The first human inhabitants of the Alpes de Haute-Provence settled in the famous Verdon Gorges between Quinson and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie.
Research carried out by top specialists over the last twenty years has shown that people were living in the region as early as the Palaeolithic period. However most of the traces of human activity come from the Neolithic period. Numerous caves and shelters under rocks overhanging the course of the river were occupied by Man, as shown by the large number of bone awls, ceramics and ochre grindstones found in them. Near Quinson, Saint-Maxime cave and the Points Rouges sepulture shelter are extremely interesting sites. The Baume Bonne cave is the most astonishing because it comprises several layers of remains corresponding to successive periods of occupation starting with the lower Palaeolithic. In particular it contains a considerable quantity of animal bone remains from ibex, horses, beavers, giving us precious information about the climate during these periods. In the Donner shelter, interesting anthropomorphic and diagrammatic paintings using black, ochre and red have been found.
All these fragile testimonies of the daily lives of our distant ancestors, accompanied by reconstitutions of their activities, will soon be on display in the Verdon Gorges Prehistorical Museum at Quinson.

Musée de Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon
Route de Montmeyan
04500 QUINSON
Tél : 04 92 74 09 59
Fax : 04 92 74 07 48
E-mail : musee@museeprehistoire.com
Web : www.museeprehistoire.com