The discovery of Prehistory evokes an extraordinary fascination: since the 19th century, scholars and artists enthusiastically embraced a mysterious era they both contributed to defining and inventing. Each era has thus produced new images of our origins. What was Prehistory then: a Stone Age synonymous with an age of abundance, a golden age of humanity, or a war of all against all?
In this free exhibition designed for all audiences, visitors will discover unique pieces of Palaeolithic art, life-size renderings of cave paintings by Abbé Breuil, and reconstitutions of fossilized men who have marked the history of the discipline. Beyond these discoveries, the exhibition also tells the social construction of prehistoric research, shedding light on how Prehistory feeds into our collective imagination. Each one thus finds a familiar calling of Prehistory: from “Quest for Fire” to “Why I Ate My Father” or Charlie Chaplin to “Rahan.”
A mirror of mentalities, Prehistory is a field where dreams and ideologies have been given free rein. This exhibition invites us to confront these images, whether inherited or fantasized, with the achievements of research, which now value the diversity of fossil species and strive to reconstruct their evolution.
A journey to the crossroads of science and imagination to rediscover what Prehistory tells us about ourselves yesterday, today, and tomorrow: an exhibition presented by France Culture to experience from April 29 to July 19, 2026.
More information: https://www.college-de-france.fr/fr/expo-prehistoire (opens in a new tab)
