Monrepos is part of the Romano-Germanic Central Museum (Mainz) a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community.

Monrepos (French: "my rest") is a historical recreation area located on the hills above the town of Neuwied in a transition zone between the Middle Rhine valley and the Westerwald.

[2] The research at Monrepos encompasses the early human history of the Old World from its beginnings to the invention and spread of agriculture and stock farming.

Many sites studied at Monrepos such as Niederbieber, Bad Breisig, Kettig, Urbar, and the upper horizons of Andernach-Martinsberg were attributed to the so-called Federmesser groups which are a similar behavioural development as the French Azilian in the late Ice Age.

Their remarkably good preservation due to the cover by tephras of the Laacher See volcanic eruption made exceptional insights into the land-use of this period possible [6][7][8] Since the late 1990s the geographic frame of research at Monrepos has been broadened.

By the use of a synthetic comparison of the three research units and the comparative transfer between the different time periods and levels of resolution, it is possible to reconstruct the development of human behaviour in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic.

In this process, comprehensive dating programs of the Upper Palaeolithic were initiated [17] Innovative methods of radiocarbon calibration were developed by Olaf Jöris (Monrepos) and Bernhard Weninger (University of Cologne).

These methods became constantly better and made precise calibration of increasingly older radiocarbon dates possible by the connection with high-resolution climate data sets.

Studies from concentrations at the Mesolithic site of Duvensee were the first to show the significance of vegetation resources (hazelnuts) in the early Holocene subsistence.

Current research involves the application of GIS supported geo-statistical approaches that allow for quantitative and verifiable analyses of settlement dynamics.

[26][27] The wide spectrum of investigated sites allows for a diachronic comparison of settlement and land use behaviours and their links with environmental change and socio-economic factors.

Current projects involve the sites of Neumark-Nord, Bilizingsleben, Niederbieber, Breitenbach, Magdalena-cave, Gönnersdorf, Andernach, Oelknitz and Duvensee.

[28][29] The analytic-integrative approach to Palaeolithic art is another defining feature of work at Monrepos that was developed coinciding with the discovery and investigation of the famous engraved Magdalenian slate plaquettes from Gönnersdorf through Gerhard Bosinski.

[30] The particular manner in which art is studied at MONREPOS is characterised by a contextualised approach that aims to understand the principles and rules behind patterns in design and production.

[34][10] Members of Monrepos regularly give lectures and seminars about the evolution of human behaviour in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic at the Institute of Prehistory and Early History at the university of Mainz.

[35] The archaeological education is supplemented by internships, excursions, und field schools allowing for direct participation in science and conveying.

[39] In addition to the Museum and its teaching involvement at the Institute for Pre- and Early History at Mainz University, Monrepos has also developed other formats of public outreach.

The Human Roots Award is a €10,000 prize recognising "outstanding impact or great influence in understanding the archaeology of our behavioural evolution".