Neanderthal, the father of prehistory 

150 years ago a very old human cranium was discovered: the skull of Neanderthal Man. It was born a second time, so to speak… but in a nineteenth century strictly catholic context when no-one would have dreamt of querying the fact that man was a creation of God. These men from our ancient past with their ape-like faces were to give our family tree a mighty shake – and in a state of frenzy we went climbing up the branches of our tree to those inconceivable times long past. Prehistory was born, but the “forceps delivery” was a painful one. A century later, Jean-Louis Heim, an anthropologist in charge of the study of fossil man specimens, set out to restore them, with their bones all back together, to their rightful place in our history books. He meticulously rebuilt the skull of the man from la Chapelle-aux-Saints and studied, amongst others, the seven Neanderthal sepulchres at La Ferrassie.

Animals reveal true nature of Neanderthal Man 

Marylène Patou-Mathis has been treading on the heels of Neanderthal Man for the past 20 years. Her sole concern is their rehabilitation so they will no longer be regarded as second-rate beings. In her job as a zooarchaeologist, she carefully examines remains that apparently hold little interest for her fellow archaeologists: the bones of animals (mammoths, reindeer, bison, cave-dwelling lions) that have much to tell us about Neanderthal’s hunting strategies and his refined manner of living.

Tribute to Professor Heim in Tursac on Préhisto Parc’s 20th anniversary

Built as a complement to the decorated sites and the museums in the Périgord, for the past 20 years Préhisto Parc has been offering us scenes depicting prehistoric man’s daily life; these scenes have been reconstructed thanks to the enlightening information provided by Professor Jean-Louis Heim, an anthropologist at the Muséum Naturelle in Paris and an expert on fossilized man. On the occasion of the park’s 20th anniversary a tribute was paid to the Professor for his humanism and his vision of indivisible humanity perpetually on the move.