Description:

Neanderthal site discovered near Rouen

Archeologists working for INRAP (Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives) have discovered a large collection of animal bones and flints at Tourville-la-Rivière near Rouen that date back to the time of Neanderthal man.

The discovery was made during excavations at a quarry on the banks of the Seine and includes around 1,500 bones of Lions, panthers, deer and other animals and 500 worked pieces of flint. Many of the flints were found in a very small area suggesting that this was the site of a workshop. The finds have been preserved by the alluvial sands of the river. The size of the find suggest that the site was regularly visited by man nearly 200,000 years ago.