HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), May 30, 2016
International audienceThe “Chemin de l’Évangile 3” (CE3) site near Gron is located on an alluvial... more International audienceThe “Chemin de l’Évangile 3” (CE3) site near Gron is located on an alluvial terrace on the left bank of the Yonne river, in the Paris Basin. Excavations carried out between 2001 and 2006, made it possible to identify two archaeological levels, the earliest occupation (level I) taking place during the Solutrean and the latest one (level P) during the Last Glacial Maximum.A horse tooth found in the sands that underlie level I provided a 14C age of ± 24500 cal. BP. The palaeosoil, which contained level P, was dated by three samples to 18-19000 BP, i.e. between 24161 and 21750 cal. BP. Level P is the subject of this article. It was excavated over an area encompassing 217 m2 corresponding to the total area preserved at the site.The outstanding preservation of the remains, which were rapidly covered by river deposits, make it possible to carry out a complete analysis of the activities that took place at the site and to understand its functioning. The site was occupied during a rather short period of time in late winter or early spring. The remains of six animals (three horses, two reindeers and one bovine animal) were scattered across the site and in parts served as fuel to feed three fireplaces located in the northern part of the site. The vestigial remains were arranged around two fireplaces located 2 m away which concentrated most of the activities related to the processing of game as well as numerous activities related to flint working. These remains included waste stemming from the resharpening of burins, which were widely used in this area for the scraping and cutting of bone or wood. This sector appears to have played a central role in the organisation of the site. It also provided evidence of the preparation of flint projectiles and their possible replacement on a bone shaft. Ochre was brought to the site, then processed by crushing and grinding and was most likely used to produce an adhesive for micro-points. Large blanks were produced at peripheral locations at the site where they were used as bladelet cores or transformed into tools.In the southern part of the site mainly bone remains (horse and reindeer) were preserved and this area may have been a waste zone. All the fossil shells, over 60 remains in a poor state of preservation, were recovered in this area of the site. Given that the remains mirror the structuring of space, the question arises as to a possible organisation of this space around shelters. Bioturbation partially altered the distribution of the remains but did not totally disrupt their spatial organisation. The alignment of some lithic remains suggests wall effects. The duration of an occupation and the contemporaneity of the activities that took place are concepts which are particularly difficult to understand for the Palaeolithic periods. This period of time could correspond to the season of slaughter, which corresponds in Gron to the end of the winter and the early spring. The composition of the fauna does not show a discontinuity in time and the occupation could therefore have existed for a rather short time.The functional analysis reveals the complexity of the activities carried out : hunting, butchery, working of fresh and dry skins, exploitation of hard animal materials, and crushing/grinding of ochre. The use of bones as fuel makes it rather unlikely that distinct portions of carcasses were exported from the site. The processing of dry skins, if these are the skins of animals brought back to the site, takes some time and involves an occupation of several days. CE3 may be described as a "residential camp" in the sense of L. Binford (Binford, 1980).The organisation of space according to activity areas is known from Magdalenian sites such as Étiolles, Pincevent, and Verberie in the Paris basin. As is the case in CE3, domestic activities as well as distinct knapping activities were concentrated around hearths and links could be established with the peripheral areas. In contrast, CE3 encompassed a smaller area and may have been closer to what is called a "residential unit" that could be identified in the Upper Magdalenian sites.The lithic industry recovered at Gron is original compared to the known industries of the Last Glacial Maximum. From a technical point of view, distinct characteristic features of the Badegoulien in northern France are either lacking or rare in Gron, in particular the production of short flakes, used as blanks for so called small sidescapers (“raclettes”). The same is true for the transversal burins specific to the Badegoulien of the northern half of France, which are also rare in Gron. Equally, the production of micro-points at Gron has no counterparts so far and therefore is an utterly singular characteristics of this industry. Despite these peculiarities, Gron is not totally isolated among the material cultures of the Last Glacial Maximum in Western Europe. Many assemblages do not contain backed bladelets (Bodu et al., 2007) and…
6.1. INTRODUCTION (N. Connet) Ces dix dernières années correspondent à l’expansion des fouilles a... more 6.1. INTRODUCTION (N. Connet) Ces dix dernières années correspondent à l’expansion des fouilles archéologiques de sauvetage en même temps qu’à une nouvelle dynamique des fouilles programmées. Deux zones géographiques concentrent ces activités au sud et au nord de la Bourgogne. Les deux pôles majeurs de cette recherche sont la Saône-et-Loire avec les sites fouillés en sauvetage et en programmé (Solutré, Azé, Mellecey, Sennecé-lès-Mâcon) et les marges sud du Bassin parisien (Yonne et Nièvre) av..
Historically, European Lower Paleolithic cultures have been divided according the presence or the... more Historically, European Lower Paleolithic cultures have been divided according the presence or the absence of bifacial tools. In order to go beyond this typotechnological classification of Homo heidelbergensis groups, we now question socio-economic behaviors. These are identified by territorial, functional and technical analysis. That involves the study of the whole lithic production chaine operatoire from raw material gathering to the making and use of stone tools and how they are abandoning or carry away from the site. Also, we confront the results from lithic studies to other data from pluridisciplinary studies (archaeozoology, paleoenvironment…). Here we present a techno-morphological and functional approach of bifacial tools, flakes, flake-tools, and small flakes resulting from resharpening. Functional studies on Lower Palaeolithic tools are rare because of the difficulties to work on such an old material. We chose to apply this combined approach on the main archeological level ...
Le Châtelperronien, par sa position chronostratigraphique, a la charniere entre le Paleolithique ... more Le Châtelperronien, par sa position chronostratigraphique, a la charniere entre le Paleolithique moyen et le Paleolithique superieur, entre Neanderthal et Cro-Magnon, constitue une des questions majeures de la Prehistoire occidentale. Le site de la grotte du Renne a Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne), dont les fouilles furent dirigees dans les annees 1960 par Andre Leroi-Gourhan, renferme une des plus importantes sequences Châtelperroniennes d'Europe avec 5 couches rapportees a cette unite techno-culturelle (Xc, Xb, Xa, IX et VIII). La tres bonne conservation du site tant sur le plan mobilier que par la presence d'amenagements specifiques de l'espace en fait une reference pour cette periode. Notre etude porte sur l'ensemble des vestiges lithiques tailles presents dans les 5 couches châtelperroniennes, soit 83 303 pieces. Nous avons privilegie l'analyse diachronique du mobilier lithique a travers la sequence châtelperronienne afin de rechercher les mecanismes internes et struc...
Les investigations ont porte sur une zone de plus de 12 ha situe sur le haut du versant de la val... more Les investigations ont porte sur une zone de plus de 12 ha situe sur le haut du versant de la vallee de l’Auxance, au nord de Poitiers, au lieu-dit Limbre. Cette zone se situe a la limite des etages Callovien et Bathonien du Jurassique et comprend dans sa partie sommitale des calcaires graveleux. Les 9 tranchees realisees ont permis d’identifier une occupation agricole du ixe s. Les structures medievales sont localisees dans le NE de l’emprise et apparaissent generalement entre 0,20 m et 0,40...
Abstract In this paper, we present the results of a technological analysis of an unpublished Ache... more Abstract In this paper, we present the results of a technological analysis of an unpublished Acheulian assemblage from Western-Central France from a preventive excavation at Londigny (Charente). The lithic pieces were found in an archaeological layer preserved at the bottom of the infilling of two karstic depressions on the Jurassic plateau. A large series of handaxes found during gravel quarrying in the Charente river valley and sparse assemblages from karstic cavities south of the large meander formed by the Charente river are amongst the main discoveries dating to the Lower Palaeolithic in Charente. In the Poitou region, Londigny is the first open air Lower Palaeolithic industry TL dated to MIS 11 recovered in a stratigraphic context. Only a handful of sites date to this period in North-West Europe. Our study of this assemblage however allows us to describe in detail the lithic production that is characteristic of the Acheulian technocomplex. Despite of the unusual use of small Jurassic flint nodules, both bifacial shaping and flake production highlight a technical package shared by most of the Acheulian industries at that time from North-West Europe to South-West France. The Londigny site, located in a position between north and south, extends the geographical range of the Acheulian in France.
Soucy 5 est un des six gisements du Pleistocene moyen mis au jour en contexte fluviatile sur une ... more Soucy 5 est un des six gisements du Pleistocene moyen mis au jour en contexte fluviatile sur une ancienne terrasse de l'Yonne a Soucy (Yonne). Fouille en sauvetage en 1996, il a livre trois niveaux archeologiques dates de l'interglaciaire holsteinien et constitues de restes lithiques et fauniques. Les premieres etudes pratiquees sur le gisement mettent en evidence des modalites d'occupations differentes selon les niveaux.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), May 30, 2016
International audienceThe “Chemin de l’Évangile 3” (CE3) site near Gron is located on an alluvial... more International audienceThe “Chemin de l’Évangile 3” (CE3) site near Gron is located on an alluvial terrace on the left bank of the Yonne river, in the Paris Basin. Excavations carried out between 2001 and 2006, made it possible to identify two archaeological levels, the earliest occupation (level I) taking place during the Solutrean and the latest one (level P) during the Last Glacial Maximum.A horse tooth found in the sands that underlie level I provided a 14C age of ± 24500 cal. BP. The palaeosoil, which contained level P, was dated by three samples to 18-19000 BP, i.e. between 24161 and 21750 cal. BP. Level P is the subject of this article. It was excavated over an area encompassing 217 m2 corresponding to the total area preserved at the site.The outstanding preservation of the remains, which were rapidly covered by river deposits, make it possible to carry out a complete analysis of the activities that took place at the site and to understand its functioning. The site was occupied during a rather short period of time in late winter or early spring. The remains of six animals (three horses, two reindeers and one bovine animal) were scattered across the site and in parts served as fuel to feed three fireplaces located in the northern part of the site. The vestigial remains were arranged around two fireplaces located 2 m away which concentrated most of the activities related to the processing of game as well as numerous activities related to flint working. These remains included waste stemming from the resharpening of burins, which were widely used in this area for the scraping and cutting of bone or wood. This sector appears to have played a central role in the organisation of the site. It also provided evidence of the preparation of flint projectiles and their possible replacement on a bone shaft. Ochre was brought to the site, then processed by crushing and grinding and was most likely used to produce an adhesive for micro-points. Large blanks were produced at peripheral locations at the site where they were used as bladelet cores or transformed into tools.In the southern part of the site mainly bone remains (horse and reindeer) were preserved and this area may have been a waste zone. All the fossil shells, over 60 remains in a poor state of preservation, were recovered in this area of the site. Given that the remains mirror the structuring of space, the question arises as to a possible organisation of this space around shelters. Bioturbation partially altered the distribution of the remains but did not totally disrupt their spatial organisation. The alignment of some lithic remains suggests wall effects. The duration of an occupation and the contemporaneity of the activities that took place are concepts which are particularly difficult to understand for the Palaeolithic periods. This period of time could correspond to the season of slaughter, which corresponds in Gron to the end of the winter and the early spring. The composition of the fauna does not show a discontinuity in time and the occupation could therefore have existed for a rather short time.The functional analysis reveals the complexity of the activities carried out : hunting, butchery, working of fresh and dry skins, exploitation of hard animal materials, and crushing/grinding of ochre. The use of bones as fuel makes it rather unlikely that distinct portions of carcasses were exported from the site. The processing of dry skins, if these are the skins of animals brought back to the site, takes some time and involves an occupation of several days. CE3 may be described as a "residential camp" in the sense of L. Binford (Binford, 1980).The organisation of space according to activity areas is known from Magdalenian sites such as Étiolles, Pincevent, and Verberie in the Paris basin. As is the case in CE3, domestic activities as well as distinct knapping activities were concentrated around hearths and links could be established with the peripheral areas. In contrast, CE3 encompassed a smaller area and may have been closer to what is called a "residential unit" that could be identified in the Upper Magdalenian sites.The lithic industry recovered at Gron is original compared to the known industries of the Last Glacial Maximum. From a technical point of view, distinct characteristic features of the Badegoulien in northern France are either lacking or rare in Gron, in particular the production of short flakes, used as blanks for so called small sidescapers (“raclettes”). The same is true for the transversal burins specific to the Badegoulien of the northern half of France, which are also rare in Gron. Equally, the production of micro-points at Gron has no counterparts so far and therefore is an utterly singular characteristics of this industry. Despite these peculiarities, Gron is not totally isolated among the material cultures of the Last Glacial Maximum in Western Europe. Many assemblages do not contain backed bladelets (Bodu et al., 2007) and…
6.1. INTRODUCTION (N. Connet) Ces dix dernières années correspondent à l’expansion des fouilles a... more 6.1. INTRODUCTION (N. Connet) Ces dix dernières années correspondent à l’expansion des fouilles archéologiques de sauvetage en même temps qu’à une nouvelle dynamique des fouilles programmées. Deux zones géographiques concentrent ces activités au sud et au nord de la Bourgogne. Les deux pôles majeurs de cette recherche sont la Saône-et-Loire avec les sites fouillés en sauvetage et en programmé (Solutré, Azé, Mellecey, Sennecé-lès-Mâcon) et les marges sud du Bassin parisien (Yonne et Nièvre) av..
Historically, European Lower Paleolithic cultures have been divided according the presence or the... more Historically, European Lower Paleolithic cultures have been divided according the presence or the absence of bifacial tools. In order to go beyond this typotechnological classification of Homo heidelbergensis groups, we now question socio-economic behaviors. These are identified by territorial, functional and technical analysis. That involves the study of the whole lithic production chaine operatoire from raw material gathering to the making and use of stone tools and how they are abandoning or carry away from the site. Also, we confront the results from lithic studies to other data from pluridisciplinary studies (archaeozoology, paleoenvironment…). Here we present a techno-morphological and functional approach of bifacial tools, flakes, flake-tools, and small flakes resulting from resharpening. Functional studies on Lower Palaeolithic tools are rare because of the difficulties to work on such an old material. We chose to apply this combined approach on the main archeological level ...
Le Châtelperronien, par sa position chronostratigraphique, a la charniere entre le Paleolithique ... more Le Châtelperronien, par sa position chronostratigraphique, a la charniere entre le Paleolithique moyen et le Paleolithique superieur, entre Neanderthal et Cro-Magnon, constitue une des questions majeures de la Prehistoire occidentale. Le site de la grotte du Renne a Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne), dont les fouilles furent dirigees dans les annees 1960 par Andre Leroi-Gourhan, renferme une des plus importantes sequences Châtelperroniennes d'Europe avec 5 couches rapportees a cette unite techno-culturelle (Xc, Xb, Xa, IX et VIII). La tres bonne conservation du site tant sur le plan mobilier que par la presence d'amenagements specifiques de l'espace en fait une reference pour cette periode. Notre etude porte sur l'ensemble des vestiges lithiques tailles presents dans les 5 couches châtelperroniennes, soit 83 303 pieces. Nous avons privilegie l'analyse diachronique du mobilier lithique a travers la sequence châtelperronienne afin de rechercher les mecanismes internes et struc...
Les investigations ont porte sur une zone de plus de 12 ha situe sur le haut du versant de la val... more Les investigations ont porte sur une zone de plus de 12 ha situe sur le haut du versant de la vallee de l’Auxance, au nord de Poitiers, au lieu-dit Limbre. Cette zone se situe a la limite des etages Callovien et Bathonien du Jurassique et comprend dans sa partie sommitale des calcaires graveleux. Les 9 tranchees realisees ont permis d’identifier une occupation agricole du ixe s. Les structures medievales sont localisees dans le NE de l’emprise et apparaissent generalement entre 0,20 m et 0,40...
Abstract In this paper, we present the results of a technological analysis of an unpublished Ache... more Abstract In this paper, we present the results of a technological analysis of an unpublished Acheulian assemblage from Western-Central France from a preventive excavation at Londigny (Charente). The lithic pieces were found in an archaeological layer preserved at the bottom of the infilling of two karstic depressions on the Jurassic plateau. A large series of handaxes found during gravel quarrying in the Charente river valley and sparse assemblages from karstic cavities south of the large meander formed by the Charente river are amongst the main discoveries dating to the Lower Palaeolithic in Charente. In the Poitou region, Londigny is the first open air Lower Palaeolithic industry TL dated to MIS 11 recovered in a stratigraphic context. Only a handful of sites date to this period in North-West Europe. Our study of this assemblage however allows us to describe in detail the lithic production that is characteristic of the Acheulian technocomplex. Despite of the unusual use of small Jurassic flint nodules, both bifacial shaping and flake production highlight a technical package shared by most of the Acheulian industries at that time from North-West Europe to South-West France. The Londigny site, located in a position between north and south, extends the geographical range of the Acheulian in France.
Soucy 5 est un des six gisements du Pleistocene moyen mis au jour en contexte fluviatile sur une ... more Soucy 5 est un des six gisements du Pleistocene moyen mis au jour en contexte fluviatile sur une ancienne terrasse de l'Yonne a Soucy (Yonne). Fouille en sauvetage en 1996, il a livre trois niveaux archeologiques dates de l'interglaciaire holsteinien et constitues de restes lithiques et fauniques. Les premieres etudes pratiquees sur le gisement mettent en evidence des modalites d'occupations differentes selon les niveaux.
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