The Grotte du Lazaret (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Cave of Le Lazaret'') is an archaeological

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

site of prehistoric human occupation study, situated in the eastern suburbs of the French town of

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, overlooking the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. Results of excavations have been interpreted as to account for the construction of shelters by humans during the Lower Paleolithic period. Research teams have unearthed more than 20,000 fossilized faunal bone fragments. Two hundred thousand year old cranial fragments of a nine year old juvenile found in the cave suggest the presence of either ''

Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' (also ''H. sapiens heidelbergensis''), sometimes called Heidelbergs, is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during the Middle Pleistocene. It was subsumed as a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' i ...

'' or a proto-

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

human.

The possible shelter

Occupation layers of the cave in use during

marine isotopic stage Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, or oxygen isotope stages (OIS), are alternating warm and cool periods in the Earth's paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data reflecting changes in temperature derived from data f ...

6 (186,000 to 127,000 years ago) were excavated during the 1970s and may demonstrate construction abilities and other organisational skills by the inhabitants at the time. Close to the mouth of the cave and along one wall were found

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...

stone tools along with fragments of animal bone surrounding two circular charcoal concentrations which likely served as hearths. This occupation area measures and was delimited by the cave wall on three sides and on the fourth by a sinuous line of large stones. It is these which have been interpreted as having served as packing stones that could have been used to support the poles of an animal skin tent pitched against the cave wall. No evidence of the organic tent poles or tent itself would have survived but stone tool flakes and animal bone appear to spill outwards from between the stones at two points which may represent entrances to the conjectured shelter. Finds of tiny sea shells surrounding the hearths may represent seaweed brought into the cave to serve as bedding. This may indicate specialised activity areas within the settlement with an inner domestic area and an outer one which would have been covered by the tent but presumably used for another purpose. It is by no means certain that the stones were brought into the cave and placed by people however and natural processes or a reason for their placement not involving a structure may explain their presence. The limited evidence from nearby sites where similar stone tools and other cultural material have been found close to concentrations of natural rocks is less compelling than at Le Lazaret. Examples of these similar sites include

La Baume Bonne LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

(in

Quinson Quinson (; oc, Quinçon) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. History Prehistory In the nearby Gorges du Verdon, there are a number of caves (known as "baumes"), which were occupied intermittently f ...

, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) and Orgnac. The evidence for housing in the archaeological record prior to the arrival of modern humans 50,000 years ago is slim, although any flimsy structure built prior to this time is unlikely to leave unmistakable archaeological traces after so long.

Bibliography

* Scarre, C (ed.) (2005). ''The Human Past'', London: Thames and Hudson. .

Footnotes

# De Lumley, 1975, ''Cultural evolution in France in its palaeoecological setting during the middle Pleistocene'', in After the Australopithecines, Butzer, KW and Isaac, G Ll. (eds) 745—808. The Hague:Mouton, qtd in Scarre, 2005

External links

Laboratoire de Préhistoire du Lazaret
- the French academic and government body that studies early prehistory in the region and which is based close to the cave (in French only). {{Authority control Prehistoric sites in France

Lazaret A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. ...

Nice Landforms of Alpes-Maritimes Landforms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur