The adventure of humanity in Haute-Provence
Quinson Museum permanent exhibition: bringing prehistory to people of all ages
Over the last fifty years, sixty archaeological sites have been excavated in the Verdon. The museum is a captivating and spectacular display of the marvels uncovered during the work.
Dans le musée, vous pouvez admirer des reconstitutions de scènes de vie préhistorique. Dans cette vitrine, deux Homo erectus qui ont peuplé la Provence il y a plus de 700 000 ans.
Dès l'entrée du musée, un véritable «troupeau» d’animaux préhistoriques grandeur nature, vous accueille.
La rencontre d'une petite fille et d'un biface de plus de 400 000 ans. Sachez que la collection du musée regroupe plus de 350 000 objets archéologiques.
Oui il existe un « trésor » au musée de Quinson : celui de Moriez. En effet, 140 bijoux et objets ont été retrouvés à Moriez, une commune des Alpes de Haute-Provence située dans le haut Verdon.
Le silex est l'objet significatif de la période de la Préhistoire couvrant un million d'années. Ici, un de nos ancêtres qui vient de percuter un galet pour débiter un éclat et créer un tranchant.
Dans l'exposition permanente, découvrez la galerie des Soleils de la grotte de l’Église et observez les peintures dessinées par les hommes du Néolithique.
As you walk into the museum, you find yourself nose to nose with a mammoth in the huge atrium. And not just a mammoth: alongside him stand a sabre-toothed tiger, a megaceros, a woolly rhinoceros and a reindeer. Children love the prehistoric herd – and you may find your inner child is pretty impressed too!
Quinson Museum offers a permanent collection displaying the results of all the research work and archaeological excavations in the Verdon, as well as temporary exhibitions.
The permanent collection is organised as 20 chronological zones from the formation of the Verdon through to the Roman conquest. It portrays prehistory in a range of different ways. Objects discovered during excavations are displayed throughout the visit: hundreds of knapped stones (points, bifaces, chips, etc.), tools, weapons, ceramics and jewellery. The vast majority of the artefacts are originals. It is amazing to think that they were made several hundred thousand years ago. These treasures are enhanced by a large number of information panels with clear, concise text, models, raised-relief maps, films and interactive consoles providing information, data and scientific information.
The museum shop is
the last stage of your journey
Set aside a few minutes to browse our shop, offering exhibition books and catalogues to enrich your visit, souvenirs of your stay in the Verdon, a plethora of gift ideas, toys and games for children, jewellery, DVDs and much more.
Life-size prehistory
With our life-size digital reconstructions, you will see how archaeological material fitted into a variety of life and usage contexts, in dioramas depicting everyday scenes from the lives of our distant ancestors at various periods of prehistory, Baume Bonne cave and Soleils Gallery (discovered in Baudinard Gorge) with its cave paintings, some of which are represented as actual-size reconstructions.
As you move through the exhibition, the history of humanity in Provence unrolls before your very eyes, becoming real to young and old alike. The scenography of the permanent exhibition has been intelligently planned by a team of scientists, the architect and the museum designer to appeal to all visitors, whether they simply stroll through the exhibits or arrive for a day-long fact-finding mission, audioguide in hand, determined not to miss a single snippet. Enjoy the museum your way!