In the early decades of the twentieth century Denis Peyrony, a French school teacher conducted archaeological excavations at the site of Abri Castanet, a rock shelter located in the Dordogne region of France. Although the results were published in only cursory fashion, the material he found there played a central role in defining the Aurignacian industry, now recognized as the oldest Upper Paleolithic culture in Europe. Despite its early date, the site contained and abundance of art objects in the form of engraved limestone blocks, among the earliest known graphic representations in Europe. Peyrony discovered hundreds of pierced seashells from the Atlantic shore some 200 km distant at the time the site was occupied. Abri Castanet yielded a rich sample of tools and weapons in bone and antler as well as several hundred ivory and soapstone beads and pierced animal teeth. These are among the earliest known personal ornaments employed by humans. With National Science Foundation support Dr. Randy White will undertake a new large scale excavation at the site. Although Peyrony's work was pathbreaking at the time it was conducted, it does not meet modern standards and large numbers of stone artifacts, for example, have been recovered from the back dirt removed during his excavations. During his own preliminary fieldwork Dr. White has located and cleaned the Peyrony's trenches and determined that a significant amount of intact deposit still remains. He has also discovered that the original excavation did not reach bedrock and the lowest Aurignacian levels have not yet been reached. Dr. White will conduct large scale excavation to recover both cultural and faunal remains. The multiple Aurignation occupations at the site remain undated and radiocarbon samples will be collected. Because of the large areas to be exposed, it will be possible to address issues of spatial patterning and to obtain information on social organization. Approximately 40,000 years ago anatomically and behaviorally modern peoples replaced Neanderthals who had inhabited Europe for over 100,000 years. Anthropologists wish to understand what adaptations these new people brought which allowed them to adapt more effectively to this harsh glacial environment and therefore particular attention should be focused on the earliest part of this process. Abri Castanet is important because it represents just this time period. Although many Aurignacian sites contain worked bone and art objects, Abri Castanet is unique both for the number and variety of objects represented. Dr. White's excavations will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and shed new light on the earliest modern human peoples in Europe.
