Pierre Daura
already has an impressive resume– father, artist, teacher, soldier– to this
list I would like to add another entry, amateur archaeologist. I came across a
story of how the Daura family discovered Neolithic artifacts outside of Saint
Cirq in a letter written by Louise Daura to her family. Louise’s story made for
such good reading that I thought I’d recount the tale for all of you.
This
adventure begins with a birthday party. Pierre and Louise’s daughter, Martha,
was born September 24, 1930 and the Dauras held a special party for Martha’s
first birthday on September 27, 1931. During the birthday festivities, the Dauras
were visited by Maurice Olombel, a friend of Pierre and a scientist at the
station entomolique de Versailles. After everyone had their fill of the
traditional birthday cake, Pierre convinced his friend to take part in a small
excavation outside of the village of Saint Cirq. Generations before, a villager
was said to have discovered an ancient Dolmen, and found coins, jewelry, and
pottery from what many believed to be a “Gallo-Roman” grave. The site had not
been explored further, and Pierre Daura hypothesized that an even older tomb
might be located underneath the ancient gravesite. Olombel agreed to join the
Daura family as their guide and advisor when they searched for the dig site and
conducted their own excavation.
The
Daura troop departed the next morning. They did not have proper digging
equipment so they used tools from their garden as substitutes; trowels and a
hoe replaced the more traditional shovels and pickaxes, and Louise carried a
bundle of fresh diapers for the baby Martha. According to Louise’s letter the
party descended into the Lot Valley, crossed the river, and eventually arrived
at a plateau where Pierre discovered a circular pile of stones about
twenty-five feet in diameter. After breaking for lunch, Pierre and Olombel
began to dig up the site.
The
men were “up to their necks” in dirt when they finally found a large stone
slab, which they believed served as the floor of the newer “Gallo-Roman” tomb
and the roof of an older Neolithic grave site. Using what must have been
Herculean force the two men lifted up the stone slab and continued to dig. The
Dauras’ efforts were rewarded. They found teeth, various bones including a
vertebra, an arrowhead, and pottery shards. Olombel was so impressed with the
findings that he took them back with him to Paris, intending to show them to
his colleague Abbé Henri Breuil, the authority on Neolithic settlements in both
France and Spain.
I
had come to feel pretty familiar with the happenings of the Daura household
after reading through Louise Daura’s family correspondence, but her account of
this amateur excavation still managed to surprise me. If anything, her story is
a testimony to the family’s unflagging sense of adventure and the influence
this adventurous spirit had on their day-to-day life.
Louise Daura’s
account of the family excavation can be found in her letter written September
30, 1931. Family Correspondence series, Pierre Daura Archives, Georgia Museum
of Art, University of Georgia.
Map of Saint Cirq in relation to several prehistoric caves in the area
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