Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The House of Consuls, located at the Matelles in the Hérault, houses the first prehistory museum of the department, created in 1951. It derives its origin from major discoveries, notably in the Hortus cave, facing the Saint-Loup Pic, where the remains of a 30,000-year-old Neanderthal man were exhumed. This museum, renovated in 1985, is dedicated to the daily life of the men of Paleolithic and Neolithic, highlighting rare objects and an educational approach.

The museum now extends to the wider history of the territory, becoming an inter-municipal museum as the Pic Saint-Loup museum. It covers much more recent periods, illustrating successive waves of populations that have inhabited the region. Among its assets, a reconstruction of the landscape 50 000 years ago, during the last glaciation, where the Siberian climate sheltered species now extinct such as bears, lurus or reindeer. These elements are from the excavations of the Hortus cave.

Located in the old ramparts of the Matelles, the museum exceeds the communal setting by its cultural influence. He also exhibited works by local painters and preserved a label Musée de France. Its official address, 25 rue des Consuls, and its affiliation with the Community of Communes of the Grand Pic Saint-Loup make it a central place for the dissemination of the prehistoric and historical heritage of Occitanie.

The museum also evokes human evolution, from Homo habilis (two million years ago) to Homo sapiens sapiens, via Homo erectus, marked by the mastery of fire and language. The civilizations of Tautavel, Terra Amata and Mas des Caves are cited as references. These themes, combined with temporary exhibitions, make it a dynamic space at the crossroads of archaeology and local art.

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