Located in Southern France near present day MontGaudier and La Chaise, the Fontéchevade site has been recognized for it's hominid skull fragment and tool industry finds. The original excavations began in 1937 and lasted until 1954, with new excavations started recently in 1999.
In early excavations by Germaine Henri-Martin, there were thin layers of Aurignacian and Mousterian tools in the site, but an entirely new industry was the main find of the site. Tayacian tools have been characterized mostly by their lack of distinction. Named after a site in Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac, nearly 6000 of these tool fragments were found in early excavations. Most of these tools are simple scrapers or notched pieces.
Near the back of the cave, a chimney was discovered. It has been hypothesized that this chimney could well have been the source of the majority of the Tayacian tools. In more recent excavations, there have been attempts to determine whether this is in fact the case, and a number of new tool findings are being utilized.
Of the two Hominid fragments found, the second piece was much more complete. Hominid II consists of the better part of the skull cap with multiple primitive features. The cranial bones were thicker than a human, and it lacked foramina. Hominid I, was a smaller piece taken from the front of the skull between the eye (according to placement by Henri Vallois.) Due to the thin cranial bone, this fragment seemed to contrast with standard neanderthals.
At around 1950, there were many conflicting views over the bone fragments found at the site. It was argued that neanderthals in Europe were separated due to ice age conditions, and thus several different forms developed. This leads to the conclusion that the bones could have come from some sort of variant neanderthal. Others argue that the skulls found at Fontéchevade are simply early homo sapiens due to the general shape of the skulls.
During the 1999 field season, an excavation was just finished involving further study of fauna and lithics. The results were scheduled to be released sometime in 2000.
"Introduction" www.oldstoneage.com http://www.oldstoneage.com/fonte/ (5 May 00)
"Piltdown Man Forgery" Piltdown Man Forgery http://140.232.1.5/~piltdown/map_expose/the_pilt_man_forgery.html (5 May 00)
Conrad Derus