New hominid remains associated with gravettian parietal art (Les Garennes, Vilhonneur, France)

International audienceA remarkable discovery in France raises anew the question of the relationship between parietal art and funerary practices. France is rich in Gravettian decorated caves, but human remains from this period (28e21 000 years BP) are very rare (Henry-Gambier, 2002). Consequently, the discovery of human and hyena remains in a decorated cave system at « Les Garennes » near the village of Vilhonneur (Charente), just 500 m from the well-known cave of Placard (Clottes et al., 1991), is extraordinary. This new find will result in important new data on the biology and behavior of the Gravettians as well as the disappearance of hyenas at the end of the upper Pleistocene. Here we report on the preliminary results of insitu observations and radiometric dating of the remains