Is this possible? Is this even acceptable? At the time, “Pierrette shook up too many preconceived ideas,” summarizes Diane Orand, the head of the Saint-Césaire Paléosite. The scientific community is torn apart and ends up generally admitting that yes, the last generation of Neanderthals probably rubbed shoulders with Homo Sapiens. By the transmission of know-how? By combat? Through cohabitation? “We are groping our way forward,” cautiously confides Jeanne, the archaeologist of the big screen and new for this year 2026.
Four audiovisual rooms
Jeanne is the common thread of the second episode of the visit circuit, redesigned since 2025, the year of the twenty years of the prehistoric interpretation center. The Paleosite is property of the Department of Charente-Maritime. Located between Saint-Césaire, between Saintes and Cognac, in the Coran valley, it is seeking a new lease of life in the hands of the Alfran company. Last year, more than 30,000 visitors visited the Paleosite. “We have reversed the curve,” says Diane Orand, who is looking ahead to the third and final chapter of the circuit overhaul, in 2027.
In the archaeologists’ tent
Séverine Joubert / SO
For now, the visitor will leaf through the second chapter. In place from April 4, 2026, it is entitled “Meeting Neanderthals”. He begins by entering the archaeologists’ tent. In four rooms, guided by Jeanne, visitors will learn a lot about the context of the discovery of Pierrette, the Roche-à-Pierrot deposit, and the scientific confrontations. Finally, they will explore the Neanderthal night under a starry sky. Mortuary rites, cannibalism, contemplations, practices and mysteries… The immersion will be total. This module alone lasts around forty minutes.
“The incredible expedition” module 1 inaugurated in 2025
Séverine Joubert / SO
The one inaugurated last year, “The incredible expedition” is a space designed to learn (quietly) and deconstruct diagrams on the evolution of man which “is not linear”, understand lithic, the evolution of tools, talk about fauna and flora but also climate over a long, very long time. A break in “territory of hypotheses”… and imaginations which also unfold outside, in the woods.