collections of prehistoric artifacts in Europe (“only” 18,000 of its 5 million objects are on display), this museum traces 400,000 years of human history, from the origins to the end of the Ice Age (around 10,000 B.C.). Highlights include the 15,000-year-old bone etching of a bison licking its flank, tools dating back 150,000 years and replicas of the first-known human footprints, thought to date back about 3.6 million years, as well as a very lifelike statue of a Neanderthal man. Teaching workshops are available for children, but these also need booking in advance.
In the shadow of the limestone cliff that hovers above the village, this museum had a major overhaul and is now set in a modern limestone building next to a fortress-castle from the 16th century. One of the largest collections of prehistoric artifacts in Europe (“only” 18,000 of its 5 million objects are on display), this museum traces 400,000 years of human history, from the origins to the end of the Ice Age (around 10,000 B.C.). Highlights include the 15,000-year-old bone etching of a bison licking its flank, tools dating back 150,000 years and replicas of the first-known human footprints, thought to date back about 3.6 million years, as well as a very lifelike statue of a Neanderthal man. Teaching workshops are available for children, but these also need booking in advance.
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