Two students have found a human tooth from about 560,000 years ago in a famous prehistoric cave in south-western France, a discovery praised by archaeologists as the oldest human body part ever discovered in the country and being rare from that period in Europe. The tooth was found during excavations at Tautavel, one of Europe's most important prehistoric sites, where about 40 volunteers are working under the supervision of scientists. Polaeoanthropologist Tony Chevalier, researcher at Tau-Lavers archaeological laboratory, called it a 'major discovery'. Chevalier told the press that the adult tooth would help fill a gap between the very few oldest human fossils, notably found in Spain and Germany, and more recent ones. Thousands of finds on the site include prehistoric tools and bones from animals, especially horses, reindeers and buffaloes We believe these men have lived for a long time in the cave or have regularly come back into it,' Chevalier said. 'We also know that the area was quite cold at the time It twos a steppe, with no trees There had to be some long periods with snow.