Henry Bernard Alfred Testot-Ferry also known as Henry de Ferry (5 February 1826, La Chapelle-la-Reine, Seine-et-Marne – 9 November 1869, Bussières, Saône-et-Loire) was a French

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. He was discoverer of the prehistoric site at the

Rock of Solutré The Rock of Solutré (French: ''Roche de Solutré'') is a limestone escarpment west of Mâcon, France, overlooking the commune of Solutré-Pouilly. It is an iconic site in the department of Saône-et-Loire, in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Prote ...

Family

Testot-Ferry was the youngest son of Baron

Claude Testot-Ferry Général Baron Claude Testot-Ferry (20 May 1773 – 25 August 1856) was a cavalry veteran of the armies of the First French Republic, First French Empire and Bourbon Restoration. Life Origins Claude Testot-Ferry was born in Arnay-le-Duc in ...

and his wife Joséphine Elizabeth Claudine Fabry. Henry's father was a hero of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

who had been

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

by Emperor

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

and died at

Châtillon-sur-Seine Châtillon-sur-Seine (, ) is a commune of the Côte-d'Or department, eastern France. The Musée du Pays Châtillonnais is housed in old abbey of Notre-Dame de Châtillon, within the town, known for its collection of pre-Roman and Roman relic ...

. After a somewhite idle youth typical of the "gilded youth" of the 19th century, in which

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

was his chief passion, he married in 1852, at the advice (or perhaps the insistence) of his older brother Gustave. His wife was Louise Madeleine O'Brien, descendant of the O'Brien clan of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following t ...

, which had given rise to several Kings of Ireland, and which had been received to courtly honours under

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

in 1737. O'Brien brought as

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

her property at Prissé, Saône-et-Loire which they occupied until moving to settle down in the village of Bussières, situated a few kilometres from the Rock of Solutré. Testot-Ferry became mayor of Bussières in 1856. Testot-Ferry would have six children, whose lives would have nothing to do with paleontology. His son Alfred, born in 1853, became a ship lieutenant at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, and was elevated to ''

Chevalier de la légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

''.

Early career

Testot-Ferry initially devoted himself to

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

. A founding member of the ''Comité de paléontologie française'', he was put in charge of

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

ized

cnidaria Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that ...

polyps in collaboration with Dr. Louis Édouard Gourdan de Fromentel. During this time he discovered and described a new genre which took his name: "Ferrya". Testot-Ferry was the first to note traces of different prehistoric occupations in

Saône river The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name d ...

valley, which he found while searching the region in its entirety and particularly the Charbonnières-les-Sapins site.

The Rock of Solutré

With paleontology overtaking geology as his main interest, Testot-Ferry started to probe the Crot-du-Charnier site at the foot of the

in 1866, which had outcrops of

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

bones (called "magma"). Shortly afterwards, Testot-Ferry discovered, along the road crossing Crot-du-Charnier, a zone of homes from the "Reindeer Age" (the Upper Paleolithic era of prehistory) containing numerous flint tools and the remains of fauna. Although

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...

predominated, horse,

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...

, fox,

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

and even cave

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

were also found. In some homes he found more than 2,000 flints and almost 400 reindeer

antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males ...

. In contrast to cave sites which had been discovered, in Solutré it was difficult to determine the size of the deposits and their boundary. Testot-Ferry proceeded to survey the area along with Adrien Arcelin. The two men decided to sift the earth with their hands, so that the remains would be methodically collected and examined. In 1868, Testot-Ferry concluded that a hunting station had existed at the foot of the rock: In 1867 Testot-Ferry had also discovered a small statuette of a deer. This was first known specimen of Solutrean art, and attested to the culture of prehistoric man in the same way as

cave paintings In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 y ...

A life devoted to the sciences

In the course of his studies on the prehistoric deposits at the Rock of Solutré, Testot-Ferry came into contact with most of the prehistorians of his day to discuss and check a certain number of hypotheses. He also maintained a long correspondence with Jacques Boucher de Perthes.

Édouard Lartet Édouard Lartet (15 April 180128 January 1871) was a French geologist and paleontologist, and a pioneer of Paleolithic archaeology. Biography Lartet was born near Castelnau-Barbarens, ' of Gers, France, where his family had lived for more than ...

, Gabriel de Mortillet and Sir John Lubbock would even come to the site to help him with

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

. Testot-Ferry and Arcelin presented their research in international conferences, and Solutré very quickly became one of the most important prehistoric sites in France. Acte de décès TESTOT FERRY

Testot-Ferry contributed to the scientific life of numerous institutions in France, and was: * A founding member of the ''Comité de Paléontologie Française'' with whom he participated in writing the final 16 volumes of ''Paléontologie française'' which had been started by

Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthr ...

. * Member of the '' Société Géologique de France'' * Correspondent of the Linnean Society of Normandie * Correspondent of the ''Société d'Émulation du

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Académie de Mâcon'' A significant part of Testot-Ferry's reference collection of 5262 objects was

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...

to the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, as well as to the ainsi Musée des Ursulines in

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M ...

. His grandson, André Testot-Ferry would sell another significant part of the collection to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1958.

Anecdotes

*At the 1872 Brussels congress, a few years after Testot-Ferry's death, the famous anthropologist Gabriel de Morillet decided to name prehistoric cultures by the sites where they had been observed. Accordingly, he gave the name "Solutrean" to the culture discovered by Testot-Ferry near the Rock of Solutré. *A road in Bussières, was in 2004 inaugurated ''Rue Henry Testot-Ferry''; it runs by the house where he lived in the direction of the rock.

Publications

* Henry de Ferry and Louis Édouard Gourdan de Fromentel, ''Paléontologie Française'',

, 1861 * Henry de Ferry, ''Les Gisements archéologiques des bords de la Saône'',

, 1868 * Henry de Ferry, ''L'Homme préhistorique en Mâconnais'', 1868 * Henry de Ferry, ''Le Mâconnais préhistorique'', Paris, 1870

Bibliography

* ''Henry de Ferry'', Albert Albrier,

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

, 1870 * ''Annales de l'académie de Mâcon'', 1869–1906 * ''1866 : l'invention de Solutré'', Catalogue of the 1989 exhibition at the ''Musée Départemental de Préhistoire de Solutré'' * ''Solutré, musée départemental de préhistoire'', Geneviève Lagardère, 1997.