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Article Dans Une Revue Nature Année : 2016

Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France

Jacques Jaubert
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Sophie Verheyden
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Michel Soulier
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Hai Cheng
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Christian Burlet
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Hubert Camus
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Serge Delaby
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Damien Deldicque
R. Lawrence Edwards
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Catherine Ferrier
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François Lacrampe-Cuyaubère
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Francois Leveque
Frédéric Maksud
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Pascal Mora
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Xavier Muth
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Frédéric Santos
Jean-Noël Rouzaud
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Résumé

Very little is known about Neanderthal cultures1, particularly early ones. Other than lithic implements and exceptional bone tools2, very few artefacts have been preserved. While those that do remain include red and black pigments3 and burial sites4, these indications of modernity are extremely sparse and few have been precisely dated, thus greatly limiting our knowledge of these predecessors of modern humans5. Here we report the dating of annular constructions made of broken stalagmites found deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwest France. The regular geometry of the stalagmite circles, the arrangement of broken stalagmites and several traces of fire demonstrate the anthropogenic origin of these constructions.Uranium-series dating of stalagmite regrowths on the structures and on burnt bone, combined with the dating of stalagmite tips in the structures, give a reliable and replicated age of 176.5 thousand years (±2.1 thousand years), making these edifices among the oldest known well-dated constructions made by humans. Their presence at 336 metres from the entrance of the cave indicates that humans from this period had already mastered the underground environment, which can be considered a major step in human modernity.
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Dates et versions

hal-01457213 , version 1 (06-02-2017)

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Jacques Jaubert, Sophie Verheyden, Dominique Genty, Michel Soulier, Hai Cheng, et al.. Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France. Nature, 2016, 534 (7605), pp.43-44. ⟨10.1038/nature18291⟩. ⟨hal-01457213⟩

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