Caours

Caours
Caours
Location within Picardy region  Caours
Coordinates: 50°07′53″N 1°52′59″E / 50.1314°N 1.8831°ECoordinates: 50°07′53″N 1°52′59″E / 50.1314°N 1.8831°E
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie
Department	Somme
Arrondissement	Abbeville
Canton	Abbeville-Nord
Intercommunality	L'Abbevillois
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	Nadine Tahon
Area^1	6.13 km^2 (2.37 sq mi)
Population (2006)^2	610
• Density	100/km^2 (260/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	80171 / 80132
Elevation	6–87 m (20–285 ft) (avg. 15 m or 49 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Caours is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.

Geography

Caours is situated some 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Abbeville, on the D482 road heading towards Saint-Riquier.

Population

Historical population of Caours

Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
Population	358	358	508	567	599	592	610
From the year 1962 on: No double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

History

Stone-age archaeology

The fluvial deposits of the Somme around Caours have been well known to archaeologists in the latter part of the 20th century, are remains of a time when climate was more temperate. The last interglacial, once known under the name of Riss-Würm, was between 130,000 and 115,000 years ago. The area has produced the remains of mammals of this Paleolithic era, notably antlers and bone. A joint research programme by the INRAP and the CNRS in 2005, has produced interesting results about Neandertal man. ^[1][2]

The theory that once explained the disappearance of the Neandertals, the inability to adapt to climatic
change has suddenly been put into perspective by the site of Caours.^[3]

See also

• Communes of the Somme department

References

• INSEE

1. Article sur le site de l'INRAP : Néandertal s'invite à l'Eémien (page consultée le 5 mars 2007)
2. Communiqué de presse de l'INRAP : Néandertal s'invite à l'Eémien (page consultée le 5 mars 2007)
3. Jean-Philippe Noël, « Neandertal. Le mystère de sa disparition s'épaissit », dans Science et Vie, no. 1074, mars 2007, pp. 86-88.

External links

• Caours on the Quid website (French)