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Roc de Marsal, France
Roc de Marsal (Dordogne, France) is a Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) cave near Les Eyzies.  It was excavated by Jean Lafille until his death in 1971.  In addition to a rich sequence of stone and bone assemblages, Lafille found the fossilized remains of a Neandertal infant that appeared to have been intentionally buried.  The site, like many from this region, was never well published.

In the summer of 2003 we started a multi-year excavation project at Roc de Marsal.  This project will collect new samples in order to better understand its collection, to date the sequence, and to better understand its geological context (in particular the purported burial).  		A view inside the cave early in the 2004 excavations.

 

This web site describes Roc de Marsal and our project.  It also reports on the results to date.

To date we have conducted three full seasons of fieldwork (2004-2006).  We will be excavating again in the summer of 2007 and will likely finish the site in 2008.
The 2005 report can be downloaded here (caution: file is 13mb).
The 2004 report can be downloaded here (caution: file is 12mb).
 




Site last updated April, 2007.