Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel, Prehistory museum in Tautavel, France

The Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel - Centre européen de Préhistoire is a prehistory museum in the village of Tautavel, Pyrénées-Orientales, northeast of the centre near the road up to Tautavel Castle. Its more than 2,000 m² are laid out over 21 rooms on several levels, showing casts of human remains and occupation surfaces, Lower Palaeolithic tools and animal fossils such as bears, lions, rhinoceroses and horses. Dioramas and a full-scale reconstruction of the Caune de l'Arago are among the displays. The facade mixes irregular light stone at the base with pale beige panels and wood and louvered strips, and silver letters spell MUSEE DE PREHISTOIRE.

A small museum was created in 1978 to show the first finds from the Caune de l'Arago, after a 450,000-year-old Homo heidelbergensis skull was discovered there in 1971. In 1992 it was enlarged to 1,500 m², backed by 2,000 m² of non-public space for conservation, teaching and research. It is part of the EPCC CERP de Tautavel, whose researchers work within UMR 7194 HNHP under the CNRS, MNHN and Université de Perpignan Via Domitia.

The museum reveals how early humans lived and worked in this region, focusing on daily activities and the tools they used. The exhibitions help visitors understand why this location matters for learning about human development across Europe.

The museum sits near the famous Arago Cave, where many of the displayed finds came from, and is easy to reach on foot. It helps to check opening times beforehand, as they vary depending on the season.

The museum's moulding workshop, run with the Association Insertion Patrimoine, produces casts of the Arago Cave finds that are sold in the museum shop. The same building houses the Centre Européen de Recherches Préhistoriques, where researchers study the excavated objects and fossils.