Project description: The study of Palaeolithic art has to date mainly focused on the paintings and engravings present in hundreds of subterranean contexts, yet relatively little attention has been paid to the global phenomenon of the cultural use of caves. We build upon both existing and new data to draw an overarching history of the relationship between Palaeolithic and Mesolithic communities, and underground world. Our results will improve our understanding of the motivations behind the use of caves by Neanderthals and modern humans in western Europe.
The project aligns perfectly with the objectives of WP4-Action 3 “How did symbolic systems emerge and how did they affect societal organisation?”.

Study the anthropogenic deposits in the Neanderthalian Bruniquel and Cussac, presumed Gravettian caves using ‘speleofacts’: identify structures, carry out 3D surveys, establish their relative and radio-digital diachronic, test pairings, understand their topographical logic in the general context of the site occupied by the respective human groups and, as far as possible, interpret their function.

Principal supervisors: Jacques Jaubert (PACEA) and Nathalie Fourment (MNP)

Place of work: PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, 33615 PESSAC, France

Contract duration: 12 months

Expected starting date: May 1st 2026

Project description:

The scientific proposal consists of conducting:

1.     the biological study of original human fossils from different age classes dating to the Late Paleolithic and the Mesolithic in southwestern France

2.     the study of their taphonomic history

3.     discussions about the variability and originality of mortuary and/or funerary practices, and thus the extent to which they reflect a form of behavioral modernity

Principal supervisor: Bruno Maureille, PACEA

Place of work: PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, 33615 PESSAC, France

Contract duration: 24 months

Expected starting date: May 1st 2026

Project description: Mineral pigments have been used in Africa and Europe for at least 400,000 years. However, the practices associated with their production, transformation and use remain poorly documented, as do the timing and contexts in which these pigments acquire symbolic functions. This project aims to analyze the uses of mineral pigments in prehistoric societies in order to better understand the emergence, diversity and evolution of symbolic behaviors, based on the joint study of pigments, residues and associated archaeological materials.
Your mission is to analyze archaeological pigments and residues in order to document the emergence, consolidation, and complexification of human symbolic practices. It is based on the acquisition of new analytical data, their interpretation in an international comparative framework and their scientific valorization through high-level publications.

Principal supervisors: Francesco d'Errico and Alain Queffelec, PACEA

Place of work: PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, 33615 PESSAC, France

Contract duration: 18 months

Expected starting date: May 1st 2026