Earliest Human Beings in Liguria

The earliest researchers of the site were the French scientist de Saussure and prince Florestano I of nearby Monaco.

The museum was founded in the late 19th century by Thomas Hanbury, an Englishman fell in love with this part of Liguria, and whos villa surrounded by wonderful gardens is in Ventimiglia.

The caves of the area were used since the lower Paleolithic as lodgings by Homo Sapiens, and in the Upper Paleolithic as
sepulchre areas.

The attached Museum allows visitors to follow the history of the settlement, with models of the grottos at different moments in prehistory, and includes also visits to some of the grottos.

Among the most remarkable sights is the “Triplice Sepoltura”, which was found in the Barma Grande grotto and is preserved in the museum. It consists of the remains of an adult man of exceptional height, 190 cm, with two children, all buried in one sepulchre and covered with red ochre, together with an exceptionally rich set of items.

Another important sepulchre was found in the so-called Grotta dei Fanciulli, and consisted of the skeletons of two children, with a great number of pierced shells beside them, probably left by ornaments.

In the two grottos of Barma Grande and the Principe 15 small bone-carved statues were found, the so-called Venuses, representing female figures with large breasts and hips, probably symbol of fertility.

Other remarkable items are fossil remains of elephants, rhinos and hippos, but also, coming from a colder geological age, reindeer.

The human remains found in the caves belong to the so-called “Grimaldi race”, belonging to the Cro-Magnon group. An exeptional item found in the caves is a graffiti representing the Prewalskii horse, made by a prehistoric artist of 20,000 years ago.

Balzi Rossi

Cinque Valli

The Italian and French Riviera and the Valleys

Balzi Rossi Museum

Balzi Rossi Museum

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