Crâne de l'Homme de la Chapelle-aux-Saints
On August 3, 1908 a Neanderthal skull was discovered in a small cave, la Bouffia Bonneval, in La Chapelle-aux-Saints, the smallest village in the south of Corrèze.
Les frères Bouyssonie
It was two country priests, Amédée and Jean Bouyssonnie and their young brother Paul (left), who made this discovery which was to shatter the biblical theory that man was created in the image of God.
L'Homme de la Chapelle-aux-Saints représenté par «l'Illustration» en 1908.
This Neanderthal, who had hitherto been likened to a super gorilla, had been buried by his companions 45,000 years earlier… and only humans bury their dead.
Yves Coppens à La Chapelle-aux-Saints
After a full century of heated debates, « The Old Man » of La Chapelle-aux-Saints has finally found his rightful place in the family of Man. The centenary celebration, presided over by Professor Yves Coppens, was the occasion to reflect upon all that had been achieved.
Denys Mézard
As he carried the skeleton into the church, Denys Mézard, a farmer from La Chapelle-aux-Saints, said that it felt as if he were paying tribute to some old soul from down the road who’d made his way back home.
Professor Yves Coppens has a true love for the human race and he agreed to patronize this centenary and give a brilliant lecture on the evolution of mankind right from its African cradle.
Cédric Beauval, a zooarchaeologist, has begun excavation work in La Chapelle-aux-Saints along with a team of experts from different fields in order to understand just how the last Neanderthals lived in this area.
Thierry Bismuth, cultural heritage commissioner in Limousin, is delighted to note that Neanderthals are no longer regarded as mutating gorillas.
Bruno Maureille, an anthropologist and expert on ancient populations, relates how the first biological study of the so-called “missing link” was conducted by Marcellin Boule during the last century.
In 1986 Professor Jean-Louis Heim, an anthropologist studying skeletal remains at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, rebuilt the skull which put our man back on his feet and got him to speak.
Professor Yves Coppens believes that a group of individuals came from Africa during the Quartenary as a result of glaciations and flooding; they were to develop and become Neanderthals.
Alain Turq is the curator of the Musée National de Préhistoire in Les Eyzies. He recounts the Neanderthals’ way of life after examination of the fragments and flints left behind during their transhumance down the rivers of Aquitaine.
Next page     SUITE
Article | Menu