Prehistoric Valleys

Since 2013, an international team coordinated by the CNRS and the Var Departmental Archaeology Service, under the aegis of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Archaeology Service, has been exploring the archaeological heritage of the Jabron Valley (Var, France). Located in the south of the Verdon Regional Nature Park, this valley offers exceptional sites covering more than 50,000 years of history, in the form of natural and cultural archives. It is in the heart of this archaeological complex that the European Archaeology Days and the scientific week on the theme of "Prehistoric Valleys" are taking place.

The European Archaeology Days "Jabron Valley": discovering an exceptional site (19-20 June 2021)

The archaeological research project is part of a long-term and fruitful partnership with the Verdon Regional Nature Park, the Verdon Gorges Prehistory Museum and the communes of Comps-sur-Artuby and Trigance. The aim of the European Archaeology Days is to share our most recent discoveries with the general public and to raise awareness among local people about the history of their territories.

The activities will take place from Saturday 19 June in the late morning to Sunday 20 June in the afternoon, respectively in the communes of Trigance and Comps- sur-Artuby. These events will take the form of meetings, visits and exchanges with researchers.

The scientific week "Valley of Prehistory": a scientific and cultural project (21-25 June 2021)

During this conference, five European scientific teams will meet to share their knowledge and compare their practices and experiences. In addition to the Jabron Valley, the invited teams will represent the Côa Valley in Portugal and the Ach Valley in Germany (both UNESCO World Heritage Sites), as well as the Somme Valley in France and the Udorka Valley in Poland.

Each scientific team will have one day of presentations, contributing to diversify the examples and multiply the exchanges, in order to better perceive the specificities of the valleys and the archaeological records. Particular attention will be paid to multidisciplinary discourses comparing cultural and natural archives. These days will serve to promote the regional heritage and to strengthen the links of research at a European level.

The scientific meetings will take place from Monday 21 to Friday 25 June, in the communes of Comps-sur-Artuby and Trigance as well as at the Musée de Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon.