Dr Jean-Paul Rigollot (1810-1873) was a nineteenth century French doctor and antiquarian famous for his role in the identification of evidence of some of Europe's earliest inhabitants and his invention of the mustard plaster. An antiquarian or antiquary is one concerned with antiquities or things of the past. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Plasters are oily or waxy mixtures blended with herbs and applied to the chest or abdomen to stimulate internal organs. ...

Working near Amiens, he was initially critical of the claims of others who believed they had found artefacts that dated back hundreds of thousands of years to what is now called the Lower Palaeolithic. In 1855 however he began to find examples of stone tools himself whilst studying the river gravels of the Somme in an effort to disprove his opponents. The tools' position within the gravel attested to their age geologically and following visits to the site of Abbeville and Saint Acheul by the Palaeontologist Hugh Falconer and the geologist Joseph Prestwich the great age of the tools was accepted by the wider archaeological; community. The cathedral in Amiens Location within France Amiens is a city and commune in the north of France, 120 km north of Paris. ... I archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. ... The Lower Paleolithic or Palaeolithic refers to the earliest period of human existence, the first of the three Paleolithic (Stone Age) periods. ... Gravel being unloaded from a barge Gravel is rock that is of a certain grain size range. ... Somme river The Somme River (French Rivière Somme) is a river in Picardy, northern France. ... Collégiale St Vulfran Beffroi Abbeville is a city in the Picardie région, in the north of France. ... Saint Acheul is a commune of the Somme département. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... Hugh Falconer (February 29, 1808 - January 31, 1865) was a Scottish palaeontologist and botanist, and the younger brother of the notable merchant Alexander Falconer. ... Joseph Prestwich (12 March 1812 - June 23, 1896) was a British geologist and businessman, known as an expert on the Tertiary Period and for having confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes. ...