Gisement préhistorique du Régourdou
MonumentHidden Treasure
Gisement préhistorique du Régourdou, located in Montignac (Dordogne), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Montignac, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 45.0550, 1.1786
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00082695
In the heart of the Périgord Noir, the Régourdou reveals the secrets of a Neanderthal dating back 70,000 years, discovered in the context of an intentional burial that shook the world of palaeoanthropology.
History
Just a few hundred metres from the famous Lascaux cave, the Régourdou prehistoric site is one of the most exceptional Palaeolithic sites in France, if not Europe. Discovered by chance in 1954 by Roger Constant during excavation work, the site contains a remarkable density of bone remains, Mousterian tools and, above all, the remains of a Neanderthal whose burial appears to have followed an elaborate funerary ritual - a revelation that profoundly reshaped our understanding of archaic humanity. What makes Régourdou absolutely unique among Middle Palaeolithic sites is the coexistence, in a limited space, of human bones and a prodigious quantity of cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) remains. The presence of a stone box containing bear bones in the immediate vicinity of the human burial site has led many researchers to envisage a bear cult, a symbolic practice of unsuspected sophistication for a species long thought to lack abstract thought. The experience of visiting Régourdou is both intimate and striking. The site, which is still partially open to excavation, allows visitors to observe in situ the sedimentary layers that have preserved these testimonies over dozens of millennia. Live specimens of brown bear are on display on site, creating a vivid and disturbing link with the animals that shared this territory with our distant ancestors. The natural setting amplifies the emotion of the place: perched on the wooded heights of the Vézère valley, the Régourdou is set in a landscape of limestone and oak trees typical of the Périgord Noir, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the heading "Vézère Valley - prehistoric sites and decorated caves". To come here is to visit the cradle of thinking humanity, where the boundary between animal and human is at its thinnest and most disturbing.
Architecture
Régourdou is not a built monument in the traditional sense of the term, but an open-air archaeological site and cave, whose "architecture" is that of nature and time. The site is located on a limestone outcrop typical of the Périgord Noir region, at an altitude of around 200 metres, on a south-east-facing slope. The porous Cretaceous limestone is ideal for the formation of cavities, and has naturally sheltered the sedimentary deposits that have preserved the remains over dozens of millennia. The stratigraphy of the site reveals a succession of alluvial layers, clayey silts and pebbles produced by gelifract - the process of fragmentation of rock by frost - typical of the Würmian sequences of the Périgord. It was within these layers, at a depth of around 1.5 to 2 metres, that the Neanderthal burial was located, protected by a structure of deliberately placed local limestone slabs. The associated bone caisson, also composed of rough blocks, is the only known example of ursid 'funerary furniture' from the Middle Palaeolithic. The current museographical layout, modest and respectful of the site, includes light shelters covering the excavation areas, allowing direct reading of the stratigraphic sections, as well as an educational trail and the brown bear enclosures, which extend the in situ mediation.
Related Figures
Roger Constant — propriétaire du terrain, découvreur involontaire du site en 1954Eugène Bonifay — préhistorien du CNRS, premier fouilleur scientifique du Régourdou (1957-1964)Henri Nougier — abbé et préhistorien, premier alerté lors des découvertes initialesRégourdou 1 — individu néandertalien découvert sur le site, figure centrale de la paléoanthropologie mondialeJoão Zilhão — paléoanthropologue, ses travaux ont renforcé la thèse de la sépulture intentionnelle néandertalienneFrancesco d'Errico — archéologue spécialisé dans les capacités cognitives des Néandertaliens, ayant contribué à l'analyse du site
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Gisement préhistorique du Régourdou located?
Gisement préhistorique du Régourdou is located in Montignac, Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
Is Gisement préhistorique du Régourdou open to visitors?
Gisement préhistorique du Régourdou is currently closed to visitors.