Les niveaux archéologiques de la grotte de La Crouzade, située sur la commune de Gruissan, dans l... more Les niveaux archéologiques de la grotte de La Crouzade, située sur la commune de Gruissan, dans l’Aude, ont livré une quantité conséquente de matériel lithique attribué au paléolithique moyen récent (stade isotopique 3), avec une grande diversité de matières premières. L’industrie lithique fut tout d’abord rattachée au faciès para-charentien lato sensu par H. DeLumley, puis ultérieurement qualifiée du type moustérien atypique. Sa révision technologique, typologique et techno-économique nous livre de nouvelles informations sur les concepts de débitage et les ramifications des chaînes opératoires mises en œuvre par les derniers Néandertaliens. Le débitage se caractérise par une volonté d’optimisation de certaines matières premières, notamment siliceuses, par une adaptation des gestions aux morphologies des supports. Cette optimisation poussée se traduit sur l’intégralité des supports, avec des nucléus majoritairement abandonnés à exhaustion, de nombreux outils à retouches scalariformes (qui traduisent des réaffûtages réguliers des bords tranchants) ou encore des supports transformés tels que des nucléus retouchés ou des éclats ayant servi de support de débitage (recyclage). Ce travail d’étude a donc permis de caractériser ce matériel issu du moustérien final de la Crouzade, qui serait à mettre en corrélation avec d’autres sites contemporains situés dans un même territoire étendu, afin de mieux comprendre les derniers Néandertaliens régionaux.
The archaeological levels of the cave of Crouzade, situated on the municipality of Gruissan, in Aude, delivered a consequent quantity of lithic material attributed to the recent Middle Paleolithic (isotopic stage 3), with a big diversity of raw materials. First of all, the lithic industry was connected with the facies charentien in the broader sense of the word by H. DeLumley, then later qualified as the atypical mousterian type. Its technological, typological and techno-economic revision deliver new informations on the concepts of debitage and the ramifications of the operational chains operated by the last Neanderthal men. The lithic debitage is characterized by a will of optimization of certain raw materials, in particular siliceous materials, by an adaptation of the managements to the morphologies of lithic materials. This optimization is translated on the entire lithic materials, with nucleus mainly abandoned in exhaustion, of numerous tools with scalariformes alterations which translate regular resharpening of sharp edges or transformed lithic materials such as retouched nucleus or flakes having served as nucleus (recycling). This work of study allowed to characterize this material stemming from the final mousterian of Crouzade, that should be connected with other contemporary sites situated in the same vast territory, to understand better the last regional Neanderthal men.
This paper presents new archaeological material and first dates on Upper Pleistocene layers at th... more This paper presents new archaeological material and first dates on Upper Pleistocene layers at the site of La Crouzade cave (Gruissan, Aude, France). The site was first excavated by T. and P. Héléna at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the excavations were recently completed during three years (2016-2018) of systematic campaigns. We obtained dates from Middle Palaeolithic layers using two methods: AMS 14 C dates were obtained from bone and charcoal, and combined ESR-U series dating was undertaken on horse teeth. Together, these methods allowed us to date this Mousterian sequence to 49,776-44805 cal BP for the deepest level (layer C8) and from 42,000 ± 3000 years BP for the top (layer C6). The Upper Palaeolithic layers are preserved only as patches in the actual excavation area, but a date was obtained from a piece of charcoal collected from a small hearth preserved in the first layer (C5) above Middle Palaeolithic deposits, which indicates an age similar to that of a modern human maxillary previously analysed and re-dated here from 36,014 to 34402 cal BP, confirming its stratigraphic attribution. The Middle Palaeolithic lithics at the site were first described as para-Charentian cultural facies following typological analyses. The revision of the earlier collection supplemented with the new material, using a technological approach, allow to identify two layers dominated by Levallois production followed by discoid production (Layers C8 and C6) surrounding an original assemblage (layer C7), characterised by a dominant Levallois production completed by three secondary production systems of equal importance, including discoid, SSDA and a Quina-like production. The faunal spectrum predominantly comprises an assemblage of Pleistocene large mammals, and biochronological studies corroborate the dates obtained.
Les niveaux archéologiques de la grotte de La Crouzade, située sur la commune de Gruissan, dans l... more Les niveaux archéologiques de la grotte de La Crouzade, située sur la commune de Gruissan, dans l’Aude, ont livré une quantité conséquente de matériel lithique attribué au paléolithique moyen récent (stade isotopique 3), avec une grande diversité de matières premières. L’industrie lithique fut tout d’abord rattachée au faciès para-charentien lato sensu par H. DeLumley, puis ultérieurement qualifiée du type moustérien atypique. Sa révision technologique, typologique et techno-économique nous livre de nouvelles informations sur les concepts de débitage et les ramifications des chaînes opératoires mises en œuvre par les derniers Néandertaliens. Le débitage se caractérise par une volonté d’optimisation de certaines matières premières, notamment siliceuses, par une adaptation des gestions aux morphologies des supports. Cette optimisation poussée se traduit sur l’intégralité des supports, avec des nucléus majoritairement abandonnés à exhaustion, de nombreux outils à retouches scalariformes (qui traduisent des réaffûtages réguliers des bords tranchants) ou encore des supports transformés tels que des nucléus retouchés ou des éclats ayant servi de support de débitage (recyclage). Ce travail d’étude a donc permis de caractériser ce matériel issu du moustérien final de la Crouzade, qui serait à mettre en corrélation avec d’autres sites contemporains situés dans un même territoire étendu, afin de mieux comprendre les derniers Néandertaliens régionaux.
The archaeological levels of the cave of Crouzade, situated on the municipality of Gruissan, in Aude, delivered a consequent quantity of lithic material attributed to the recent Middle Paleolithic (isotopic stage 3), with a big diversity of raw materials. First of all, the lithic industry was connected with the facies charentien in the broader sense of the word by H. DeLumley, then later qualified as the atypical mousterian type. Its technological, typological and techno-economic revision deliver new informations on the concepts of debitage and the ramifications of the operational chains operated by the last Neanderthal men. The lithic debitage is characterized by a will of optimization of certain raw materials, in particular siliceous materials, by an adaptation of the managements to the morphologies of lithic materials. This optimization is translated on the entire lithic materials, with nucleus mainly abandoned in exhaustion, of numerous tools with scalariformes alterations which translate regular resharpening of sharp edges or transformed lithic materials such as retouched nucleus or flakes having served as nucleus (recycling). This work of study allowed to characterize this material stemming from the final mousterian of Crouzade, that should be connected with other contemporary sites situated in the same vast territory, to understand better the last regional Neanderthal men.
This paper presents new archaeological material and first dates on Upper Pleistocene layers at th... more This paper presents new archaeological material and first dates on Upper Pleistocene layers at the site of La Crouzade cave (Gruissan, Aude, France). The site was first excavated by T. and P. Héléna at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the excavations were recently completed during three years (2016-2018) of systematic campaigns. We obtained dates from Middle Palaeolithic layers using two methods: AMS 14 C dates were obtained from bone and charcoal, and combined ESR-U series dating was undertaken on horse teeth. Together, these methods allowed us to date this Mousterian sequence to 49,776-44805 cal BP for the deepest level (layer C8) and from 42,000 ± 3000 years BP for the top (layer C6). The Upper Palaeolithic layers are preserved only as patches in the actual excavation area, but a date was obtained from a piece of charcoal collected from a small hearth preserved in the first layer (C5) above Middle Palaeolithic deposits, which indicates an age similar to that of a modern human maxillary previously analysed and re-dated here from 36,014 to 34402 cal BP, confirming its stratigraphic attribution. The Middle Palaeolithic lithics at the site were first described as para-Charentian cultural facies following typological analyses. The revision of the earlier collection supplemented with the new material, using a technological approach, allow to identify two layers dominated by Levallois production followed by discoid production (Layers C8 and C6) surrounding an original assemblage (layer C7), characterised by a dominant Levallois production completed by three secondary production systems of equal importance, including discoid, SSDA and a Quina-like production. The faunal spectrum predominantly comprises an assemblage of Pleistocene large mammals, and biochronological studies corroborate the dates obtained.
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Drafts by Alex Alladio
Ce travail d’étude a donc permis de caractériser ce matériel issu du moustérien final de la Crouzade, qui serait à mettre en corrélation avec d’autres sites contemporains situés dans un même territoire étendu, afin de mieux comprendre les derniers Néandertaliens régionaux.
The archaeological levels of the cave of Crouzade, situated on the municipality of Gruissan, in Aude, delivered a consequent quantity of lithic material attributed to the recent Middle Paleolithic (isotopic stage 3), with a big diversity of raw materials. First of all, the lithic industry was connected with the facies charentien in the broader sense of the word by H. DeLumley, then later qualified as the atypical mousterian type. Its technological, typological and techno-economic revision deliver new informations on the concepts of debitage and the ramifications of the operational chains operated by the last Neanderthal men. The lithic debitage is characterized by a will of optimization of certain raw materials, in particular siliceous materials, by an adaptation of the managements to the morphologies of lithic materials. This optimization is translated on the entire lithic materials, with nucleus mainly abandoned in exhaustion, of numerous tools with scalariformes alterations which translate regular resharpening of sharp edges or transformed lithic materials such as retouched nucleus or flakes having served as nucleus (recycling).
This work of study allowed to characterize this material stemming from the final mousterian of Crouzade, that should be connected with other contemporary sites situated in the same vast territory, to understand better the last regional Neanderthal men.
Papers by Alex Alladio
Ce travail d’étude a donc permis de caractériser ce matériel issu du moustérien final de la Crouzade, qui serait à mettre en corrélation avec d’autres sites contemporains situés dans un même territoire étendu, afin de mieux comprendre les derniers Néandertaliens régionaux.
The archaeological levels of the cave of Crouzade, situated on the municipality of Gruissan, in Aude, delivered a consequent quantity of lithic material attributed to the recent Middle Paleolithic (isotopic stage 3), with a big diversity of raw materials. First of all, the lithic industry was connected with the facies charentien in the broader sense of the word by H. DeLumley, then later qualified as the atypical mousterian type. Its technological, typological and techno-economic revision deliver new informations on the concepts of debitage and the ramifications of the operational chains operated by the last Neanderthal men. The lithic debitage is characterized by a will of optimization of certain raw materials, in particular siliceous materials, by an adaptation of the managements to the morphologies of lithic materials. This optimization is translated on the entire lithic materials, with nucleus mainly abandoned in exhaustion, of numerous tools with scalariformes alterations which translate regular resharpening of sharp edges or transformed lithic materials such as retouched nucleus or flakes having served as nucleus (recycling).
This work of study allowed to characterize this material stemming from the final mousterian of Crouzade, that should be connected with other contemporary sites situated in the same vast territory, to understand better the last regional Neanderthal men.