In 2003, hydrogeological surveys conducted prior to a building permit application in the Alpes-Maritimes region uncovered, at a depth of 80 centimetres, an exceptional assemblage of Upper Cretaceous fossils — coprolites and bone fragments dating from 34 to 100 million years ago. Several of these pieces bear traces of human intervention attributable to the Middle Palaeolithic: intentional selection, shaping, and the preparation of bases enabling vertical display. The discovery was formally declared to the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles (Regional Cultural Heritage Authority) in November 2003. The collection comprises approximately forty pieces recovered from a perimeter of less than 200 square metres. Several show direct parallels with reference sites of known Neanderthal art. The assemblage constitutes, as it stands, a series with no documented equivalent for this geographical and stratigraphic context.
Shaped bone — figurative head
A probable proximal epiphysis of a large reptile (369 g, ~11 cm) whose lower face was ground flat to allow stable vertical presentation — unique in the series. A worked protrusion on the main face is interpreted as a figurative nose. The base reveals a natural circular inclusion, most likely a fossil gastropod integrated into the matrix.
Tooth of a large Mesozoic carnivore
A fossilised tooth of approximately 12 cm and 181 g, identified as belonging to a large Cretaceous Read more
Bird — sequential sculpture
A large coprolite weighing 1,722 g transformed through three planned sequential operations: Read more
Anthropomorphic figurine
A 287 g bilobed coprolite whose upper lobe was deliberately faceted into a near-octagonal
Figurative mammoth
A 677 g coprolite whose dorsal protrusion closely reproduces the distinctive cephalic hump of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) — the anatomical feature most consistently represented in Palaeolithic art, from Rouffignac to Font-de-Gaume. Parallel striations on the main face are under examination: if confirmed intentional by traceology, they would represent the first depiction of fur in the series.