In Nice, an immersive and dizzying dive into the skin of our prehistoric ancestors thanks to new technologies

What were the habits of the first people of Nice who settled near the sea 400,000 years ago? The Terra Amata archaeological museum answers this question with a 360-degree video and an immersive tour of the site using virtual reality headsets. Modernity can now serve history.

Inaugurated in 1976, the Terra Amata archaeological museum in Nice is located between sea and city, near Mont Boron.

After 48 years of existence, it was time for this remarkable excavation site to renew itself. This is done with this new method of visit, a totally immersive 360-degree discovery. You can therefore explore the forests exactly as if you were there!

Even a site like Terra Amata needs a facelift from time to time, something new. This is what our collaboration with the company MICA (Microscopie Imaging Cytométrie Azur) has allowed us to achieve. Everything is scientifically accurate in this video.

Bertrand ROUSSEL Director of the Archeology Museums of Nice

at France 3 Côte d’Azur

So, with this immersive video, you can walk through the fields or forest alongside animals that still exist or others that have disappeared, such as the aurochs, a species of bovid last seen in Poland in 15th century. A bit like the game of 7 mistakes, it’s up to you to be very observant to detect all the details in this video.

In those very distant times, the inhabitants of the future Baie des Anges were not Niçois but Homo Erectus. They had set up their camp to hunt 26 meters above the sea.

We wanted to show animals running chased by often hungry homo erectus! We wanted to reconstruct the reality of this past.

Bertrand ROUSSEL Director of the Archaeology Museums of Nice

at France 3 Côte d’Azur

Climate change is largely responsible for the disappearance of certain species that have not been able to adapt. Others have transformed or migrated.

If we know the habits and customs of today’s Riviera residents between parasols and sunscreen, what were the habits of our ancestors, who established their camp in this part of the Côte d’Azur?

Housed near a water source in makeshift huts, the daily life of the first people of Nice consisted of hunting and gathering.

A precursor in this type of immersive visit method, certainly. Although virtual tours are commonplace, they are rarely that technologically advanced. A precursor, Terra Amata was in any case due to its archaeological quality.

Hundreds of fossils of all types have been discovered there. A wealth so incredible that it allowed this museum to generate a law, that of the protection of remains.

Ten years after excavations in the area which revealed the presence of archaeologically interesting remains, the construction of the museum was decided. It was also the first time that we had found a fire pit, a great first in the entire world and this is what makes it a major site.

Jean-Marc Giaume, Delegate for scientific culture City of Nice

at France 3 Côte d’Azur

If you wish to experience this immersive adventure, you will need to indicate this wish by calling before because the museum does not have enough helmets for everyone. Contact details: 04 93 55 59 93.

You can also enjoy the latest exhibition “Tools, between art and science”.