Édouard Piette

Édouard Louis Stanislas Piette (11 March 1827, Aubigny-les-Pothées – 5 June 1906, Rumigny) was a French archaeologist and prehistorian.

Biography

A magistrate by vocation, at around the age of 28 he developed an interest in geology. He studied the limestone formations of northeastern France and its fossils, and through this research he subsequently made the acquaintance of paleontologist Édouard Lartet and other scientists. During a stay at the Bagnères-de-Luchon spa in the central Pyrenees, he became interested in the glacial geology of the area and the contents of its numerous caves.

During the 1880s and 1890s he performed archaeological work at various Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites in southwestern France. From his excavatory findings at Mas-d'Azil in 1887, he introduced the " Azilian culture" to bridge the space between the local Paleolithic and Mesolithic phases. Also, he proposed a subdivision of the French Paleolithic into the Amygdalithic, Niphetic and Glyptic phases, but the idea was not widely accepted by other archaeologists.Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
by Timothy Darvill

From his excavations in southwestern France, he found numerous objects of prehistoric art. Among his discoveries at the cavern of Mas-d'Azil was a statuette of a female carved from the tooth of an equine. At ''Grotte du Pape'' near Brassempouy, fragments of seven statuettes were uncovered, including the so-called '' Dame de Brassempouy''. Piette was among the first to support the authenticity and antiquity of the Altamira cave art.

He served as president of the Société historique de haute-Picardie and was a member of the Société d'Anthropologie de Paris and the Société géologique de France.Piette, Louis Edouard Stanislas
at Sociétés savantes de France

In the field of paleontology he circumscribed ''Cuphosolenus'' (1876), a genus of extinct sea snails.

Selected works

* ''Le lias inf̩rieur de l'est de la France comprenant la Meurthe, la Moselle, le grand-duch̩ de Luxembourg, la Belgique et la Meuse'' (with Olry Terquem), 1868 РThe Lower Lias of eastern France, including Meurthe, Moselle, Luxembourg, Belgium and Meuse.
* ''Nomenclature des temps anthropiques primitifs'', 1879 – Classification of primitive human epochs.
* ''Les subdivisions de l'̩poque magdal̩nienne et de l'̩poque n̩olithique'', 1889 РSubdivisions of the Magdalenian and Neolithic epochs.
* ''L'̩poque ̩burn̩enne et les races humaines de la p̩riode glyptique'', 1894 РThe Eburnean era and the human race of the Glyptic period.
* ''Une station sulistrienne à Gourdan'', 1894.
* ''Les fouilles de Brassempouy en 1894'' – Excavations at Brassempouy in 1894.
* ''Hiatus et lacune. Vestiges de la p̩riode de transition dans la grotte du Mas d'Azil'', 1894 РHiatus and gap. Remains from the transition period associated with the Mas-d'Azil cave
* ''La station de Brassempouy et les statuettes humaines de la p̩riode glyptique'', 1895 РThe Brassempouy site and human statuettes from the Glyptic period.
* ''Les galets colori̩s du Mas d'Azil'', 1896 РThe colored pebbles of Mas-d'Azil.
* ''Gravure du Mas d'Azil et statuettes de Menton'', 1902 – Engravings from Mas-d'Azil and the statuettes of Menton.
* ''Notions compl̩mentaires sur l'Azilien'', 1904 РAdditional ideas regarding the Azilian culture.
* ''L'art pendant l'age du Renne. Album de cent planches'', 1907 – Art from the Reindeer Age.
With epigraphist Julien Sacaze, he was co-author of ''La Montagne d'Espiaup'' (1877) and ''Les monuments de la montagne d'Espiaup (Pyrénées)'' (1878).Google Search
(published works)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piette, Edouard
1827 births
1906 deaths
People from Ardennes (department)
French archaeologists
French paleontologists
Prehistorians
Azilian

External links

Matthew R. Goodrum, "Edouard Piette." Biographical Dictionary of the History of Paleoanthropology. Edited by Matthew R. Goodrum (2019) available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xBACqUtpEuevFEqcCcl_Yjh_W41PwS-I/view