Prehistoric Provence thumb|left|The entrance to the Cosquer Cave, decorated with paintings of auks, bison, seals and outlines of hands dating to 27,000 to 19,000 BC, is located 37 metres under the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou in Marseille. The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dating back 1 to 1.05 million years BC have been found in the Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, between Monaco and Menton.Max Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'histoire, article in Histoire de la Provence, edited by Edouard Baratier, Éditions Privat, Toulouse, 1990. Pg. 14 See also Henry de Lumley, La Grand Histoire des premiers hommes européens, Odile Jacob, Paris, 2010 More sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to 600,000 BC, were found in the Cave of Escale at Saint-Estève-Janson; tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe were found at Terra Amata in Nice.Max Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'histoire, pg. 15 Tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic (300,000 BC) and Upper Paleolithic (30,000–10,000 BC) were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco.
Prehistoric Provence thumb|left|The entrance to the Cosquer Cave, decorated with paintings of auks, bison, seals and outlines of hands dating to 27,000 to 19,000 BC, is located 37 metres under the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou in Marseille. The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dating back 1 to 1.05 million years BC have been found in the Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, between Monaco and Menton.Max Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'histoire, article in Histoire de la Provence edited by Edouard Baratier, Éditions Privat, Toulouse, 1990. Pg. 14 See also Henry de Lumley, La Grand Histoire des premiers hommes européens, Odile Jacob, Paris, 2010 More sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to 600,000 BC were found in the Cave of Escale at Saint-Estève-Janson; tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe were found at Terra Amata in Nice.Max Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'hist,oire, pg. 15 Tools dating to the Middle Pale,olithic (300,000 BC) and Upper Paleolithic (30,000–10,000 BC) were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco.