Ludovic Mevel
I’m particulary interested with the lateglacial lithic industries and precisely on the evolution of the human behavior between the 16th and the 11th millennium in N/W Europe. My research aims to discuss the homogeneity of the prehistoric societies and of the evolution mechanism of the lateglacial societies in Europe by confronting Magdalenian and Azilian assemblages from different environnemental, geographical and archeological context.
My fields study are actually the eastern France (and particularly the Jura and the northern french alps), the Paris basin and the central Rhineland.
Since 2012, I am more particularly working on the lithic industries of the Federmesser sites from the Central Rhineland (Andernach-Martinsberg, Kettig, Niederbieber,…). My research objectives are to compare the evolutive trajectories of the Azilian/Federmesser societies from the both side of the Rhine. The exceptional archeological documentation of central Rhineland and the Paris basin allowed to discuss both the synchronic and the diachronic variabilities of the behavior. I am associate researcher of the institute Monrepos - Archäologisches Forschungszentrum und Museum für menschliche Verhaltensevolution (dir. Prof. Dr. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser). This research is funded by the F. Braudel fellowship (FSMH/Marie Curie/F. Thyssen Stiftung) and the DAAD.
Since 2008, I’m director of the excavation of Les Douattes (Musièges, Haute Savoie), a rockshelter occupied by Magdalenian and azilian groups. Since 2013, I’m co-responsible – with Boris Valentin (Université Paris 1, UMR 7041) and Sylvain Griselin (INRAP- - UMR 7041) – of a collective research program on the Final Paleolithic and the Mesolithic of the Paris basin.
Address: CNRS - UMR 7041
équipe d'ethnologie préhistorique
Maison de l'archéologie et de l'ethnologie
21 allée de l'université
92023 Nanterre cedex
My fields study are actually the eastern France (and particularly the Jura and the northern french alps), the Paris basin and the central Rhineland.
Since 2012, I am more particularly working on the lithic industries of the Federmesser sites from the Central Rhineland (Andernach-Martinsberg, Kettig, Niederbieber,…). My research objectives are to compare the evolutive trajectories of the Azilian/Federmesser societies from the both side of the Rhine. The exceptional archeological documentation of central Rhineland and the Paris basin allowed to discuss both the synchronic and the diachronic variabilities of the behavior. I am associate researcher of the institute Monrepos - Archäologisches Forschungszentrum und Museum für menschliche Verhaltensevolution (dir. Prof. Dr. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser). This research is funded by the F. Braudel fellowship (FSMH/Marie Curie/F. Thyssen Stiftung) and the DAAD.
Since 2008, I’m director of the excavation of Les Douattes (Musièges, Haute Savoie), a rockshelter occupied by Magdalenian and azilian groups. Since 2013, I’m co-responsible – with Boris Valentin (Université Paris 1, UMR 7041) and Sylvain Griselin (INRAP- - UMR 7041) – of a collective research program on the Final Paleolithic and the Mesolithic of the Paris basin.
Address: CNRS - UMR 7041
équipe d'ethnologie préhistorique
Maison de l'archéologie et de l'ethnologie
21 allée de l'université
92023 Nanterre cedex
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Books by Ludovic Mevel
Full book available as open access publication:
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeum/catalog/book/575
10 000 BP (11 600 cal. BP), c’est bien évidemment le basculement entre le Dryas récent et le Préboréal, le passage entre le Pléistocène et l’Holocène et, d’un point de vue culturel, c’est plus ou moins la charnière entre le Paléolithique final et le tout début du Méso¬lithique. La transformation des systèmes techniques, économiques, symboliques et par là-même socio¬culturels peut présenter, en effet, un certain décalage chronologique selon les régions géographiques étudiées. L’objectif de cette session était justement d’interroger les différents espaces géographiques de l’Europe du Nord-Ouest et de discuter des différentes formes de la transition à travers des synthèses régio¬nales ou thématiques.
La question du passage entre le Paléolithique final et le Mésolithique sur fond de bouleversements clima¬tiques et environnementaux de grande ampleur a déjà été traitée à de nombreuses reprises, depuis une quarantaine d’années lors de différentes rencontres nationales ou internationales : Nice (1976), Bordeaux (1977), Liège (1985), Oxford (1989), Lublin (1993), Berlin (1995), Amiens (1994), Grenoble (1995),
Nemours (1997), Stockholm (1999), Greifswald (2002), Poznań (2003), Lisbonne (2006), Copenhague (2009), Amersfoort (2012), Schleswig (2013), Les Eyzies-de-Tayac (2010 et 2015), Bordeaux (2013) et Kiel (2015). Le dynamisme des recherches sur cette période reflète l’enrichissement permanent des données au cours des dernières décennies. Dans la session 3 du XXVIIIe congrès préhistorique de France qui s’est tenue à Amiens le 3 juin 2016, nous avons choisi de concentrer notre attention sur l’Europe du Nord plutôt occidentale avec quelques incursions vers l’Europe centrale.
Face aux changements climatiques, hydrologiques et sédimentaires – souvent rapides et brutaux – notre ambition était de détailler région par région la recom¬position des associations végétales et animales et de tenter d’en évaluer l’impact sur les sociétés de chas¬seurs-cueilleurs de la chronozone du Dryas récent à celle du Préboréal. Notre objectif était d’établir un état de nos connaissances le plus actualisé sur les change¬ments intervenus autour du seuil chronologique de 11 600 cal. BP.
La session 3 du Congrès d’Amiens fut également l’occasion de s’interroger sur la pertinence des décou¬pages culturels proposés pour la jonction entre la fin des temps glaciaires et le début de l’interglaciaire holocène (Laborien, Ahrensbourgien, Swidérien, Épi-Laborien, Épi-Ahrensbourgien). La généralisation des approches technologiques tout en précisant beau¬coup les connaissances sur la culture matérielle permet dans bien des cas d’éclairer le contexte économique et parfois social.
Il faut toutefois rappeler que la période située autour de 11 600 cal. BP n’est pas facile à appréhender. Le passage entre le Pléistocène et l’Holocène avec ses profonds changements climatiques et environnemen¬taux n’est pas toujours favorable à la sédimentation et à la préservation des gisements à haute résolution stra¬tigraphique. Les problèmes de " palimpsestes " sont fréquents dans certaines régions et le bilan sédimen¬taire peut être réduit, en particulier pour les gisements situés en position de versant. L’important plateau des datations radiocarbone vers 11 600 cal. BP constitue également un obstacle à une compréhension fine des phénomènes de cette période cruciale.
En dépit de toutes ces difficultés, il a cependant été possible d’esquisser une réflexion collective sur les phénomènes de filiation ou de rupture selon les régions concernées entre les sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs de l’ultime fin du Paléolithique et celles du tout début du Mésolithique. Les réponses apportées en fonction des domaines géographiques distincts ont portées sur la France (B. Valentin et M. Biard ; J.-P. Fagnart et P. Coudret ; M. Langlais, N. Naudinot et al. ; T. Ducrocq ; C. Guéret et J. Jacquier), la Grande-Bretagne (N. Barton et A. Roberts ; C. Conneller et al.), la Belgique et les Pays-Bas (P. Combé et M. Niekus), l’Allemagne du Nord (L. Mevel, M.-J. Weber et I.-M. Berg-Hansen ; D. Groβ, C. Pasda et B. Gehlen ; M. Wild et S. Pfeifer), l’Allemagne de l’Ouest (M. Street et al.) et la Pologne (K. Pyzewicz et al.).
À l’issue de cet avant-propos, nous avons une pensée pour notre collègue J. Deeben qui nous a quittés en 2015 à l’âge de 60 ans. Jos devait participer à la session 3 du XXVIIIe congrès préhistorique de
France pour une communication sur les Pays-Bas et la Belgique en collaboration avec P. Crombé et M. Niekus. Chacun appréciait la qualité et la rigueur de son travail, sa grande gentillesse et son humanisme. Les circonstances tragiques n’ont pas permis qu’il soit parmi nous, à Amiens, en ce mois de juin 2016.
des traditions qui précèdent. Dans certaines régions, ce sont des pans entiers du bagage technique qui disparaissent pour ne plus réapparaître. C’est une véritable révolution qui balaye l’Europe magdalénienne et ses épigones septentrionaux. À travers l’analyse technologique des productions lithiques, cet ouvrage s’interroge sur la façon dont les phénomènes culturels s’ajustent à des contextes géographiques et
environnementaux contrastés. Il s’intéresse plus particulièrement à l’évolution des sociétés magdaléniennes et aziliennes et aux transformations des industries lithiques, ainsi qu’à la signification paléohistorique de ces changements. Les séquences tardiglaciaires
de l’abri de La Fru (Saint-Christophe-la-Grotte, Savoie) constituent un corpus de choix pour mener une réflexion de cet ordre.
Cette étude, qui intègre les aspects technologiques, typologiques et économiques des industries lithiques, confronte les résultats obtenus sur une douzaine d’ensembles archéologiques à ceux des ensembles actuellement les mieux documentés des régions limitrophes. Cela permet, notamment, de mettre en évidence une phase pionnière dans
la reconquête magdalénienne des Alpes du nord, qui a été suivie d’une seconde vague de peuplement aboutissant à une stabilisation de l’occupation. C’est l’un des rares modèles publiés de recolonisation de territoire pour le Paléolithique, hormis quelques études américaines et britanniques. Nous proposons aussi un scénario relatant l’apparition
de l’Azilien dans les Alpes. Cette azilianisation est ainsi perçue comme un phénomène d’adoption allochtone, et non comme l’adaptation locale des groupes magdaléniens régionaux aux changements environnementaux. En sus de renouveler considérablement nos connaissances sur les sociétés tardiglaciaires des Alpes du nord françaises, secteur encore méconnu malgré son indéniable potentiel
documentaire, cette étude permet de s’interroger sur les conditions d’apparition des innovations qui marquent les sociétés magdaléniennes, puis aziliennes, entre 14 000 et 11 000 ans avant le présent, et, plus généralement, de leur périodisation dans une perspective diachronique.
SOCIETIES IN MOVEMENT
Évolution of Magdalenian and Azilian societies in the northern french Alps
Civilizations emerge, disappear, and are succeeded by others: this is the case of the great European cultures at the end of the Paleolithic. The appearance and development of the Azilian took place in a context of a global upheaval of the ecosystems and marked a progressive and important, even an irreversible, rupture with all of the traditions which preceded it. A great deal of technical knowledge disappeared in some regions and never reappeared again. A veritable revolution swept across Magdalenian Europe and its northern epigones.
Based on a technological analysis of lithic production, this book questions the way in which cultural phenomena adapt to very different geographical and environmental contexts. This study is particularly focused on the evolution of Magdalenian and Azilian societies and the transformation of the lithic industries, as well as the paleohistorical significance of these changes. The Late Glacial sequences of the La Fru shelter (SaintChristophe-la-Grotte, Savoie) offer a choice corpus for reflection on these issues. This study, which integrates the technological, typological and economic aspects of the lithic industries, confronts the results obtained from a dozen archaeological sets
with those of the best documented sets currently known in the limitrophe regions. This makes it possible to show a pioneer phase in the Magdalenian reconquest of the northern Alps, which was followed by a second wave of settlement resulting in the stabilization of the occupation. With the exception of some American and British studies, this is one of the rare models published on the recolonization of territory in the Paleolithic. We also propose a scenario relating the apparition of the Azilian in the Alps. Azilianization is perceived here as a phenomenon of allochthonous adoption, not as the local adaptation of regional Magdalenian groups to environmental changes. In addition to shedding a considerable amount of new light on our knowledge of Late Glacial societies in the northern Alps, a still little known sector despite its undeniable documentary potential, this study allows one to wonder about the conditions of the appearance of the innovations which marked the Magdalenian, and later, the Azilian societies between 14 000 and 11 000 BP, and, more generally, their periodization from a diachronic perspective.
This book presents the Acts of the conference «Le Paléolithique supérieur ancien (35000-15000 BP) de l’Europe du Nord-Ouest», held at the Museum of Sens (Yonne) in April 2009. It includes twenty-seven contributions that reflect the state of research on human groups from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition to the appearance of Magdalenian societies, from the threshold of Poitou to the banks of the Oder. This work is first dedicated to a solid overview of data acquired in the preceding decade for the different chronological groups in the Paris Basin, from the Aurignacian to the Middle Magdalenian. While lithic industries represent the foundation for our interpretations, analyses that were previously marginal in the Paris Basin (bone technology, taphonomy) were also carried out. Comparisons with research conducted in neighbouring regions (Brittany, Central, Eastern and Northern France and Normandy) and with other countries in Northwest Europe (Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Great Britain and Switzerland) offer this regional and targeted approach the perspective necessary to explain cross-border human phenomena. These contributions address new topics regarding the Early Upper Palaeolithic or present regional overviews and synthetic chronologies. For both, the authors place their work in the general chronological context of the Upper Palaeolithic of the region and/or the countries involved
This Collective Research Program (CRP), centred on the final Upper Palaeolithic in the northern part of the Alps and the southernmost part of the Jura Mountains, started in 1997 urged on by Jean-Pierre DAUGAS, then regional Curator of the archaeology of the Rhone-Alps area. After a first phase of collecting the available data and their restitution, it appeared useful to us to conceive a research program spread out over seven years. This program, conceived with the prehistorians, with the specialists in
vegetal and animal Paleoenvironnement and with those of the chronology by radiocarbon dating, was the occasion to highlight old and recent research and buckle down to put back the available data within the broadest possible context. The work carried out by the team concentrated on two topics. The first has mainly focused on the definition of the environmental setting from the Older Dryas to the beginning of the Allerød (15000-11800 BP) based as much on the data obtained from radiocarbon dating than on the data obtained from palynology and anthracology. The analyses of the faunal spectra from the Late Glacial layers in the region made it possible to understand the progressive transformation of the fauna due to climatic change, based on zooarchaeological analysis and with the contribution of isotopic analyses. The results presented in this work finally contribute to the renewal and enrichment of our knowledge on the environments occupied by the last hunters-gatherers of the Upper Palaeolithic. The second topic has mainly focused on questions relating to the variability of technical and economic behaviours during these periods, which saw the succession of the last Magdalenian hunters and the first Azilian groups. The characterization of the siliceous raw materials and the analysis of their circulation became major topics given the richness of the available resources and their variability within the studied archaeological assemblages. By proposing a first set of remarks on these techno-economic and cultural problems, the various work presented in this volume contribute, by bringing new elements, to the understanding of the mutation phenomena of regional lithic industries. This work does not claim to propose a complete synthesis of the research carried out for decades in the CRP's geographical area, but rather to present unpublished interdisciplinary preliminary results and to thus define new research tracks for the years to come.
Papers by Ludovic Mevel
focused on the end of the Upper Palaeolithic in France. This article
presents an overview of these thirty years of research, organized
around four main geographic units which structure our knowledge
of these societies. However, this overview aims to bring to light the
main dynamics driving the composition of the technical, economic,
symbolic and probably socio-cultural systems in France as a whole.
Between the end of the Magdalenian and the first stages of the
Mesolithic, the history of the hunter-gatherers on this territory
underwent three major changes. The rhythms of these changes are
still unclear and understanding the forces driving these changes
is still difficult, although scenarios based on the very unstable
climatic and environmental context are often advanced. This
Lateglacial is no longer merely considered to be the antechamber
of the Mesolithic –an “EpiPalaeolithic”, as it was called– studied
in particular to contextualize the emergence of complex societies,
wrongly solely attributed to the Neolithic. These last Pleistocene
periods, with their abundant cultural changes and complex
evolutionary techno-complexes and traditions, comprise their own
research issues and constitute a subject in their own right.
de recherche bénéficie aux derniers temps du Paléolithique
supérieur en France. Cet article propose un bilan de cette trentaine
d’années de recherche. Bien qu’organisée autour des quatre grandes
unités géographiques, chacune structurante dans la connaissance de
ces sociétés, cette synthèse vise à mettre en lumière, à l’échelle de
la France, les grandes dynamiques de recomposition des systèmes
techniques, économiques, symboliques et probablement socioculturels.
Entre la fin du Magdalénien et les premiers temps du
Mésolithique, l’histoire des chasseurs-collecteurs évoluant sur ce
territoire connaît en effet trois grandes inflexions dont les rythmes
restent flous. La compréhension des moteurs à l’origine de ces
basculements demeure très délicate, même si plusieurs scénarios
mobilisant le contexte climatique et environnemental, très instable
de cette période, sont régulièrement avancés. Quoi qu’il en soit,
ce Tardiglaciaire ne constitue plus aujourd’hui l’antichambre du
Mésolithique – un « Épipaléolithique » disait-on – surtout étudié
pour contextualiser l’avènement des sociétés complexes, attribuées
à tort au seul Néolithique. Ces derniers temps du Pléistocène, du fait
de nombreuses transformations culturelles des techno-complexes
et traditions aux schémas évolutifs complexes, sont en réalité
particulièrement riches en problématiques de recherches propres.
le locus B place l’occupation vers 11430 -11117 av. J.-C, soit dans la seconde partie de l’interstade de l’Allerød. Si la conservation du gisement n’est pas optimale en raison de la présence d’occupations néolithiques et historiques qui ont partiellement endommagé le site, l’assemblage lithique recueilli est homogène et permet de documenter pour la première fois les comportements techniques de populations aziliennes en plein air dans le Sud-Ouest français, dans un contexte
stratigraphique bien maitrisé. La découverte du gisement des Pinelles permet ainsi de combler une lacune en la matière. L’assemblage lithique constitue un jalon inédit de l’occupation azilienne de la Dordogne. En dépit d’un contexte taphonomique a priori peu favorable (destruction de plusieurs secteurs du site par des structures historiques et naturelles ;
présence d’indices d’occupations néolithiques), la cohérence technique des vestiges collectés permet de les attribuer aux groupes contemporains de la fin de l’Azilien. Les groupes aziliens ont exploité deux catégories de matériaux : des silex sénoniens locaux de qualité médiocre et des silex du Bergeracois de bien meilleure qualité, disponibles localement et à environ 5 km du gisement. Les productions réalisées à partir des silex sénoniens se distinguent par le caractère opportuniste
et peu hiérarchisé des chaînes opératoires. Les blocs de silex sénoniens ont été exploités à partir d'un ou deux plans
de frappe avec un percuteur dur. L’exploitation des silex du Bergeracois a, pour sa part, fait l’objet de débitages plus soignés
ayant pour conséquence une meilleure régularité des supports produits. Cependant, la recherche d’éclats et d’éclats
laminaires reste l’objectif premier des opérations de débitage. La présence de monopointes à dos courbes, fabriquées
sur des supports variés et de régularité variable, constitue le seul type d’armature identifié dans la série. En l’absence de
remontage sur de longues distances, la contemporanéité de l’ensemble des vestiges du gisement ne peut être démontrée.
En revanche, si l’on se fie à la stratigraphie de référence pour l’Azilien du Sud-Ouest français – le Pont d’Ambon (Bourdeilles)
– et que l’on considère la présence ou l’absence de certains types d’outils – et en particulier les couteaux à dos –
on peut prudemment envisager plusieurs moments d’occupations sur le site des Pinelles. Plus généralement, l’industrie
lithique des Pinelles s’inscrit dans la dynamique commune documentée dans la région et au-delà. L’exploitation des
excellents silex du Bergeracois constitue cependant une originalité économique loin d’être anecdotique.
Mots-clés : Paléolithique final, Azilien récent, Dordogne, technologie lithique, campement de plein-air, géomorphologie,
structures de combustion.
As part of the archaeological surveys carried out during work on the western by-pass of Bergerac, an Azilian site covering 450 m2 was investigated. It was established on a slight rise in the alluvial plain of the Dordogne river, no longer visible in the landscape. The excavations examined two loci, each with a burnt-stone hearth structure,
and yielded 1,485 lithic artefacts. The Azilian from the Allerød interstadial is known from a dozen of archaeological settlements in the Dordogne area. This is a low number compared with the numerous sites for the whole of the Late Palaeolithic. Azilian open-air sites are quite rare in this area in comparison with occupations in caves or shelters (Niederlender et al., 1956; Jude, 1960; Champagne and Espitalié, 1970; Bordes, 1979; Célérier, dir., 1993; Séronie-Vivien, dir., 1995; Detrain et al., 1996; Ballista, 2006; Fat-Cheung et al., 2014). While the site of Les Pinelles (Prigonrieux, dordogne) is not lacking problems, in particular from a taphonomical point of view, it provides an interesting contribution
to document the techno-economical behaviour of Azilian societies in South-Western France. With these criteria, we will try to establish comparisons with the main Azilian site of the south-western area, Pont d’Ambon, excavated by G. Célérier (Célerier, dir., 1993). We will focus on the lithic industry discovered in locus B. This area delivered a
hearth structure, dated by 14C (Fy 80), in association with lithic remains. The measurement gave a date that allowed this structure to be attributed to the Late Azilian (ERL-18 582, 11359 ± 89 BP, 11430–11 117 cal. BC). We will furthermore try to demonstrate that most of the lithic remains discovered in other parts of the site are also contemporaneous
with the Azilian settlement. In spite of more recent disturbances (modern, medieval and Neolithic), the lithic industry is coherent and for the most part contemporaneous with the late Azilian. Productions made from the local raw material was particularly opportunistic and not hierarchical from a technological point of view. Senonian flint, collected in the immediate environment, was exclusively exploited with a hard hammerstone on a uni or bipolar knapping surface. The best quality Bergeracois flint shown a more sophisticated chaine opératoire and a higher regularity of the blanks produced. For both raw materials, the production of flakes and laminar flakes dominated. The Bergeracois flint was brought in as already exploited blocks, as demonstrated by the lack of cortical flakes. The hearth structure is one of the originalities of the site: such structures are rare in an Azilian context. While the absolute contemporaneity of all the lithic remains cannot be proved—due to the lack of refitting among different loci of the site—most of it can be associated with the Azilian settlement. These data prove that Les Pinelles was probably a large site during the Allerød. This is rather similar to the few known Azilian northern examples such as Le Closeau, Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France (Bodu, dir., 1998) or Niederbieber, Neuwied, Central Rhineland, Germany (Gelhausen, 2011). These two sites were also occupied on several occasions during the Azilian. With respect to the data from Pont d’Ambon, Bourdeilles, Dordogne (Célérier, dir., 1993; Fat-Cheung et al., 2014), in particular the presence or the lack of several types of tools (backed knife), we can propose that the Les Pinelles site was occupied on several occasions during the Azilian. Finally, the lithic industry from Les Pinelles belongs to the same cultural trend as the closest sites but also those outside the south-western area. The exploitation of the excellent Bergeracois flint is one of the originalities of the site. The difference with the strictly local flint (Senonian) can be explained by the very low quality of the Senonian flint. For a better understanding from an economic point of view we hope for the future discovery of a better preserved sites in this region. The example of Les Pinelles suggests the homogeneity of Azilian technical behaviour in south-western France. In other contexts, the data available at present point towards a technological diversity that the chronological
difference does not totally explain (Mevel and Bodu, in press). The corpus of known sites is clearly limited and new data should renew our perception of the ‘Azilianisation’ process in this geographical area.
Keywords:Final Paleolithic, Late Azilian, Dordogne, lithic technology, open-air settlement, geomorphology, hearth structure.
ayant bénéficié de nouvelles dynamiques de recherches au cours des vingt dernières années : le Roc-aux-Sorciers (Angles-sur-l’Anglin,
Vienne) et la Marche (Lussac-les-Châteaux, Vienne), d’une part ; la Garenne (Saint-Marcel, Indre), Arlay (Jura) et le Roc-de-Marcamps
(Marcamps-et-Prignac, Gironde), d’autre part. Ces diverses reprises d’études n’offrent cependant pas le même bilan. Si les gisements à
navettes ont bénéficié de réexamens globaux, les recherches à la Marche et au Roc-aux-Sorciers ont été consacrées principalement à la
sphère symbolique. Les équipements lithiques et osseux demeurent pour le moment en attente de caractérisations typo-technologiques
plus avancées. La reprise archéostratigraphique des trois gisements à navettes, doublée de nouvelles séries de datations, vient nuancer
le cadre chronologique de ce faciès : le Magdalénien à navettes semble désormais se développer antérieurement à 18000 cal. BP, peutêtre
dès 19000 cal. BP. Contrairement à ce qui était pensé jusqu’alors, le Magdalénien à navettes précèderait ainsi le Magdalénien à
pointes de Lussac-Angles dont il serait cependant en partie synchrone dans sa phase la plus récente.
This contribution offers an updated assessment of five sites of reference of the Magdalenian with Lussac-Angles points and of the Magdalenian with navettes which have been the subjects of new researches for the last twenty years: Roc-aux-Sorciers (Anglessur-l’Anglin, Vienne) and la Marche (Lussac-les-Châteaux, Vienne) on the one hand; la Garenne (Saint-Marcel, Indre), Arlay (Jura) and Roc-de-Marcamps (Marcamps-et-Prignac, Gironde) on the other hand. However these various assessments differ. Whereas the sites with navettes received global restudies, the researches in la Marche and Roc-aux-Sorciers have mainly been stimulated by the analysis of the symbolic sphere. Their lithic and osseous equipments still lack more accurate typotechnological characterizations. The restudy of the archeostratigraphies of the three sites with navettes, together with new series of datations, modifies the chronological frame of this facies: the Magdalenian with navettes seems to develop before 18000 cal. BP, maybe as early as 19000 cal. BP. Contrary to what was formerly thought, the Magdalenian with navettes could therefore precede the Magdalenian with Lussac-Angles points with which it would be partly contemporaneous in its more recent phase.
Full book available as open access publication:
https://books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeum/catalog/book/575
10 000 BP (11 600 cal. BP), c’est bien évidemment le basculement entre le Dryas récent et le Préboréal, le passage entre le Pléistocène et l’Holocène et, d’un point de vue culturel, c’est plus ou moins la charnière entre le Paléolithique final et le tout début du Méso¬lithique. La transformation des systèmes techniques, économiques, symboliques et par là-même socio¬culturels peut présenter, en effet, un certain décalage chronologique selon les régions géographiques étudiées. L’objectif de cette session était justement d’interroger les différents espaces géographiques de l’Europe du Nord-Ouest et de discuter des différentes formes de la transition à travers des synthèses régio¬nales ou thématiques.
La question du passage entre le Paléolithique final et le Mésolithique sur fond de bouleversements clima¬tiques et environnementaux de grande ampleur a déjà été traitée à de nombreuses reprises, depuis une quarantaine d’années lors de différentes rencontres nationales ou internationales : Nice (1976), Bordeaux (1977), Liège (1985), Oxford (1989), Lublin (1993), Berlin (1995), Amiens (1994), Grenoble (1995),
Nemours (1997), Stockholm (1999), Greifswald (2002), Poznań (2003), Lisbonne (2006), Copenhague (2009), Amersfoort (2012), Schleswig (2013), Les Eyzies-de-Tayac (2010 et 2015), Bordeaux (2013) et Kiel (2015). Le dynamisme des recherches sur cette période reflète l’enrichissement permanent des données au cours des dernières décennies. Dans la session 3 du XXVIIIe congrès préhistorique de France qui s’est tenue à Amiens le 3 juin 2016, nous avons choisi de concentrer notre attention sur l’Europe du Nord plutôt occidentale avec quelques incursions vers l’Europe centrale.
Face aux changements climatiques, hydrologiques et sédimentaires – souvent rapides et brutaux – notre ambition était de détailler région par région la recom¬position des associations végétales et animales et de tenter d’en évaluer l’impact sur les sociétés de chas¬seurs-cueilleurs de la chronozone du Dryas récent à celle du Préboréal. Notre objectif était d’établir un état de nos connaissances le plus actualisé sur les change¬ments intervenus autour du seuil chronologique de 11 600 cal. BP.
La session 3 du Congrès d’Amiens fut également l’occasion de s’interroger sur la pertinence des décou¬pages culturels proposés pour la jonction entre la fin des temps glaciaires et le début de l’interglaciaire holocène (Laborien, Ahrensbourgien, Swidérien, Épi-Laborien, Épi-Ahrensbourgien). La généralisation des approches technologiques tout en précisant beau¬coup les connaissances sur la culture matérielle permet dans bien des cas d’éclairer le contexte économique et parfois social.
Il faut toutefois rappeler que la période située autour de 11 600 cal. BP n’est pas facile à appréhender. Le passage entre le Pléistocène et l’Holocène avec ses profonds changements climatiques et environnemen¬taux n’est pas toujours favorable à la sédimentation et à la préservation des gisements à haute résolution stra¬tigraphique. Les problèmes de " palimpsestes " sont fréquents dans certaines régions et le bilan sédimen¬taire peut être réduit, en particulier pour les gisements situés en position de versant. L’important plateau des datations radiocarbone vers 11 600 cal. BP constitue également un obstacle à une compréhension fine des phénomènes de cette période cruciale.
En dépit de toutes ces difficultés, il a cependant été possible d’esquisser une réflexion collective sur les phénomènes de filiation ou de rupture selon les régions concernées entre les sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs de l’ultime fin du Paléolithique et celles du tout début du Mésolithique. Les réponses apportées en fonction des domaines géographiques distincts ont portées sur la France (B. Valentin et M. Biard ; J.-P. Fagnart et P. Coudret ; M. Langlais, N. Naudinot et al. ; T. Ducrocq ; C. Guéret et J. Jacquier), la Grande-Bretagne (N. Barton et A. Roberts ; C. Conneller et al.), la Belgique et les Pays-Bas (P. Combé et M. Niekus), l’Allemagne du Nord (L. Mevel, M.-J. Weber et I.-M. Berg-Hansen ; D. Groβ, C. Pasda et B. Gehlen ; M. Wild et S. Pfeifer), l’Allemagne de l’Ouest (M. Street et al.) et la Pologne (K. Pyzewicz et al.).
À l’issue de cet avant-propos, nous avons une pensée pour notre collègue J. Deeben qui nous a quittés en 2015 à l’âge de 60 ans. Jos devait participer à la session 3 du XXVIIIe congrès préhistorique de
France pour une communication sur les Pays-Bas et la Belgique en collaboration avec P. Crombé et M. Niekus. Chacun appréciait la qualité et la rigueur de son travail, sa grande gentillesse et son humanisme. Les circonstances tragiques n’ont pas permis qu’il soit parmi nous, à Amiens, en ce mois de juin 2016.
des traditions qui précèdent. Dans certaines régions, ce sont des pans entiers du bagage technique qui disparaissent pour ne plus réapparaître. C’est une véritable révolution qui balaye l’Europe magdalénienne et ses épigones septentrionaux. À travers l’analyse technologique des productions lithiques, cet ouvrage s’interroge sur la façon dont les phénomènes culturels s’ajustent à des contextes géographiques et
environnementaux contrastés. Il s’intéresse plus particulièrement à l’évolution des sociétés magdaléniennes et aziliennes et aux transformations des industries lithiques, ainsi qu’à la signification paléohistorique de ces changements. Les séquences tardiglaciaires
de l’abri de La Fru (Saint-Christophe-la-Grotte, Savoie) constituent un corpus de choix pour mener une réflexion de cet ordre.
Cette étude, qui intègre les aspects technologiques, typologiques et économiques des industries lithiques, confronte les résultats obtenus sur une douzaine d’ensembles archéologiques à ceux des ensembles actuellement les mieux documentés des régions limitrophes. Cela permet, notamment, de mettre en évidence une phase pionnière dans
la reconquête magdalénienne des Alpes du nord, qui a été suivie d’une seconde vague de peuplement aboutissant à une stabilisation de l’occupation. C’est l’un des rares modèles publiés de recolonisation de territoire pour le Paléolithique, hormis quelques études américaines et britanniques. Nous proposons aussi un scénario relatant l’apparition
de l’Azilien dans les Alpes. Cette azilianisation est ainsi perçue comme un phénomène d’adoption allochtone, et non comme l’adaptation locale des groupes magdaléniens régionaux aux changements environnementaux. En sus de renouveler considérablement nos connaissances sur les sociétés tardiglaciaires des Alpes du nord françaises, secteur encore méconnu malgré son indéniable potentiel
documentaire, cette étude permet de s’interroger sur les conditions d’apparition des innovations qui marquent les sociétés magdaléniennes, puis aziliennes, entre 14 000 et 11 000 ans avant le présent, et, plus généralement, de leur périodisation dans une perspective diachronique.
SOCIETIES IN MOVEMENT
Évolution of Magdalenian and Azilian societies in the northern french Alps
Civilizations emerge, disappear, and are succeeded by others: this is the case of the great European cultures at the end of the Paleolithic. The appearance and development of the Azilian took place in a context of a global upheaval of the ecosystems and marked a progressive and important, even an irreversible, rupture with all of the traditions which preceded it. A great deal of technical knowledge disappeared in some regions and never reappeared again. A veritable revolution swept across Magdalenian Europe and its northern epigones.
Based on a technological analysis of lithic production, this book questions the way in which cultural phenomena adapt to very different geographical and environmental contexts. This study is particularly focused on the evolution of Magdalenian and Azilian societies and the transformation of the lithic industries, as well as the paleohistorical significance of these changes. The Late Glacial sequences of the La Fru shelter (SaintChristophe-la-Grotte, Savoie) offer a choice corpus for reflection on these issues. This study, which integrates the technological, typological and economic aspects of the lithic industries, confronts the results obtained from a dozen archaeological sets
with those of the best documented sets currently known in the limitrophe regions. This makes it possible to show a pioneer phase in the Magdalenian reconquest of the northern Alps, which was followed by a second wave of settlement resulting in the stabilization of the occupation. With the exception of some American and British studies, this is one of the rare models published on the recolonization of territory in the Paleolithic. We also propose a scenario relating the apparition of the Azilian in the Alps. Azilianization is perceived here as a phenomenon of allochthonous adoption, not as the local adaptation of regional Magdalenian groups to environmental changes. In addition to shedding a considerable amount of new light on our knowledge of Late Glacial societies in the northern Alps, a still little known sector despite its undeniable documentary potential, this study allows one to wonder about the conditions of the appearance of the innovations which marked the Magdalenian, and later, the Azilian societies between 14 000 and 11 000 BP, and, more generally, their periodization from a diachronic perspective.
This book presents the Acts of the conference «Le Paléolithique supérieur ancien (35000-15000 BP) de l’Europe du Nord-Ouest», held at the Museum of Sens (Yonne) in April 2009. It includes twenty-seven contributions that reflect the state of research on human groups from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition to the appearance of Magdalenian societies, from the threshold of Poitou to the banks of the Oder. This work is first dedicated to a solid overview of data acquired in the preceding decade for the different chronological groups in the Paris Basin, from the Aurignacian to the Middle Magdalenian. While lithic industries represent the foundation for our interpretations, analyses that were previously marginal in the Paris Basin (bone technology, taphonomy) were also carried out. Comparisons with research conducted in neighbouring regions (Brittany, Central, Eastern and Northern France and Normandy) and with other countries in Northwest Europe (Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Great Britain and Switzerland) offer this regional and targeted approach the perspective necessary to explain cross-border human phenomena. These contributions address new topics regarding the Early Upper Palaeolithic or present regional overviews and synthetic chronologies. For both, the authors place their work in the general chronological context of the Upper Palaeolithic of the region and/or the countries involved
This Collective Research Program (CRP), centred on the final Upper Palaeolithic in the northern part of the Alps and the southernmost part of the Jura Mountains, started in 1997 urged on by Jean-Pierre DAUGAS, then regional Curator of the archaeology of the Rhone-Alps area. After a first phase of collecting the available data and their restitution, it appeared useful to us to conceive a research program spread out over seven years. This program, conceived with the prehistorians, with the specialists in
vegetal and animal Paleoenvironnement and with those of the chronology by radiocarbon dating, was the occasion to highlight old and recent research and buckle down to put back the available data within the broadest possible context. The work carried out by the team concentrated on two topics. The first has mainly focused on the definition of the environmental setting from the Older Dryas to the beginning of the Allerød (15000-11800 BP) based as much on the data obtained from radiocarbon dating than on the data obtained from palynology and anthracology. The analyses of the faunal spectra from the Late Glacial layers in the region made it possible to understand the progressive transformation of the fauna due to climatic change, based on zooarchaeological analysis and with the contribution of isotopic analyses. The results presented in this work finally contribute to the renewal and enrichment of our knowledge on the environments occupied by the last hunters-gatherers of the Upper Palaeolithic. The second topic has mainly focused on questions relating to the variability of technical and economic behaviours during these periods, which saw the succession of the last Magdalenian hunters and the first Azilian groups. The characterization of the siliceous raw materials and the analysis of their circulation became major topics given the richness of the available resources and their variability within the studied archaeological assemblages. By proposing a first set of remarks on these techno-economic and cultural problems, the various work presented in this volume contribute, by bringing new elements, to the understanding of the mutation phenomena of regional lithic industries. This work does not claim to propose a complete synthesis of the research carried out for decades in the CRP's geographical area, but rather to present unpublished interdisciplinary preliminary results and to thus define new research tracks for the years to come.
focused on the end of the Upper Palaeolithic in France. This article
presents an overview of these thirty years of research, organized
around four main geographic units which structure our knowledge
of these societies. However, this overview aims to bring to light the
main dynamics driving the composition of the technical, economic,
symbolic and probably socio-cultural systems in France as a whole.
Between the end of the Magdalenian and the first stages of the
Mesolithic, the history of the hunter-gatherers on this territory
underwent three major changes. The rhythms of these changes are
still unclear and understanding the forces driving these changes
is still difficult, although scenarios based on the very unstable
climatic and environmental context are often advanced. This
Lateglacial is no longer merely considered to be the antechamber
of the Mesolithic –an “EpiPalaeolithic”, as it was called– studied
in particular to contextualize the emergence of complex societies,
wrongly solely attributed to the Neolithic. These last Pleistocene
periods, with their abundant cultural changes and complex
evolutionary techno-complexes and traditions, comprise their own
research issues and constitute a subject in their own right.
de recherche bénéficie aux derniers temps du Paléolithique
supérieur en France. Cet article propose un bilan de cette trentaine
d’années de recherche. Bien qu’organisée autour des quatre grandes
unités géographiques, chacune structurante dans la connaissance de
ces sociétés, cette synthèse vise à mettre en lumière, à l’échelle de
la France, les grandes dynamiques de recomposition des systèmes
techniques, économiques, symboliques et probablement socioculturels.
Entre la fin du Magdalénien et les premiers temps du
Mésolithique, l’histoire des chasseurs-collecteurs évoluant sur ce
territoire connaît en effet trois grandes inflexions dont les rythmes
restent flous. La compréhension des moteurs à l’origine de ces
basculements demeure très délicate, même si plusieurs scénarios
mobilisant le contexte climatique et environnemental, très instable
de cette période, sont régulièrement avancés. Quoi qu’il en soit,
ce Tardiglaciaire ne constitue plus aujourd’hui l’antichambre du
Mésolithique – un « Épipaléolithique » disait-on – surtout étudié
pour contextualiser l’avènement des sociétés complexes, attribuées
à tort au seul Néolithique. Ces derniers temps du Pléistocène, du fait
de nombreuses transformations culturelles des techno-complexes
et traditions aux schémas évolutifs complexes, sont en réalité
particulièrement riches en problématiques de recherches propres.
le locus B place l’occupation vers 11430 -11117 av. J.-C, soit dans la seconde partie de l’interstade de l’Allerød. Si la conservation du gisement n’est pas optimale en raison de la présence d’occupations néolithiques et historiques qui ont partiellement endommagé le site, l’assemblage lithique recueilli est homogène et permet de documenter pour la première fois les comportements techniques de populations aziliennes en plein air dans le Sud-Ouest français, dans un contexte
stratigraphique bien maitrisé. La découverte du gisement des Pinelles permet ainsi de combler une lacune en la matière. L’assemblage lithique constitue un jalon inédit de l’occupation azilienne de la Dordogne. En dépit d’un contexte taphonomique a priori peu favorable (destruction de plusieurs secteurs du site par des structures historiques et naturelles ;
présence d’indices d’occupations néolithiques), la cohérence technique des vestiges collectés permet de les attribuer aux groupes contemporains de la fin de l’Azilien. Les groupes aziliens ont exploité deux catégories de matériaux : des silex sénoniens locaux de qualité médiocre et des silex du Bergeracois de bien meilleure qualité, disponibles localement et à environ 5 km du gisement. Les productions réalisées à partir des silex sénoniens se distinguent par le caractère opportuniste
et peu hiérarchisé des chaînes opératoires. Les blocs de silex sénoniens ont été exploités à partir d'un ou deux plans
de frappe avec un percuteur dur. L’exploitation des silex du Bergeracois a, pour sa part, fait l’objet de débitages plus soignés
ayant pour conséquence une meilleure régularité des supports produits. Cependant, la recherche d’éclats et d’éclats
laminaires reste l’objectif premier des opérations de débitage. La présence de monopointes à dos courbes, fabriquées
sur des supports variés et de régularité variable, constitue le seul type d’armature identifié dans la série. En l’absence de
remontage sur de longues distances, la contemporanéité de l’ensemble des vestiges du gisement ne peut être démontrée.
En revanche, si l’on se fie à la stratigraphie de référence pour l’Azilien du Sud-Ouest français – le Pont d’Ambon (Bourdeilles)
– et que l’on considère la présence ou l’absence de certains types d’outils – et en particulier les couteaux à dos –
on peut prudemment envisager plusieurs moments d’occupations sur le site des Pinelles. Plus généralement, l’industrie
lithique des Pinelles s’inscrit dans la dynamique commune documentée dans la région et au-delà. L’exploitation des
excellents silex du Bergeracois constitue cependant une originalité économique loin d’être anecdotique.
Mots-clés : Paléolithique final, Azilien récent, Dordogne, technologie lithique, campement de plein-air, géomorphologie,
structures de combustion.
As part of the archaeological surveys carried out during work on the western by-pass of Bergerac, an Azilian site covering 450 m2 was investigated. It was established on a slight rise in the alluvial plain of the Dordogne river, no longer visible in the landscape. The excavations examined two loci, each with a burnt-stone hearth structure,
and yielded 1,485 lithic artefacts. The Azilian from the Allerød interstadial is known from a dozen of archaeological settlements in the Dordogne area. This is a low number compared with the numerous sites for the whole of the Late Palaeolithic. Azilian open-air sites are quite rare in this area in comparison with occupations in caves or shelters (Niederlender et al., 1956; Jude, 1960; Champagne and Espitalié, 1970; Bordes, 1979; Célérier, dir., 1993; Séronie-Vivien, dir., 1995; Detrain et al., 1996; Ballista, 2006; Fat-Cheung et al., 2014). While the site of Les Pinelles (Prigonrieux, dordogne) is not lacking problems, in particular from a taphonomical point of view, it provides an interesting contribution
to document the techno-economical behaviour of Azilian societies in South-Western France. With these criteria, we will try to establish comparisons with the main Azilian site of the south-western area, Pont d’Ambon, excavated by G. Célérier (Célerier, dir., 1993). We will focus on the lithic industry discovered in locus B. This area delivered a
hearth structure, dated by 14C (Fy 80), in association with lithic remains. The measurement gave a date that allowed this structure to be attributed to the Late Azilian (ERL-18 582, 11359 ± 89 BP, 11430–11 117 cal. BC). We will furthermore try to demonstrate that most of the lithic remains discovered in other parts of the site are also contemporaneous
with the Azilian settlement. In spite of more recent disturbances (modern, medieval and Neolithic), the lithic industry is coherent and for the most part contemporaneous with the late Azilian. Productions made from the local raw material was particularly opportunistic and not hierarchical from a technological point of view. Senonian flint, collected in the immediate environment, was exclusively exploited with a hard hammerstone on a uni or bipolar knapping surface. The best quality Bergeracois flint shown a more sophisticated chaine opératoire and a higher regularity of the blanks produced. For both raw materials, the production of flakes and laminar flakes dominated. The Bergeracois flint was brought in as already exploited blocks, as demonstrated by the lack of cortical flakes. The hearth structure is one of the originalities of the site: such structures are rare in an Azilian context. While the absolute contemporaneity of all the lithic remains cannot be proved—due to the lack of refitting among different loci of the site—most of it can be associated with the Azilian settlement. These data prove that Les Pinelles was probably a large site during the Allerød. This is rather similar to the few known Azilian northern examples such as Le Closeau, Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France (Bodu, dir., 1998) or Niederbieber, Neuwied, Central Rhineland, Germany (Gelhausen, 2011). These two sites were also occupied on several occasions during the Azilian. With respect to the data from Pont d’Ambon, Bourdeilles, Dordogne (Célérier, dir., 1993; Fat-Cheung et al., 2014), in particular the presence or the lack of several types of tools (backed knife), we can propose that the Les Pinelles site was occupied on several occasions during the Azilian. Finally, the lithic industry from Les Pinelles belongs to the same cultural trend as the closest sites but also those outside the south-western area. The exploitation of the excellent Bergeracois flint is one of the originalities of the site. The difference with the strictly local flint (Senonian) can be explained by the very low quality of the Senonian flint. For a better understanding from an economic point of view we hope for the future discovery of a better preserved sites in this region. The example of Les Pinelles suggests the homogeneity of Azilian technical behaviour in south-western France. In other contexts, the data available at present point towards a technological diversity that the chronological
difference does not totally explain (Mevel and Bodu, in press). The corpus of known sites is clearly limited and new data should renew our perception of the ‘Azilianisation’ process in this geographical area.
Keywords:Final Paleolithic, Late Azilian, Dordogne, lithic technology, open-air settlement, geomorphology, hearth structure.
ayant bénéficié de nouvelles dynamiques de recherches au cours des vingt dernières années : le Roc-aux-Sorciers (Angles-sur-l’Anglin,
Vienne) et la Marche (Lussac-les-Châteaux, Vienne), d’une part ; la Garenne (Saint-Marcel, Indre), Arlay (Jura) et le Roc-de-Marcamps
(Marcamps-et-Prignac, Gironde), d’autre part. Ces diverses reprises d’études n’offrent cependant pas le même bilan. Si les gisements à
navettes ont bénéficié de réexamens globaux, les recherches à la Marche et au Roc-aux-Sorciers ont été consacrées principalement à la
sphère symbolique. Les équipements lithiques et osseux demeurent pour le moment en attente de caractérisations typo-technologiques
plus avancées. La reprise archéostratigraphique des trois gisements à navettes, doublée de nouvelles séries de datations, vient nuancer
le cadre chronologique de ce faciès : le Magdalénien à navettes semble désormais se développer antérieurement à 18000 cal. BP, peutêtre
dès 19000 cal. BP. Contrairement à ce qui était pensé jusqu’alors, le Magdalénien à navettes précèderait ainsi le Magdalénien à
pointes de Lussac-Angles dont il serait cependant en partie synchrone dans sa phase la plus récente.
This contribution offers an updated assessment of five sites of reference of the Magdalenian with Lussac-Angles points and of the Magdalenian with navettes which have been the subjects of new researches for the last twenty years: Roc-aux-Sorciers (Anglessur-l’Anglin, Vienne) and la Marche (Lussac-les-Châteaux, Vienne) on the one hand; la Garenne (Saint-Marcel, Indre), Arlay (Jura) and Roc-de-Marcamps (Marcamps-et-Prignac, Gironde) on the other hand. However these various assessments differ. Whereas the sites with navettes received global restudies, the researches in la Marche and Roc-aux-Sorciers have mainly been stimulated by the analysis of the symbolic sphere. Their lithic and osseous equipments still lack more accurate typotechnological characterizations. The restudy of the archeostratigraphies of the three sites with navettes, together with new series of datations, modifies the chronological frame of this facies: the Magdalenian with navettes seems to develop before 18000 cal. BP, maybe as early as 19000 cal. BP. Contrary to what was formerly thought, the Magdalenian with navettes could therefore precede the Magdalenian with Lussac-Angles points with which it would be partly contemporaneous in its more recent phase.
selon une grille d’analyses qui nous a permis de sélectionner les assemblages les plus favorables dont la fiabilité doit être discutée.
Ainsi, à travers des analyses récentes des industries osseuses et lithiques, nous avons privilégié l’étude de cinq gisements. À partir de deux
d’entre eux utilisés comme références (la grotte Grappin et l’abri de la Croze), nous avons tenté de discerner les caractères typologiques de
ces faciès et de les comparer, le cas échéant, à trois autres sites (la grotte du Trilobite, la grotte de Rigney et l’abri de la Baume-Noire). De
la même manière, nous avons tenté d’apporter de nouvelles références via les aspects techno-économiques (travail des matières osseuses
et du silex) dans le but de décrire plus précisément les caractéristiques de la phase moyenne du Magdalénien et de ses faciès.
In Eastern France, the correlation of several sites with shuttles and ’Lussac-Angles’ facies was reevaluated. An analysis grid
allowed us to select the most favorable collections. Their reliability will be discussed. We focus on the analysis of five collections. Two of
them were used as references (Grappin cave and la Croze shelter). From a technological and typological grid analysis, we tried to identify
features of these facies in an attempt to compare them with the three other sites (le Trilobite, Rigney and la Baume-Noire). In a similar
manner, we also tried to bring new references to the techno-economic aspects (technological features of the osseous and flint industries)
and to discuss the possible relation between these different assemblages. Regarding bone productions (mainly on reindeer antlers) from
Arlay and la Croze, we observed differences in the production patterns. In Arlay assemblages, the bone tool kit mainly consists of double
bevel spears points, large size double bevel wedges, and three shuttles (fragment, blank and finished object). At la Croze, objects are
mainly small single bevel points. However, including the la Croze assemblage to the ’Lussac-Angles’ facies doesn’t seem acceptable due
to the morphological and typological differences in the data compared with the original Lussac-Angles points (Pinçon, 1989). Despite
these differences, the two assemblages share numerous similarities in the production data of the reindeer antler equipment. From a technological
point of view, the blanks production by groove and splinter technique on the reindeer antler dominates in both sites: multiple
extractions and peripherical rods double grooving limited to beam A or invasive of the basilar part, or simple extraction on the front of
beam A. The final removal of the blanks was realized by bending of the transverse axis or by percussive cutting then launched without
preparation. In the other assemblages (Rigney, Fretigney, Trilobite) we do not dispose of any clue to discuss these aspects. The Rigney
assemblage shows some similarities with Arlay, in particular with the points and wedges. Trilobite provides us the single Lussac-Angles
point of our corpus. This object gave a direct 14C measurement at 13812 ± 89 uncal. BP (17017-16380 cal. BP). This measurement seems
to be too young compared to data from Central and South-Western France (Langlais et al., this volume). As for Fretigney, no object
is significant enough to be attached to one or another of the facies. Finally, if bone work does not reflect any cultural particularity, the
presence of ivory, even in small quantities (in Arlay, la Croze, Rigney Farincourt and Chaze) remains a good criterion to attest of the
middle magdalenian phase in the region (Malgarini, 2014). On the lithic side, Arlay and la Croze are very close from a technological
point of view. They highlight a relative stability of the technical choice during the Middle Magdalenian, in particular with the blade and
bladelet production. The lack of any kind of retouched bladelets at la Croze doesn’t allow any comparison with this category of remains.
Consequently, we can carefully postulate that there was a relative homogeneity of the technical behavior along the Jura range. The
absence of particular bladelet production chaîne operatoire disjoint from the blade production is, on one hand a major difference with
the South-Western France assemblages (Langlais et al., 2016 and this volume). On the other hand, it’s a criteria to link the Middle Magdalenian assemblage with the now well-documented technical behaviors from the Jura and the Northern French Alps upper Magdalenian
(Mevel, 2010 ; Béreiziat, 2011 ; Mevel et al., 2014).
Abstract: Transitions, such as the one from the Upper to Late Palaeolithic in Europe, are episodes of cultural and demographic change, which raise questions about possible causal connections between environmental changes and human behaviour. The workshop The Upper-Late Palaeolithic Transition in Western Central Europe. Typology, Technology, Environment and Demography, organised by the Collaborative Research Centre 806, focused on discussing and disentangling these aspects. Experts from seven European countries reported the current state of knowledge and recent research on typology, technology, ecology, and population dynamics during the Upper to Late Palaeolithic transition (14,700 – 13,500 calBP) in north-western Europe. The presentations concerning the methods of palaeodemography included examples from the European Palaeolithic and Neolithic.
Lithic assemblages assigned to the Allerød are relatively numerous in the Alps and Jura with some fifteen sites having produced at least one layer contemporary with this climatic oscillation. Based on current data, it is still difficult to propose a chronological seriation of the archaeological assemblages as the different dates currently available for Eastern France mainly belong to the Upper Magdalenian and Early Azilian (Oberlin and Pion, 2009). However, analysis of the lithic assemblages can provide some relevant observations concerning the relative chronology and techno-economic organisation of lithic technologies characteristic of this period. A certain degree of variability is evident in the lithic industries associated with the Allerød interstadial. The expedient nature of the lithic technology seems to gradually increase, leading to a radical transformation in techno-economic behaviours typical of the Early Azilian. Although this proposal still requires further support by more dates, the most expedient lithic elements seem to be contemporary with the most recent Azilian assemblages. At least one assemblage from La Fru (layer 5 of area 3) which is more recent based on available radiocarbon dates, differs from this trend both typologically and technologically. New forms of microliths appear in the Alps and Jura during the Younger Dryas in parallel with a profound transformation in the technical behaviour of these human groups. While the literature suggests a possible diversity of cultural trends in these areas (presence of the Laborian: Bintz dir., 1995; Monin, 2000), several sites very clearly share the same lithic component characterised by a single microlithic concept – points with backing on their right edge – and common technical traditions evident in the production of bladelets from very narrow cores using a soft-stone hammer. Taken together, this information suggests these industries can be aligned with the Epigravettian, particularly its most recent phase. Suspected for some time, this hypothesis is now supported by technological observations and comparisons with other well-known Recent Epigravettian assemblages. During the Late Azilian we also note an important circulation of raw materials and ornaments from the Mediterranean to the Northern Alps, perhaps reflecting the path by which technical ideas, hitherto confined to Southern Europe, diffused into the region.
The results presented here certainly require further development, making it more necessary than ever to improve the archaeological record of these periods. Nearly all the available lithic assemblages have now been reassessed and only new fieldwork will provide insights concerning the adaptations and circulation of technical ideas at the extreme end of the Palaeolithic.
A detailed comparison of well dated assemblages from northern France and western Germany made an assessment of the behavioural evolution at different scales of space and time possible. Furthermore, in a tight chronological framework this evolution could be closely related to the changing environment of this period.
The small scale adaptations and the neglect of a fundamental change in the behaviour resulted visible in the Early Azilian resulted in a social collapse and reorganisation of the Magdalenian way of life during a period of severe and short-lived environmental fluctuations
This reorganisation was based on the previously acquired ideas and, thus, the Federmesser-Gruppen were based on the behavioural norms that have established during the previous time of transition.
(Material and Methods) At first, a consistent high-resolution chronological framework was created in which climatic, geological, environmental, and archaeological data could be set in a reliable chronological order. In a next step, well dated assemblages from northern France and western Germany were compared to analyse the relationship between the Lateglacial archaeological complexes. Therefore, a technological analysis of lithic industries was used allowing an assessment of the behavioural evolution at different scales of space and time. A necessary objective of this approach is the discussion of intra- and inter-regional variability among the prehistoric inventories in the context of function and available natural resources. Moreover, these lithic studies had to be accompanied by spatial and faunal evidence to understand variations as part of an adaptive process.
(Results) The results of this comparative analysis indicate that the frequently propose technical impoverishment during the Lateglacial reflected an increasing knowledge about the locally and regionally available resources and their properties. In addition, the availability of other resources such as wood made the use of alternative systems possible. The development of some of these resources was not constantly and, thus, changes in the archaeological record also appeared cumulatively. Furthermore, the human willingness to change small things to prevent larger changes can be considered as a source of delayed reactions which in periods of significant environmental variation can result in severe threshold situations for complete societies.
(Conclusion) In consequence, the process of adaptation in the Lateglacial can be described as inconstant and depended on the availability of alternatives. Therefore, many Magdalenian behaviours were still preserved during the Early Azilian but became unnecessary in an increasingly temperate environment. Moreover, the small scale adaptations and the neglect of a fundamental change in the behaviour resulted only during a period of severe and short-lived environmental fluctuations in a social collapse and reorganisation.
Europe is characterised by significant climatic and environmental
changes. In this unstable period, the first
Azilian inventories appeared in the archaeological record.
They were clearly related to Late Magdalenian
behavioural traditions which were highly resilient during
the unstable Late Weichselian Pleniglacial. However,
changes in spatial organisation, subsistence strategies,
resource procurement, and technical behaviour suggest
that the hunter-gatherers increasingly adapted to
a temperate environment during the Lateglacial Interstadial.
By the mid-Lateglacial Interstadial, the so-called
Federmesser-Gruppen occurred which also seemed to
be related to a Magdalenian substratum. These inventories
were usually associated with forest environments.
Thus, the temporal, spatial, behavioural, and ecological
relationship of the Late Magdalenian, Early Azilian, and
Federmesser-Gruppen is essential for the understanding
of the process of adaptation and, consequently, of an important
mechanism of behavioural evolution.
At first, a consistent high-resolution chronological
framework was created in which climatic, geological, environmental,
and archaeological data could be set in a
reliable chronological order. In a next step, well dated assemblages
from northern France and western Germany
were compared to analyse the relationship between the
Lateglacial archaeological complexes. Therefore, a technological
analysis of lithic industries was used allowing
an assessment of the behavioural evolution at different
scales of space and time. A necessary objective of this
approach is the discussion of intra- and inter-regional
variability among the prehistoric inventories in the context
of function and available natural resources. Moreover,
these lithic studies had to be accompanied by spatial
and faunal evidence to understand variations as part
of an adaptive process.
The results of this comparative analysis indicate that
the frequently propose technical impoverishment during
the Lateglacial Interstadial reflected an increasing
knowledge about the locally and regionally available resources
and their properties. In addition, the availability
of other resources such as wood made the use of alternative
systems possible. The development of some of
these resources was not constantly and, thus, changes
in the archaeological record also appeared cumulatively.
Furthermore, the human willingness to change small
things to prevent larger changes can be considered as
a source of delayed reactions which in periods of significant
environmental variation can result in severe threshold
situations for complete societies.
In consequence, the process of adaptation in the Lateglacial
can be described as inconstant and depended
on the availability of alternatives. Therefore, many
Magdalenian behaviours were still preserved during the
Early Azilian but became unnecessary in an increasingly
temperate environment. Moreover, the small scale adaptations
and the neglect of a fundamental change in the
behaviour resulted only during a period of severe and
short-lived environmental fluctuations in a social collapse
and reorganisation.
References :
MEVEL L. (2010) - Des sociétés en mouvement : nouvelles données sur l’évolution des comportements techno‐économiques des sociétés magdaléniennes et aziliennes des Alpes du nord françaises (14 000 – 11000 BP), unpublished PhD dissertation, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, 655 p.
STREET M., GEKHAUSEN F., GRIMM S., MOSELER F., NIVEN L., SENSBURG M., TURNER T., WENZEL S., JÖRIS O. (2006) - L’occupation du bassin de Neuwied (Rhénanie centrale, Allemagne) par les Magdaléniens et les groupes à Federmesser (aziliens), Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 103, 4, p. 753-780.
STREET M., JÖRIS O., TURNER E. (2012) - Magdalenian settlement in the German Rhineland - An update, Quaternary International, 272-273, p. 231-250
VALENTIN B. (2008) - Jalons pour une paléohistoire des derniers chasseurs (XIVe-Vie millénaire avant J.-C.), Cahiers Archéologiques de Paris 1, Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris, 326 p.
This research project is funded by the Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (France), the European Union, The Marie Curie research programm, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Deutscher Akademischer AustauschDienst (Germany)
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• les rythmes de peuplement pendant le Magdalénien supérieur en mettant en évidence une phase pionnière et phase de stabilisation dans l’occupation des Alpes du nord ;
• les conditions d’apparition de l’Azilien en mettant en évidence que ces nouvelles pratiques techniques ont certainement été le résultat d’une adoption plus qu’une adaptation, dans un contexte d’intense circulation des matériaux, des hommes et des idées ;
• les aspects économiques de la phase récente de l’Azilien, en mettant en évidence les changements profonds des modèles économiques et en envisageant, grâce notamment aux circulations des matériaux, l’origine des idées techniques qui vont succéder à l’Azilien.
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systems have been finely analyzed and modelized based on the Magdalenian and Azilian deposits from the
Paris basin (Bodu dir. 1998; Valentin, 1995, 2008). The transformation of the hunting behavior has been one of
the major vehicle of the technical modification of the lithic industries at the end of the Magdalenian and/or at
the beginning of the Azilian (Pelegrin, 2000; Bignon, 2008). Needs in lithic projectile tips, replacing bone
projectile points, less easy to replace lost in a forested environment, should have constituted a major
transformation in the production of the lithic equipment (Pelegrin, 2000) in parallel of the generalization of the
soft stone hammer used in the blades production. If they do not gainsay the “primum movens” of the
azilianisation process (Pelegrin, op. cit.), the techno-economical analysis of upper Magdalenian and early
Azilian settlements from northern French alps and their comparison with the environmental data allows to
discuss the emergence of these new behavior in this context. Are the agents which lead Magdalenians to adapt
their behavior always the same in the different place where Azilian tradition appears? The evolutionary paths
are still the same? This is what we propose to discuss in this paper."
Mobilités des hommes, des objets et des idées entre le DMG et le début de l’Holocène
Mobilität von Menschen, Objekten und Ideen zwischen dem LGM und dem Beginn des Holozän
Mobility of people, objects and ideas between the LGM and the beginning of the Holocene
Strasbourg, May 16th-17th 2019
The Société Préhistorique Française and the Hugo Obermaier Society, associated since 2012, announce with great pleasure their first joint meeting, held from May 16th to 17th 2019 in Strasbourg, a prominent interface of the Franco-German friendship. The meeting will take place at the Maison Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l'Homme – Alsace (MISHA, UMR 7044, Archimède).
The meeting centers on the evolution of networks in Europe between the Last Glacial Maximum and the early Holocene, as evidenced by the movements of people, objects and ideas. The analysis of movements is inevitably also an analysis of where these movements stop. Mobility of prehistoric people can be inferred from different sources, such as lithic raw materials, mollusk shells, distinct concepts of depiction and decoration or technical behavior in general. The diverse archaeological record of the Late Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic period allows to highlight relations at different spatial scales and to discuss their significance with regard to three topics, namely 1. territoriality, 2. social networks and 3. colonization dynamics. In doing so, this meeting aims at launching a comprehensive discussion on these topics between prehistorians otherwise conducting their research in different geographical, chrono-cultural and environmental contexts.
The meeting will be held over a day and a half and is divided into 3 sessions. Each session will be capped by a keynote talk followed by six talks of colleagues. Each day closes with a plenary discussion and an invited presentation.
The session topics are :
1. Boundaries and margins – territorial aspects of the archaeological record
Keynote: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Uthmeier, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
2. Social networks – Intra- and inter-territorial relations
Keynote: Prof. Dr. Boris Valentin, Université Paris 1, UMR 7041
3. (Re-) Colonization processes – rhythms and scenarios
Keynote: Dr. Sandrine Costamagno, CNRS, UMR 5608, TRACES,
At the same time, the knowledge of the palaeo-climatic and palaeo-environmental changes during the Lateglacial, in particular of the faunal and floral developments, have increased significantly. Thus, the combination of the archaeological and the palaeoenvironmental data have led to a better understanding of the relationship between the changes of the environments inhabited by Lateglacial human groups and the transformations of their equipments.
Although the lithic industries of the Federmesser and Azilian groups are often and rightly called simplified, it seems clear that this finding does not apply to the entire technical productions of these human groups. Elsewhere, detailed techno-economic studies of lithic industries have helped reveal the degree of interrelation of groups. Besides the Federmesser and Azilian groups, further groups such as the assemblages from the British penknife phase and, possibly, the Hengistbury Head industries or the Polish arched backed piece technocomplexes as well as some northern late Epigravettian assemblages may be mentioned.
These related groups were dominant in Northwest and Central Europe for more than one millennium during the Lateglacial
Interstadial. However, their precise relationship is still a matter of discussion. Therefore, the session aims to approach the material in its entirety and with a focus on its development. Research questions relating from local to macro-regional levels are often focused on lithic industries. However, in this session we also explicitly welcome approaches combining multidisciplinary data, in particular deriving from archaeozoological, environmental, spatial, or chronological studies. We thereby wish to address the following questions:
By the use of this wide-ranging view, is it possible to observe variations in the archaeological material from different environmental contexts? And how can we interpret these variations? Are they due to different environmental adaptations? Or are they diachronic? Can an initial, an intermediate, and a final phase be identified? Or on the contrary, do these industries show comparable characteristics throughout the whole Lateglacial Interstadial?
In the scientific exchanges during this session, we hope to address and decipher the diversity of evolutionary mechanisms within the Final Palaeolithic societies of Northwest-Europe.