Terra Amata (archaeological site) facts for kids
Terra Amata means "Beloved Land" in Italian. It is an amazing archaeological site located in Nice, France. This outdoor site sits on a hill called Mount Boron. It is about 26 meters (85 feet) above the sea.
A scientist named Henry de Lumley found and dug up the site in 1966. Terra Amata was once a very old beach. It holds tools from the Lower Paleolithic period, which was about 400,000 years ago. This site also shows some of the first signs of people using fire in Europe. Today, an apartment building and a museum stand over the site. Some of the cool objects found there are now on display in the museum.
Discovering Terra Amata
The Terra Amata site was found by accident in 1966. Workers were building a new terrace near the port of Nice. They stumbled upon ancient remains.
Henry de Lumley quickly got permission to dig. His team worked very hard, seven days a week. Sometimes they even worked all day and night. They wanted to finish their important work quickly.
Life in Ancient Huts
According to de Lumley, Terra Amata was a settlement with many layers. This means people lived there over a long time. The site showed signs that people lived in huts right on the prehistoric beach. These huts are believed to be about 380,000 years old.
Fire and Shelter
In the middle of each hut, there was a fireplace. Ashes found there prove that these early humans knew how to control fire. This is some of the oldest evidence of people using fire in Europe. Other sites with early fire evidence include Menez Dregan in France and Beeches Pit in England.
The people built low walls of stones and pebbles. These walls were placed to protect the fire from strong winds, like the Mistral. De Lumley thinks the huts were made of animal skins. These skins were held up by poles. There was a hole in the roof for smoke to escape.
Early Homes
About 20 to 40 people could fit in one of these shelters. If this idea is correct, Terra Amata is one of the first places in Europe where we see human-made homes. It shows how clever early humans were at building shelters.
Tools and Skills
The people of Terra Amata were skilled at making tools. They used stones found on the beach. They created tools with two sharp edges. A special type of stone pick was also found. It was named "Pics de Terra Amata" after the site.
Many other stone tools and scrapers were discovered. These were found in the sand dunes above the old beach. These tools tell us a lot about how these ancient people lived and hunted.
