Boule made extensive studies of the mountains of central France and published, among other geological works, a study of the volcanic cones of the region (1900). A professor at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (1902–36), he was editor (1893–1940) of the journal L'Anthropologie (“Anthropology”), founder of two other scientific journals, and for many years director of the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris. His broad background enabled him to correlate geological and archaeological evidence to establish a chronological sequence for remote eras.