Angeac-Charente bonebed

About

The Paleontological site of Angeac-Charente is a fossil deposit known as one of the largest dinosaur sites in the world. The paleontological excavations of Angeac are located in the quarries of graves in the commune of Angeac-Charente, in the French department of Charente, on the banks of the Charente river. In view of the flow of the river, the site is downstream of Angoulême and upstream of Jarnac.

In the area, there are two main fossil-carrying geological layers: a layer of graves dating from the recent Cenozoic, in which remains of straight-line elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) and mammoths have been found, and a deeper layer of clay. The clay layer dates from the lower Cretaceous and is dated approximately 140 million years. In this layer of clay, and in Angeac-Charente in particular, is frozen a bed with bones very rich in fossil dinosaur bones but also a whole paleoenvironment with sometimes very complete remains of terrestrial plants, turtles, crocodiles, fish, pterosaurs, lizards, amphibians, etc.