Grotte du Bichon

Grotte du Bichon is a karstic cave in the Swiss Jura, overlooking the river Doubs at an elevation of 846 m, some 5 km north of La Chaux-de-Fonds.

It is the site of the discovery of the skeleton of a hunter-gatherer of the Azilian (late Upper Paleolithic to early Mesolithic), dubbed "Bichon man" (homme de Bichon), a young male about 20 to 23 years old, carbon dated to 13,770–13,560 years ago (95% CI).

[1] The skeleton was discovered in 1956, about 15 m from the cave entrance, intermingled with the bones of a female brown bear, nine flint arrowheads and traces of charcoal.

He was relatively slender, but muscular (based on muscle attachments visible on the skeleton), with a pronounced lateral asymmetry suggesting right-handedness.

A study on carbon and nitrogen fractionations suggests a largely meat-based diet.