At Quinson, the departmental museum of the area “Alpes de Haute-Provence” is situated. The goal is to conserve the cultural archaeological Heritage of the Verdon Region, study this patrimony and show and explain it to the public.
The original idea came from Professor Henry de Lumley, Prehistorian and with a large investment of the state, the department, the region and Europe a large museum was founded in 2001. There is regular cooperation with scientists in France and Europe, Asia, et cetera. The nearby caves are a must see, many finds are exhibited in the indoor museum.
Staff develops scientific programs in the region with archaeological prospection and excavations on a yearly basis. The Big Canyon of Verdon is very important in this respect. Conservation, research and exhibition are the keywords. For the prehistoric village, scientific examples were taken to build the reconstructions of houses: the stone circle of Olduvai (near 1,5 my); the hut of Terra Amata (400 000); a tee pee of Pincevent (15 000); the house of Charavine (6 000); the house of Cambous (4 500) and a dolmen of the Provence (4 500). There was an idea to build a hut of the Bronze Age, but there has not been time enough yet to do so. The Museum staff tries to follow archaeology as tight as possible.
Pedagogic demonstrations are about making fire (percussion and friction), knapping stone, art, making Neolithic jewellery and shooting bow and throwing spears.
