Grotte de Cotencher

Origin of the name Grotte de Cotencher

Origin of the name not explained in the sources consulted. The cave is first mentioned in 1523.

Founding of Grotte de Cotencher

The Grotte de Cotencher is a natural cave in the Jura massif, in the municipality of Rochefort. It opens in the Gorges de l'Areuse at 660 m above sea level, is 18 m long and offers a habitable surface of 200 m². It was occupied by Neanderthals: the so-called « brown layer » is radiocarbon dated to between 44'300 and 42'100 years before present, and recent research dates the oldest occupations back to about 180'000 years. Mentioned from 1523, it has been scientifically explored since 1867; it is the first high-altitude Mousterian site discovered in Switzerland.

History of Grotte de Cotencher

around 180'000 years before present. Date of the oldest occupations, attributed to Neanderthals.

44'300-42'100 years before present. Radiocarbon date of the « brown layer », rich in bones and containing a Mousterian industry.

1523. First mention of the cave.

1867. First excavations, conducted by Henri-Louis Otz and Charles Knab, during railway works (circumstance to be cross-checked).

1872. Édouard Desor makes it a model type in his « Essai de classification des cavernes du Jura » (to be cross-checked).

1916-1918. Excavations led by the geologist Auguste Dubois and the palaeontologist Hans Georg Stehlin: sixty-seven animal species and 420 lithic pieces.

1933. Publication of « La grotte de Cotencher, station moustérienne » by Auguste Dubois and Hans Georg Stehlin.

1964. Discovery, in the brown layer, of the upper jaw of a Neanderthal woman by Dr H.-F. Moll during a simple visit (discoverer to be cross-checked).

1988. New excavations refine the stratigraphy of the site (to be cross-checked).

2015-2019. « Projet Cotencher » to enhance the site, with replacement of the old facilities and new research.

2018. The cave reopens to the public, with guided tours from June to September.

Historic sites in Grotte de Cotencher

The cave. Cave 18 m long at 660 m above sea level, in the Gorges de l'Areuse. Its fill reaches four metres thick in places. Since 2018 it can be visited with a guide from June to September.

Remains in Grotte de Cotencher

Neanderthal upper jaw. Upper jaw with ten heavily worn teeth, belonging to a woman of about forty, discovered in 1964 in the brown layer. It is the most important Mousterian human remain in Switzerland; the small size of the jaw recalls a Neanderthal type close to that of the Hortus cave in Languedoc.

Stone tools. Layers V and VI yielded 420 lithic pieces, 82 % made from a local siliceous limestone, the rest from lydite, quartzite and imported flint. The 96 shaped tools include 74 scrapers and a Mousterian point; the industry is close to the Quina-type Mousterian.

Ice Age fauna. The excavations yielded sixty-seven animal species. In layer V, the so-called « pebble layer », the cave bear accounts for 95 % of the weight of the bones found.

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Cotencher »
• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Rochefort »
• République et canton de Neuchâtel, Office du patrimoine et de l'archéologie, « Cotencher »
• Commune de Rochefort, « Histoire »
• Wikipédia, « Grotte de Cotencher »
• Wikipedia (en), « Grotte de Cotencher »

Other villages near Grotte de Cotencher

• Château de Rochefort (NE)
• Chambrelien (NE)
• Rochefort (NE)
• Champ-du-Moulin (NE)
• Trois-Rods (NE)