This book provides comprehensive information on the materials excavated at Pech de l¿Azé IV
both by the original excavator François Bordes in the 1970s and more recently by the authors
and their scientific team. Applying a range of new excavation and analytical techniques it
presents detailed material on the formation of the site its chronology and the nature of the
hominin occupations. Pech de l¿Azé IV is part of a complex of Lower and Middle Paleolithic cave
sites in the Dordogne Valley of southwestern France. Although this region is well known for its
rich concentration of Paleolithic sites since the mid-19th century and many of the sites have
been repeatedly excavated no detailed studies have fully documented the stone tool technology
and faunal remains or the changes in them over time. The site was regularly occupied by groups
of Neanderthals from approximately 100 000 to 40 000 years ago during which time global-scale
changes transformed the region from a relatively warm climate (similar to today¿s) to a very
cold glacial one. The site provides valuable insights into changes in Neanderthal behavior
that reflect at least in part their adaptation to changes in the environment and the
availability of important resources such as prey species.
