Ludovic Slimak, a cultural anthropologist at the CNRS and the University of Toulouse — Jean Jaurès, describes his research and the changing face of archaeology in France.
. Researchers excavating the Grotte Mandrin rock shelter in France’s Rhône Valley say their findings are helping to rewrite our understanding of how H. sapiens colonized the continent, andLudovic Slimak, the leader of the team that has worked at the site for more than three decades, gives his take on the significance of the discoveries at Grotte Mandrin and the special role archaeology has in France.
France played a leading part in the study of prehistory and archaeology in the twentieth century, particularly the second half of the century. In the post-war period, André Leroi-Gourhan in Paris and François Bordes in Bordeaux led the most important groups in Europe and large field schools where students came from across Europe and the United States to study archaeology.
It is a question of science but also politics. Archaeology has been used as a diplomatic tool to represent France abroad. As a result, the field has received a lot of funding, for work both at home and in other countries. Archaeology still plays an important part in French soft power.We no longer see the same levels of activity as we saw in the 1970s and 1980s, when archaeologists would start large excavations with teams of 50–100 people.