Quinson

Quinson
Quinson
Commune
	The fountain in Quinson
	Coat of arms
	Location of Quinson
	Quinson Quinson
	Coordinates: 43°42′11″N 6°02′26″E / 43.7031°N 6.0406°E
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Arrondissement	Forcalquier
Canton	Valensole
Intercommunality	Durance-Luberon-Verdon Agglomération
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jacques Espitalier
Area 1	28.11 km2 (10.85 sq mi)
Population (2021)	408
• Density	15/km2 (38/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	04158 /04500
Elevation	353–584 m (1,158–1,916 ft) ; (avg. 380 m or 1,250 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Quinson (French pronunciation: [kɛ̃sɔ̃]; Occitan: Quinçon) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.

History

Prehistory

In the nearby Gorges du Verdon, there are a number of caves (known as "baumes"), which were occupied intermittently for over 400,000 years. The most significant of these caves is the "Baume Bonne", which has been studied by various archaeologists, including Henry de Lumley.

The Baume Bonne was occupied first during the end of the Lower Paleolithic, 400,000 years ago. It was occupied again 150–300,000 years ago. Tools made using the Levallois technique have been found dating from this era. Neanderthals inhabited the caves later, around 130,000 years ago. Remains of cave bears dating from this period have been found. The Neanderthals were eventually succeeded by Cro-Magnon men, who occupied the cave during the Upper Paleolithic. Finally, modern humans lived in the cave during Neolithic.