Movius to Study Palaeolithic Life, Prehistoric Man

Hallam L. Movius, Jr. '30, Curator of Palaeolithic Archaeology at the Peabody Museum, will lead an expedition to the small farming village of Les Eyzies in southwestern France this summer. He plans to study "the relationship between the Upper Paleolithic man and his slowly changing environment from 20 to 35 thousand years ago."

The group will continue the work of a similar expedition which last summer uncovered two "occupation levels" of Stone Age hunters who inhabited the region 20 and 22 thousand years ago respectively, Movius estimates that it will take five or six more summers to reach the base of the remaining 30 feet of successive occupations.

After studying imperishable artifacts left by these prehistoric men and remains of plant and animal life of the time, Movius' group concluded that the first inhabitants of Arbi-Pataud--as it is called--lived there year-round in a cold temperate climate. The second group migrated to and from the area on an annual basis as the climate became sub-artic.

Find Ancient Skull

Another result of the expedition last summer was the finding of a 21 thousand year old skull--the only specimen which bridges the gap between 19 and 22 thousand years ago.

Although the sex was uncertain when the skull was discovered, the French press hopefully referred to it as "La jeune fille de Pataud." It was confirmed recently by Professor H. V. Vallois, Director of the Musee de 1'Homme in Paris and co-director of the expedition, that the skull is of a 15 to 18 year old Cro-Magnon girl.

Also unearthed was a "Venus" stone carving, which may have been related to some sort of "fertility cult." Unlike most "Venuses" of this type, which are usually of very obese women with gross stomachs and breasts, this specimen is more slender and graceful.