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| Pech-de-l'Azé | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pech-de-l'Azé |
| Map type | France |
| Location | Les Eyzies, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France |
| Epoch | Upper Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic |
| Cultures | Mousterian, Aurignacian, Gravettian |
| Archaeologists | Henri‑Édouard‑Constantin Breuil, Denis Peyrony, Edouard Piette |
Pech-de-l'Azé is a complex of prehistoric rock shelters and caves in the Vézère valley near Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France, notable for stratified deposits spanning Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations. The site has contributed to debates on Neanderthal behavior, modern human dispersal, and Paleolithic technology through excavations by figures such as Henri Breuil, Denis Peyrony, and Edouard Lartet. Its assemblages include Mousterian, Aurignacian, and Gravettian layers that inform regional syntheses by scholars connected to institutions like the Musée national de Préhistoire and comparisons with sites such as La Ferrassie and Grotte du Renne.
Pech-de-l'Azé sits in the limestone landscape of the Vézère valley within the Dordogne (department) of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, adjacent to the commune of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil. The shelters occupy a cliff face overlooking a tributary of the Dordogne River, within a karstic massif related to regional systems like Grotte de Font-Robert and Grotte du Roc de Cazelle. The geomorphology links to broader Pleistocene landscapes studied at La Madeleine (archaeological site) and Cap Blanc (site), and to riverine terraces correlated with work by researchers from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and teams involved in the Allerød and Younger Dryas palaeoclimatic frameworks.
The shelters were first recorded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during surveys by collectors and excavators such as Édouard Lartet, Henry Christy, and later systematic excavations by Henri Breuil, Denis Peyrony, and Edouard Piette. 20th-century campaigns integrated methods from proponents like Mortimer Wheeler and stratigraphic principles advanced by Gabriel de Mortillet and later refined in the tradition of François Bordes. Excavation archives connect to repositories at the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale and publications in journals associated with the Société préhistorique française and the Journal of Human Evolution.
Stratigraphic sequences at the shelters display alternating layers attributed to the Mousterian, early Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian), and Gravettian techno-complexes, contextualized against absolute chronologies developed using radiocarbon dating pioneered by teams linked to Willard Libby and calibrated against sequences from Grotte Chauvet and Grotte de Lascaux. Correlations employ regional reference sequences like those established at La Ferrassie and Saint-Césaire (archaeological site), and integrate tephrochronology and geomorphological markers comparable to studies by Louis Lartet and Henri‑Édouard‑Constantin Breuil.
The lithic assemblages include Levallois flakes, side-scrapers, bladelets, and backed pieces reflecting Mousterian and Aurignacian chaîne opératoire debates documented by scholars such as François Bordes, Christian Henry],] and André Leroi-Gourhan. Raw material procurement shows use of local Cretaceous flint and non-local cherts paralleling exchange patterns discussed for La Gravette and Kostenki contexts. Organic artifacts, ornaments, and personal items comparable to finds from Isturitz and Grotte du Renne inform discussions of symbolic behavior advanced by researchers at institutions like the CNRS and published in outlets including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Faunal assemblages include hunted megafauna such as reindeer, horse, red deer, and large bovids, alongside smaller taxa documented in Pleistocene faunal studies at Les Eyzies and Le Moustier. Faunal taphonomy and seasonality analyses draw on zooarchaeological methods developed by teams associated with André Leroi-Gourhan and isotopic studies performed in laboratories linked to CEA and Université de Bordeaux. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions reference vegetational sequences from pollen cores and climatic episodes like the Last Glacial Maximum and interstadials used in syntheses that compare Pech-de-l'Azé with Roc-de-Sers and Brillenhöhle.
Human skeletal remains and potential burial evidence are sparse but have been assessed alongside Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens finds from regional sites such as La Ferrassie, Le Moustier, and Saint-Césaire. Osteological and taphonomic analyses employ metrics and methods promoted by researchers like Ales Hrdlicka and modern bioarchaeologists at University of Bordeaux Montaigne and CNRS laboratories, contributing to discussions about burial rituals and mortuary variability across the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition.
Pech-de-l'Azé is significant for understanding Neanderthal technological variability, the arrival and development of Aurignacian industries, and for regional models of cultural transmission debated among scholars including François Bordes, Jean‑Jacques Hublin, and Paul Mellars. Its stratified record supports comparisons with pan-European sequences from sites like Ksar Akil, Kostenki, and Bacho Kiro that inform models of Homo sapiens dispersal, interspecific interaction, and the emergence of symbolic culture. The site continues to be referenced in syntheses produced by the International Union for Quaternary Research and field programs coordinated by French heritage institutions such as the Ministry of Culture (France).
Category:Archaeological sites in France Category:Paleolithic sites in Europe