Former Director, National Center for Prehistory, Ministry of Culture and Communication, France
Jean-Michel Geneste is an archaeologist attached to the Ministry of Culture and Communication as honorary curator general of cultural heritage. His very first fields of research were dedicated to the study of the lithic production system among Palaeolithic cultures. Geneste has been involved in the study of the archaeology of rock art since 1992, when he was appointed curator of the Lascaux Cave as well as the director of its scientific research program. Since 2002 he has been in charge of the multidisciplinary research program of the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc Cave, one of the oldest rock art sites in western Europe.
Geneste has also coordinated numerous archaeological research programs in France, Ukraine, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Arnhem Land, British Columbia, and Russia. He is codirector of the ARTEMIR research laboratory at the Archaeology and Ethnology Institute of Novosibirsk University. He has published hundreds of scientific articles and books and is currently directing the edition of a monograph on the Chauvet Cave whose first volume will be released in a large format.