Comptes Rendus Palevol
1 (1) - Pages 67-74The settlement of Chalcolithic metalworkers of La Capitelle du Broum is a truly outstanding site. The first AMS 14 C dating (3rd millennium BC) reveals it as the oldest site in the mining and metallurgy district of Cabrières. It is of the same age as the oldest metallurgy site discovered in continental France (Roquemengarde). It includes, near the prehistoric copper mines already discovered, double-facing dry-stone walls of the Fontbouisse type and a variety of metallurgy structures. Metalworking tools, including one of the very rare ingot crucibles known from this period in Western Europe, are found alongside ceramics typical of the Late Neolithic (Broum type?).
copper metallurgy, 3100–2880 BC, dry-stone walls, furnaces, southern France
