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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The prehistoric shelter of Aurignac is a major archaeological site located in the commune of Aurignac, in Haute-Garonne (Occitanie). Occupied with the Upper Paleolithic, he gave his name to the Aurignacian, a prehistoric culture dated from about 39,000 to 28,000 years before the present. Discovered in 1852 by Jean-Baptiste Bonnemaison, he was studied in 1860 by Édouard Lartet, pioneer of prehistory, who found lithic remains there proving the contemporaneity of Man with missing species.

The site consists of several rock shelters, including "Aurignac I" (or Lartet shelter) and "Aurignac II", discovered in 1961 by Louis Méroc. These shelters, located in the Rodes Creek valley, delivered tools, animal bones (hyenas, horses, aurochs) and human burials dating back 35,000 years. The shelter served as a camp for the first Homo sapiens in Europe, then as a burial place after their departure.

Ranked a historic monument in 1921, the site is now a reference for the study of the Aurignacian. The collections resulting from the excavations are on display at the Musée de l'Aurignacien, opened in 2014, while research continues, such as the 2018 excavations led by Mathieu Lejay and Lars Anderson. This eponymous site played a key role in the scientific recognition of prehistoric man, facing the 19th century religious dogmas.

It is named after the commune of Aurignac, whose name derives from the occitan Aurinhac. It is 1.6 km northwest of the village, on the northern slope of the limestone ridge of Fajolles, a spur dating from Ypresian. Its importance also lies in its contribution to the chronological definition of the Aurignacian, between the Acheulean and the Solutrean, marking the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe.

Notable discoveries include a circular foyer 65 cm in diameter under a collapse block, as well as 17 buried individuals, discovered in 1852. These remains, preserved at the Musée d'archéologie nationale and the Toulouse Museum, illustrate the successive human and animal occupations, including hyenas of caves and herbivores such as reindeer or lurochs.

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