Regional Prehistoric Museum - Menton

The museum was initially founded in 1878 as a natural history cabinet by Stanislas Bonfils (1823–1909), a local marine expert and archaeologist.

From 1909 it had its own building on Rue Lorédan Larchey , designed by Adrien Rey, a typical example of eclectic Belle Époque architecture.

Visitors step through nine chapters through the evolution of humanity and the geology of the region (approx. 1 hour).

The exhibitions range from 1.2 million years ago (Grotte du Vallonet) to the Iron Age , including tools, remains, and dioramas. Bones from animals such as bears, hyenas, and rhinoceroses from Vallonet, early fire control at Terra Amata (400,000 years old), bifaces from the Grotte du Lazaret, and artifacts from the Grimaldi/Balzi Rossi Caves , including "Menton Man" and fertility figurines.

The famous skull long known as the "Homme de Menton" actually comes from the Grimaldi Caves , just across the Italian border. It is approximately 25,000 years old and became world-famous in the early 20th century as one of the oldest human remains in Europe.

The museum contains traces of the first controlled hearths (400,000 years ago) from the region, including those from Terra Amata (Nice) . This points to early forms of coexistence around warmth and food—the emergence of "home."

The collection includes a jaw fragment from a prehistoric rhinoceros that lived in the region 1 million years ago—unearthed in the Vallonet Cave . This discovery demonstrates that a subtropical climate once prevailed here.

The collection also includes finds from Roman shipwrecks – glassware and pottery from the Mediterranean.

Willem Vandenameele