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{{Short description|Term in  geology and archeology}}
In [[geology]], and archeology, '''Chellian''' or Chellean was the name given by the French [[anthropologist]] [[G. de Mortillet]] to the first epoch of the [[Quaternary]] period when the earliest human remains were discovered. The word is derived from the French town [[Chelles, Seine-et-Marne|Chelles]] in the department of [[Seine-et-Marne]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Fauna and flora==
The climate of the Chellian epoch was warm and humid as evidenced by the wild growth of [[fig tree]]s and [[Lauraceae|laurel]]s. The animals characteristic of the epoch are the ''[[Elephas antiquus]]'', the [[Rhinoceros]], the [[cave bear]], the [[striped hyaena]]{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} and the [[hippopotamus]]: [[Louis Lartet]] indeed called it the Hippopotamus Period.<ref>G. Bibby, ''The Testimony of the Spade'' (Fontana 1962) p. 69</ref>

==Early man==
{{Update-EB|section=y|date=January 2022}}
Man existed and belonged to the [[Neanderthal]] type, or a predecessor [[hominid]].<ref>Bill Bryson, ''A Short History of Nearly Everything'' (London 2004) p. 560-1</ref> The implements characteristic of the period are hand-held [[flint]]s chipped into [[leaf]]-shaped forms,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} but are now normally known as [[Acheulean]].<ref>W. Bray, ''The Penguin Dictionary of Archeology'' (Penguin 1972) p. 57</ref>

==Cognate geologies==
{{Update-EB|section=y|date=March 2022}}
The drift-beds of St Acheul ([[Amiens]]), of Menchecourt ([[Abbeville]]), of [[Hoxne]] ([[Suffolk]]), and the [[detrital]] [[laterite]] of [[Madras]] are considered by de Mortillet to be synchronous with the Chellian beds.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=22em|
*[[Abbevillian]]
*[[Oldowan]]
*[[Lower Palaeolithic]]
*[[Stone Age]]
*[[Stone tools]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2|}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Chellian|volume=6|page=23}}

{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}

[[Category:Archaeological cultures of Europe]]
[[Category:Pleistocene]]
[[Category:Geology of France]]