The site of Saint Cesaire in France is very noteworthy for its contribution to the anthropological record. For the first time in the history of human evolution, the site suggested the possibility of Neanderthal man possessing certain tool making capabilities which had previously been thought to have originated later on in the existence of modern man.
The site of Saint Cesaire was discovered in 1979 by French Anthropologist Francaise Levegue. Within the site were found tools and human bones which date to around 36,000 years ago; which would coincide to the time period of the Upper Paleolithic Chatelperronian era. Within this same time strata were discovered a wide range of various tools and artifacts, including backed blades, bone points, and perforated teeth. The bones that were discovered consisted of the right side of the front of the cranial lobe; part of the face and the right half of the mandible. The skeletal frame found was also Neanderthal (although anthropologists considered it rather small compared to the average size Neanderthal). The skeletal remains were found in a very fragmented state, as was a second skeletal find within the same stratagraphic level.
In regards to the way in which the body was found (buried with various tools and artifacts), Anthropologists surmised that perhaps Neanderthal man possessed some sort of ritual burial procedures in which they disposed of their dead (but whether Neanderthal man had any belief in a secondary after-life remains unknown). With the Saint Cesaire find, the timeframe for use of these tools was dramatically earlier. Until this find, the discovery of similar tools and artifacts had been attributed to the later evolution of Cro-Magnon Man; however, in being able to link Neanderthal fossils directly to such artifacts, such a mystery has, so far, been put to rest.
Why the need for such sophisticated tools during man's early development? Anthropologists speculate that Neanderthal man was very nomadic, traveling far and wide in search of game. In addition, by 34,000 years ago, Cro-Magnon Man had also appeared on the scene, and thus, competed quite fiercely with the more primitive Neanderthal for available food. This development, coupled with the fact that animal ranges of the time were becoming more spread out, may have forced Neanderthal man to produce more sophisticated tools and weapons in order to survive and compete, as was the case with the find at Saint Cesaire.
The Saint Cesaire site was important for many reasons. First, it pushed back the previously held date for which man had the capability to produced sophisticated tools. Second, it raised the issue of whether Neanderthals practiced some sort of ritualized burial (as was seen with the inclusion of various tools and other artifacts with the remains at Saint Cesaire); and third, it showed that, for a time at least, Neanderthal man did indeed co-exist with the more modern Cro-Magnon man. If such a find had not been discovered, then it would be doubtful that such knowledge would be known today, perhaps still locked away within the Earth's strata.
Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory (2nd ed.) Edited by Detson, Tattersall, VanCouvering, and Brooks Published by Garland Publishing, Inc. New York, NY Copyright 2000
History of Physical Anthropology; Edited by Frank Spencer; Published by Garland Publishing, Inc. New York, NY Copyright 1997
Written by Lucas Grathwohl