book title and author

[colbro]

i read this book a long time ago, its sci-fi and the storry line goes along the lines of :- scientists discover an object thousands of feet below the ice, after a massive dig they find an oval/egg shaped object, to cut a long story short there are human like male and female bodies in suspended animation. the scientists experiment with the woman to bring her back to life first (as they feel scientifically the man is more valuable if they make a mistake).they do succeed and learn to comunicate with her using a universal translator.the long and short of it is :-that humans reached a state of inteligence and a healthy thriving society was here hundreds of thousands of years before.....................i believe it is possible that the author could have been french and the book was translated into english...........anybody help?.

[wardie100]

A quick google gave me this

http://www.amazon.com/Ice-People-Rene-Barjavel /dp/0688018602