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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The prehistoric deposit of Cagny, located in the municipality of the same name in the Hauts-de-France region, is a major archaeological site of the Middle Paleolithic. It is located in the heart of the Garenne wood, where an archaeological cut reveals a slope rich in chalk and flint, covered by fluvial levels corresponding to an ancient bank of the Aprus. This site has delivered lithic tools (bifaces, hachereaux) and remains of large herbivores such as aurochs, deer and Mosbach horses, dated between 450,000 and 350,000 years.

From the beginning of the 20th century, the site attracted the attention of scientists, including Victor Commont, the first to report the prehistoric industries of the Sanier brickworks, and Abbé Henri Breuil, who studied the deposit for more than 25 years. Other prehistorians, such as François Bordes, Franck Bourdier, Roger Agache and Alain Tuffreau, also contributed to his study. The remains, attributed to the Acheulean, suggest human occupation during isotopic stages 12 and 11, an interglacial period at temperatures comparable to those of today.

No human fossils were found at the site, leaving the identity of the occupants uncertain (Homo heidelbergensis or Neandertalians). Lithic tools, studied by several generations of researchers, are now dispersed in various public and private collections, such as those of the Picardia Museum or the Museum of Man. The Bois de la Garenne, where the archaeological park is located, is partially accessible to the public, with guided tours organized to discover this exceptional heritage.

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