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). 

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

To date we have conducted five full seasons of fieldwork (2004-2008).  We plan to finish the excavations in the summer of 2009.