This rock shelter is located 4 kms as the crow flies to the north of the town of Menton and 750 metres from the French-italian border. It opens up to the west at an altitude of 690 metres, at the foot of the 1 132 metre high "Roc d'Orméa" limestrone mountain range. A great number of stone tools carved from flint, polished stone axes and fragments of pottery demonstrate a continuous settlement during the Neolothic Age. Some tombs found there also date back to that time.
The Pendimoun shelter, located at the foot of the cliffs of Mont de l'Orméa, was discovered by Doctor Audras and excavated by Louis Barral, Curator of the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology of Monaco, between 1955 and 1956. The deposit yielded important ceramic and bone material dating from the Early Neolithic to the Gallo-Roman period. The most important result of this research was the discovery, at the base of the Neolithic Cardial, of a tomb containing a human skeleton, known since then as the "Man of Castellar". Thanks to the excavations carried out between 1985 and 1990, and subsequently by D. Binder (CNRS°) and his team, a great deal of data has been gathered to enrich our knowledge of the nature of the site, its inhabitants and their activities. Very important results showed that the first occupation of the site dates back to the Mesolithic period. The discovery of other burials confirmed the funerary use of the Abri in the Early Neolithic and as a sheepfold in the Middle and Upper Neolithic. The major contribution of this research has been the discovery of the remains of the habitats of the oldest farmers and stockbreeders in Western Europe
Location
Location
Spoken languages
Spoken languages
Environment
Environment
- Mountain location
Access
Access
- The site is not accessible
