Photo : Tangopaso / Wikimedia Commons (Domaine public)
Musée de la Préhistoire Régionale
The Museum of Regional Prehistory is a municipal museum in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), set on Rue Lorédan Larchey in a building designed by the architect Adrien Rey and inaugurated in 1909. Its origins go back to the nineteenth century: it was born from a collection gathered by Stanislas Bonfils, a self-taught naturalist and archaeologist, who excavated the Grimaldi caves between 1850 and 1892.
The ground floor is devoted to the prehistory of the region and shows how populations coped with changes in climate and biodiversity. You see human and animal bones, stone and bone tools, as well as reconstructions by slide shows and frescoes of life on the Mediterranean coast.
The museum also presents, in a permanent exhibition, treasures from Mediterranean wrecks from underwater excavations. The more recent history of Menton is evoked by reconstructed interiors, such as a kitchen and a bedroom, and by tools linked to lemon and olive growing and fishing. Temporary exhibitions are organised each year. A projection room and a shop complete the visit.
