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

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

prehistorian Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

Biography

A magistrate by vocation, at around the age of 28 he developed an interest in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

. He studied the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

formations of northeastern France and its fossils, and through this research he subsequently made the acquaintance of paleontologist

Édouard Lartet Édouard Lartet (15 April 180128 January 1871) was a French geologist and paleontologist, and a pioneer of Paleolithic archaeology. He is also known for coining the prehistoric taxon '' Amphicyon'', making it one of the earliest-described fossil ...

and other scientists. During a stay at the

Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; ), also referred to as just Luchon, is a Communes of France, commune and spa town in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region of south-western France. T ...

spa in the central

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, he became interested in the

glacial geology Glaciology (; ) is the scientific study of glaciers, or, more generally, ice and natural phenomena that involve ice. Glaciology is an interdisciplinary Earth science that integrates geophysics, geology, physical geography, geomorphology, clim ...

of the area and the contents of its numerous caves. During the 1880s and 1890s he performed archaeological work at various

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

and

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

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 The Société géologique de France (SGF) is a French learned society founded on 17 March 1830. As of 2006, it counts 1,200 members. History At its creation, its statutes indicate is to "compete for the advancement of Earth Sciences and Planets, ...

.Piette, Louis Edouard Stanislas
at Sociétés savantes de France In the field of

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

he circumscribed '' Cuphosolenus'' (1876), a genus of extinct

sea snails Sea snails are slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the absence of a visibl ...

Selected works

* ''Le lias inférieur de l'est de la France comprenant la Meurthe, la Moselle, le grand-duché de Luxembourg, la Belgique et la Meuse'' (with

Olry Terquem Olry Terquem (16 June 1782 – 6 May 1862) was a French mathematician. He is known for his works in geometry and for founding two scientific journals, one of which was the first journal about the history of mathematics. He was also the pseudony ...

), 1868 – The

Lower Lias The Lias Group or Lias is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) found in a large area of western Europe, including the British Isles, the North Sea, the Low Countries and the north of Germany. It consists of marine limestones, sh ...

of eastern France, including Meurthe,

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

. * ''Nomenclature des temps anthropiques primitifs'', 1879 – Classification of primitive human epochs. * ''Les subdivisions de l'époque magdalénienne et de l'époque néolithique'', 1889 – Subdivisions of the

Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

epochs. * ''L'époque éburnéenne et les races humaines de la période glyptique'', 1894 – The 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 période de transition dans la grotte du Mas d'Azil'', 1894 – Hiatus and gap. Remains from the transition period associated with the Mas-d'Azil cave * ''La station de Brassempouy et les statuettes humaines de la période glyptique'', 1895 – The Brassempouy site and human statuettes from the Glyptic period. * ''Les galets coloriés du Mas d'Azil'', 1896 – The 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 Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

. * ''Notions complémentaires sur l'Azilien'', 1904 – Additional ideas regarding the Azilian culture. * ''L'art pendant l'age du Renne. Album de cent planches'', 1907 – Art from the Reindeer Age. With

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

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 French 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