Professor Jacques Cauvin was a French archaeologist who specialised in the prehistory of the Levant and Near East.
15 Facts About Jacques Cauvin
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Jacques Cauvin began to specialise in archaeology of the Middle East in 1958 when Maurice Dunand invited him to assist with excavations and studies of the stone tool industries at Byblos in Lebanon.
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Jacques Cauvin carried out seven seasons there until 1967, which included surveys extending to Lebanon's Mediterranean coast.
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In 1977 Jacques Cauvin prepared the groundwork for the permanent mission to El Kowm-Mureybet, which he retained leadership of until 1993, when he was replaced by Danielle Stordeur.
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In 1978, Jacques Cauvin was asked by the Turkish government to launch a new rescue campaign on the Euphrates at Cafer Hoyuk that ended in 1986 due to flooding of the area.
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Jacques Cauvin remained a researcher at the CNRS throughout his career, successively as Research Fellow in 1957, "Charge" in 1966, Master in 1977, Director in 1983 then Director Emeritus in 1995.
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Jacques Cauvin taught in Paris from 1978 to 1982 and Lyon from 1977 to 1982 in the form of courses or seminars directing Master's degree programs.
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Jacques Cauvin was regarded as an objective thinker, prolific author, charismatic team leader, and one of the great French experts on prehistory.
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Jacques Cauvin was married to Marie-Claire Cauvin, a Director at CNRS, author and specialist in Near East Archaeology.
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Jacques Cauvin wrote with an impressive breadth and variety in a multitude of books, articles in scientific journals, collaborations with scientists, and other agencies.
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Jacques Cauvin discussed the involvement of humans in domestication of cereals during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A stage and supported ideas of diffusionism from the northern Levant into Anatolia at the end of the PPNB.
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Jacques Cauvin referred to this as "the acculturation of a local cultural background by a dominant, expansionist culture".
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Jacques Cauvin's theories regarding the diffusion of sedentism have been much challenged from recent evidence in Turkey, however.
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Jacques Cauvin argued that the Neolithic Revolution was influenced by a change in thinking as much as changes in the environment, and he noted a series of stages in this process.
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Jacques Cauvin's work suggested important concepts in the evolution of human thinking, by examining figurines and early art depicting first women as goddesses and bulls as gods, he suggested several important ideas about the evolution of perception and duality.