La Ferrassie

a Paleolithic rock-shelter located 40 km southwest of the city of Montignac, Dordogne Department, France. Excavated between 1902 and 1922, it contained 11 cultural layers. The lower ones belonged to the Mousterian epoch, and the upper to the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Six Neanderthal burials—a man, a woman, and four children—were found in the Mousterian layer. A slab of limestone with several hollowed-out depressions was found over the burial of one of the children. It is considered to be one of the first manifestations of the artistic activity just beginning to develop in the Mousterian epoch. The Upper Paleolithic layers yielded bits of limestone engraved with images of a ram, a wild horse, and a predator. Outlines of animals (ram, deer, bison) were made with black pigment on some rocks. La Ferrassie is one of the most ancient monuments of Paleolithic art.