The Parc archéologique et botanique de Solutré (13,000 m²) is an archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 site and botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 maintained by the Musée départemental de Préhistoire, Solutré-Pouilly

Solutré-Pouilly

Solutré-Pouilly is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. It is known for a local geological feature, the Rock of Solutré‎.-Wine:...

, Saône-et-Loire

Saône-et-Loire

Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...

, Bourgogne

Bourgogne

Burgundy is one of the 27 regions of France.The name comes from the Burgundians, an ancient Germanic people who settled in the area in early Middle-age. The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the modern...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is open daily but closed in December.

The park preserves one of the richest archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 sites of prehistoric Europe

Prehistoric Europe

Prehistoric Europe refers to the prehistorical period of Europe, usually taken to refer to human prehistory since the Lower Paleolithic, but in principle also extending to geological time scale - for which see Geological history of Europe....

: a hunting site used for more than 25,000 years during the Upper Paleolithic

Upper Paleolithic

The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...

 period, where hunters came to hunt and butcher thousands of horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s and reindeer

Reindeer

The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

. Flint

Flint

Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...

 tools from this site have been termed Solutrean

Solutrean

The Solutrean industry is a relatively advanced flint tool-making style of the Upper Palaeolithic, from around 22,000 to 17,000 BP.-Details:...

 style. It was first excavated in 1866, classified as a historic monument in 1942, transferred to the management of the Conseil général de Saône-et-Loire in 1993, and opened to the public in 2006.

The park contains a marked trail through the former hunting site, with eight information areas describing the natural environment, its plant species, and results of archaeological research to date. Described are geology, animals in prehistoric times, hunting techniques, the landscape in prehistoric times, the site's discovery and initial excavation, and contemporary excavations.

Many regional trees, shrubs, and plants are labeled, including Acer campestre, Fraxinus excelsior, Juglans regia, Prunus mahaleb

Prunus mahaleb

Prunus mahaleb is a species of cherry native to central and southern Europe, western and central Asia, and northwest Africa, from Morocco north to France, southern Belgium, and Germany, and east to northern Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.It is a deciduous tree or large...

, Pyrus communis, Quercus pubescens, and Robinia pseudoacacia; Cornus sanguinea, Hippocrepis emerus

Hippocrepis emerus

Hippocrepis emerus, common name: Scorpion Senna, is a perennial plant belonging to the genus Hippocrepis of the Fabaceae family.-Description:...

, Ligustrum vulgare

Ligustrum vulgare

Ligustrum vulgare , is a species of Ligustrum native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from southern England and southwestern Sweden south to Morocco, and east to Poland and northwestern Iran.It is a semi-evergreen or deciduous shrub, growing to 3 m...

, Prunus spinosa

Prunus spinosa

Prunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....

, Ribes uva-crispa, Rosa canina, and Sambucus nigra

Sambucus nigra

Sambucus nigra is a species complex of elder native to most of Europe.It is most commonly called Elder, Elderberry, Black Elder, European Elder, European Elderberry, European Black Elderberry, Common Elder, or Elder Bush when distinction from other species of Sambucus is needed...

; Aceras anthropophorum, Campanula rotundifolia, Clematis vitalba

Clematis vitalba

Clematis vitalba is a shrub of the Ranunculaceae family.-Description:Clematis vitalba is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved stems, deciduous leaves, and scented greeny-white flowers with fluffy underlying sepals...

, Crataegus monogyna, Fragaria vesca, Geranium dissectum

Geranium dissectum

Geranium dissectum or Cut-leaved Cranesbill is a plant species of the genus Geranium. It is native to Europe.It can be found on other continents as an introduced species. It is a widespread noxious weed and invasive species in North America, where it is known as the Cutleaf Geranium.-External...

, Geranium molle

Geranium molle

Geranium molle, the Dovesfoot Cranesbill, is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Geraniaceae family.-Description:Geranium molle is a small plant reaching on average in height. It is a very branched plant, quite hairy, with several ascending stems. The leaves are palmate, cut 5 to 9 times...

, Geranium robertianum, Helleborus foetidus

Helleborus foetidus

Helleborus foetidus, known variously as stinking hellebore , dungwort, and bear's foot, is a member of the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native of the mountainous regions of Central and Southern Europe, Greece and Asia Minor...

, Himantoglossum hircinum, Hypericum perforatum, Rubia peregrina

Rubia peregrina

Rubia peregrina, the common Wild Madder, is a herbaceous perennial plant species in the genus Rubia belonging to the Rubiaceae family.-Etymology:...

, Rumex scutatus

Rumex scutatus

French Sorrel is a plant in the buckwheat family, used as a culinary herb. Its common names include buckler sorrel, shield-leaf sorrel, and sometimes the culinary name "green-sauce"....

, Sanguisorba minor, Saponaria officinalis, Seseli montanum, Sedum album

Sedum album

Sedum album or White stonecrop, is a flowering plant of the genus Sedum in the family Crassulaceae. Sedum album is able to acclimate according to the environment...

, Sedum reflexum

Sedum reflexum

Sedum reflexum or Sedum rupestre, also known as Reflexed Stonecrop, Blue Stonecrop, Jenny's Stonecrop and Prick-madam, is a species of succulent plant of the genus Sedum, native to Northern, Central, and Southwestern Europe.-Description:The Sedum reflexum plants are typically up to 10 cm high, with...

, and Verbascum thapsus.