Paléosite

ALT Illustration of Saint-Cesaire 1 cranium. Archaeological excavation of La Roche à Pierrot under direction of François Lévêque led to the discovery of a partial skeleton in 1979. The features of the cranium and remainder of the skeleton identify this individual as a Neandertal. The individual lived sometime between 42,000 and 40,000 years ago, and the burial was in a layer with artifacts of the Châtelperronian industry. This skeleton is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that later Neandertals made this industry with abundant evidence of personal ornaments and backed blade use. The individual suffered a cranial wound with some evidence of subsequent healing of the bone. The form of this injury led Christoph Zollikofer and coworkers to conclude it had been made by a sharp implement. Original skeletal material curated at the Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France. Illustration by John Hawks CC-BY 4.0