Terra Amata, Beneath the Port of Nice

The story of this place

Before us, the urban setting of the port of Nice may seem far removed from prehistory. Yet beneath this district, the site of Terra Amata preserves the memory of human visits dating back around 380,000 years. It all begins in 1966, when construction work uncovers exceptional archaeological layers. Archaeologist Henry de Lumley then leads a rescue excavation. Time is short: the building work is transforming the ground, and each layer uncovered may hold a fragment of a vanished landscape. We must imagine a different shore. The port does not exist, and the shape of the coastline and the terrain are not what we see today. Human groups stop in this coastal environment, depending on the resources available, their movements and variations in the climate. Terra Amata is therefore not just a story of objects: the site allows us to attempt to reconstruct an entire living environment. The excavations have yielded stone tools, animal bones and traces of deliberately arranged spaces. Archaeologists have interpreted some remains as evidence of dwelling structures and hearths. These interpretations cautiously seek to bring back actions of which almost nothing remains: shaping stone, organising a place to stay, finding shelter, tending a fire and sharing a space. Now look at the city differently. Beneath the streets, the buildings and the changes to the shoreline lies a history far older than modern Nice. Terra Amata shows that this landscape is anything but unchanging: it has been continually shaped by time, natural changes and human presence.