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Origin and history

The Balm Bonne is an archaeological site in cave and shelter located in the commune of Quinson, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. This site overlooks the Verdon and bears witness to a human presence dating back 400,000 years or even 500,000 years. It has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1992. The name "Baume Bonne" means a cave, in accordance with the Provencal etymology of the term balm, meaning a natural cavity. The first human traces, attributed to Homo erectus, reveal a habitat developed with encroachments, although the fire was not yet controlled at that time. Bifaces, characteristic tools, were discovered in large numbers.

Between 300,000 and 350,000 years, the use of fire appears in the Good Balm. Later, the presence of the Man of Neanderthal is attested by typical tools, such as those from the Levallois cutting, also found in the nearby caves of Sainte-Maxime. In the Upper Paleolithic, the site is reoccupied, but remains do not show traces of large species hunted elsewhere in Europe (mammouths, reindeer). In Provence and Verdon, the occupants hunted horses, ibex, aurochs and bisons. A bison engraved in Ségriès (Moustiers-Sainte-Marie) is the first parietal art index in Provence, questioning the idea of a region without rock art.

The first scientific revelations about the prehistoric occupation of the Verdon date back to 1946, thanks to Bernard Bottet, sensitized to Prehistory by his cousin, Henri Breuil, a prominent prehistorian. The excavations of the deposit under shelter began under the direction of Henry de Lumley until 1968, then resumed in 1988 under Claire Gaillard and Jean Gagnepain. The site provides a stratigraphy divided into seven sets, covering the ancient Middle Paleolithic, Mousterian, Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic (Cardial). Today, the visit to the cave is organized by the Museum of Prehistory of the Gorges of Verdon, which provides educational mediation.

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