This free exhibition is open to all, and features unique pieces of Paleolithic art, life-size drawings of cave paintings by Abbé Breuil, and reconstructions of the fossilized men who have marked the history of the discipline. But beyond these discoveries, the exhibition also tells the story of the social construction of prehistoric research. Who were its inventors ? What debates and resistance shaped this science ? Photographs of archaeological digs, printed works, trees of human evolution and television documents bear witness to a constantly evolving discipline, where each generation has transformed the dogmas of its predecessors.
Beyond the science, the exhibition highlights how prehistory feeds our collective imagination. From the monumental academic art of Paul Jamin in the XIXᵉ century to the iconic silhouette of Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC, it inspires numerous artistic impulses whose iconography has continued to creep into popular culture. FromLa Guerre du feu to Pourquoi j'ai mangé mon père, from Charlie Chaplin to Rahan, everyone will find a familiar evocation of prehistory at .
For prehistory is not just a distant past that researchers are striving to reconstruct : it is a mirror of mentalities, a terrain where dreams and ideologies have been given free rein, where each era has projected its own questions on human nature. This exhibition invites us to confront these images, whether inherited or fantasized, with the achievements of research, which today values the diversity of fossil species and strives to reconstruct their evolution.
A journey at the crossroads of science and imagination, to rediscover what prehistory actually tells us about ourselves yesterday, today and tomorrow..
The exhibition, which is free of charge and open to all, is accompanied by a catalog and a children's book, a free mediation program for schoolchildren, and a series of free lectures.
