Michel Barbaza is professor emeritus of Prehistory and former director of the TRACES laboratory (UMR 5608 CNRS-University of Toulouse). He based his field work on the study of cultures at the end of the ice age and the beginning of the new climatic order; in this context, he directed several archaeological excavation sites in Occitania and Western Europe. Furthermore, he devoted a significant part of his research time to the study of Saharan and Sahelian rock art (Algeria, Morocco and Burkina Faso).