La Ferrassie

La Ferrassie is an archaeological site in Savignac-de-Miremont, in the Dordogne department, France.^[1] The site, located in the Vézère valley,^[2] consists of a large and deep cave flanked by two rock shelters^[3] within a limestone cliff, under which there is a scree slope formation.^[1]

La Ferrassie

La Ferrassie
La Ferrassie
Location in France Show map of Aquitaine La Ferrassie (France) Show map of France La Ferrassie (Europe) Show map of Europe
Location	near Savignac-de-Miremont
Region	Dordogne, France
Coordinates	44°57′07″N 0°56′17″E

Vulva engraving from the rock shelter

Age

Artifacts found at the site are the productions of Mousterian (300,000-30,000 BP), Aurignacian (45,000–35,000 BP), and Périgordian (35,000–20,000 BP) cultures.^[4] The cave area contains Gravettian (32,000–22,000 BP) objects and the scree contains objects from all these ages as well as the Châtelperronian (35,000-29,000 PB). The site was abandoned during the Gravettian period (27 kya).^[3] Complex Mousterian burial structures found at La Ferrasie finally provided the evidence of Neanderthal burial practice.^[5]

Exploration history

A small area of the site was initially investigated by M. Tabanou in 1896,^[3] a teacher who died of a landslide at the Badegoule rock shelter shortly thereafter.^[6] Denis Peyrony and Louis Capitan explored the site in 1905, 1907 and 1912; Peyrony in 1934, Henri Delporte in 1969 and 1984, and Delporte with Tuffreau in 1984.^[4][1]

Fossils

At least seven Neanderthals have been found in La Ferrassie, including infants and one^[7] fetus. All specimens were found in a thin 60 cm archaeological layer dated to 74-68 thousand years ago.

Name	Develop- mental age	Notes
La Ferrassie 1 ♂	45	The skeleton of an adult male, including the most complete Neanderthal skull ever found.[8][better source needed] Discovered in 1909.[3]
La Ferrassie 2 ♀	25–30	An incomplete cranium and skeleton of a female Neanderthal found in 1910 and dated to 68-74,000 before present. This is now kept in the Musée de l'Homme.[3]
La Ferrassie 3	10	A partial child skeleton.[9]: 30–31 [10]
La Ferrassie 4	8.5 months (fetal age)[9]	The bones of a late-term fetus or of a newborn. Now thought to belong to Le Moustier 2.[7]
La Ferrassie 4bis	~12 days[10]: 26	A partial child skeleton.[9]: 30–31 [10]
La Ferrassie 5	~7 months (fetal age)[10]	Fetus[9]: 38 [11]
La Ferrassie 6	3–5	Nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile discovered in 1921.[3]
"La Ferrassie 7"	–	A talus bone named LF7 by Boule (1924), who thought despite its small size that it represented a third adult. Now thought part of La Ferrassie 3.[10]: 6
La Ferrassie 8	22–26 months[9]: 41	Young child with well-preserved teeth.