PACEA UMR 5199

Taphonomy of the open air Aurignacian site of Combemenue at Brignac-la-Plaine (Corrèze, France). An Upper Aurignacian level located on a hilltop flat surface has been found at Combemenue (Brignac-la-Plaine, Corrèze, France) during field surveys along the A89 highway. Geomorphological evidence, and particularly the shallow depth of the level, strongly suggests that it has undergone significant perturbation due to a long-lasting exposure to sedimentary and pedological processes at the soil surface or subsurface. Therefore, a detailed taphonomic study has been made to appreciate as far as possible the impact of natural processes in site patterning. It involves examination of the spatial distribution of the artefacts, their orientation and dip (fabric), their size distribution, their alteration and the refittings. The results have been compared to the data derived from the techno-economical analysis. This study indicates that the lithic assemblage has undergone a selective impoverishment in small-sized artefacts as the result of surface wash. As suggested by the low refitting rate, a part of the coarser artefacts may have been removed from the site by the same processes. The lack of any clear artefact concentration indicates that the spatial distribution has also been modified significantly. This can be adequately described by a model of progressive diffusion of the artefacts by surface wash or periglacial processes. By contrast, the movements did not provoke strong physical alteration of the pieces. The Combemenue site is thought to be representative of a number of palaeolithic sites located in similar geomorphological contexts, that are characterized by low sedimentation rates.Keywords : taphonomy, spatial analysis, fabric, grain-size sorting, Upper Aurignacian, Corrèze, France

In the Dordogne region of France, the recent excavations of two Early Middle Paleolithic sites have revealed the coexistence of two different techniques of flint tool production: flake debitage and bifacial tool shaping.
At Cantalouette 1, large centripetal cores were reduced to produce flake blanks to be shaped into bifacial pieces according to functionally predetermined models. Flaking thus preceded shaping in a continuous reduction process. At the same time, smaller cores were reduced to produce smaller flake blanks that would be transformed into more diverse flake tools. The function of this site was associated with both tool production, bifacial or not, and in situ tool use.
At Combe Brune 3, certain blocks were successively reduced through flaking and shaping operations. The flaking operation consisted of short series of flake removals from two or three intersecting surfaces. These flakes were very robust and only slightly retouched, or used without retouch. The bifacial pieces produced were unique in their associations of active parts. Many of the bifacial pieces were present only briefly at the site, where they were used and/or resharpened, while the flake tools were consumed in situ.
These two occupations, like others in the Bergerac zone of the Dordogne region, reveal techno-economic relationships between flaking and shaping productions that are both functional and economic. A true collective anticipation of tool needs can thus be discerned at Cantalouette 1, with the predetermination of flakes and their shaping according to predetermined techno-types. At Combe Brune 3, these behaviors appear more individual, as is shown by the great variability of production schemes and the status of certain mixed blocks that were both flaked and shaped.

In addition to enriching existing reference bases, the experimental procedure proposed here extends the range of experiments to all lithic knapping concepts (flaking and shaping) while qualitatively and quantitatively evaluating the methods, modalities, techniques, material constraints and exploited volumes implied. The resulting reference bases are both comparative and have the capacity to evolve.
This experimental procedure describes the conditions of the progression of the experiments adapted to each research problem (techno-economic, spatial and taphonomic), recording methods and data treatment. Finally, a few examples of its application to archaeological industries illustrate the potential of such a procedure for contributing to our understanding of the economic behaviours of Middle Palaeolithic groups.

The open air site of Combemenue (Brignac-la-Plaine, Corrèze) was excavated in the ramework of a rescue project. Two different archaeological horizons were recognized: one attributed to the Mousterian, and the second, best preserved, to the Aurignacian. The study of the lithic component – based on the chaîne opératoire concept – was undertaken using ifferent scales of analyses (a pluridimensional approach), from multiple observations levels.

"Two early Middle Palaeolithic, open-air sites were recently excavated near Creysse, in the Dordogne region of France. The first, Cantalouette 1, is dated to 223,000 years ago, and the second, Combe Brune 3, to 156,000 years ago. Both yielded lithic industries strongly dominated by bifacial shaping, associated with more occasional flake production.
At Cantalouette 1, several groups of bifacial tools were described based on the association of specific edge forms and prehensile zones. It appears that the shaped pieces were used near their production location, indicating a unity between production and use areas. A relationship seems to exist between the debitage and shaping productions since nearly one quarter of the bifacial tools were made on flakes.
Each of the bifacial tools abandoned at Combe Brune 3 possesses unique characteristics. Other bifacial pieces produced at the site were exported, and a high number of edge sharpening flakes suggest that pieces shaped elsewhere circulated on the site. The processes of shaping and debitage can succeed each other on the same blocks, with mixed conceptual schemes. Moreover, the flake tools were used in place, probably for skin working activities.
The two industries presented attest to specific behaviours associated with bifacial tools and flake tools. At Cantalouette 1, they would be collective, while at Combe Brune 3 they would be more individual. The comparison of these two sites allows us to formulate a hypothesis concerning the modes of circulation and utilization of bifacial tools over a common territory, which includes production, consumption and mixed activity zones."

"At the recently excavated Middle Paleolithic sites of Combemenue in Corrèze and Chemin d’Herbe in Lot-et-Garonne, the exploitation of lithic raw materials reveals specific provisioning and exploitation strategies.
At Combemenue, the flint originating from the decayed rock of the Isle Valley was imported and flaked at a location that provided abundant alluvial quartz and quartzite cobbles. The flint reduction sequence was oriented toward the production of pseudo-Levallois points destined to be exported, while the cobbles were exploited to produce the heavy tools found in situ.
At Chemin d’Herbe, all the lithic materials were imported. Most of the flint originated from sources a few kilometers from the site, while the metamorphic cobbles came from the alluvial deposits of the Lot or Garonne rivers. The flint debitage was realized on cores that were imported and already partly exploited. The imported cobbles were used to produce heavy tools, as at Combemenue
These two occupations attest to anticipated techno-economic behaviors in terms of both the choice of raw materials imported and exploited and the utilization of blanks produced in situ, which in both cases were largely exploited. At both sites, the dynamic of the transport of lithic raw materials and the management of the lithic tool production reveal both an economy of raw materials—in the technical space covered—and of debitage—in the technical time."

From the beginning of the second to last interglacial period (Eemian), lithic industries show a proliferation of production conceptions, methods and techniques: Levallois, Discoid and SSDA debitage, laminar debitage, anvil debitage, and the shaping of pieces that were unique or adhered to a techno-type. This diversity of lithic production conceptions sometimes appears in archaeological assemblages in which distinct flaking and shaping chaînes opératoires coexist; for example, a combined production conception associating flaking and shaping on the same matrix (raw material volume) has been observed in several assemblages.
This work addresses the question of inter- and intra site variability and its behavioral significance through a techno-economic analysis of lithic industries and an experimental procedure. For nine lithic assemblages from three sites in the Bergeracois region, Cantalouette 1, Combre Brune 2 and Combe Brune 3, each of the production methods was analyzed based on a quantitative evaluation of all the operational phases present from the procurement of lithic raw materials to the use of the products. The role of experimentation in this procedure is to create specific reference bases that can be compared with the lithic assemblages in order to obtain a better estimation of their techno-economic representivity.
The ultimate objective of this research is to propose coherent models of the functioning of human occupations at the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in relation to their locations and potential complementarity within and across a single subsistence territory. The respective occupation types illustrated by the three sites studied are thus modeled and compared to other sites in the Dordogne and other regions.
Keywords : Early Middle Paleolithic, lithic production’s economy, lithic experimentation, shaping, debitage, combined production, subsistence territory, Occupation type , southwestern France.

At the Middle Palaeolithic, open-air site of La Mouline in Saint-Astier (Dordogne region, France), excavated in 2002, five loci of unequal surfaces and densities were revealed along a distance of 150 meters. The two smallest loci consist of occasional debitage waste concentrations. Within the principal locus (locus 1), the presence of retouched and used blanks in zones located between lithic knapping areas, suggests the coexistence of tool production and utilization activities. This organization of the technical space can be directly associated with a spatial organization of the blocks in a circular arch, suggesting a residual habitat structure. Following the hypothesis of a single occupation by one group of Mousterian hunters, this configuration would indicate an economic organization consisting of the exploitation of a local raw material source and the transportation of flint blocks – prepared or not – to a camp including specialized flint tool production zones (loci 2 and 3) and a smaller zone devoted to animal and/or vegetal material transformation (locus 1).

The open-air, Mousterian site of Les Forêts, in the Dordogne region, was excavated in 1996. It is located on the left bank of the Isle River. The occupation level yielded a total of 537 lithic artifacts. It was covered by a sequence of stream overflow deposits and seems to have been well preserved. According to its stratigraphic position, the archaeological level is dated by thermoluminescence to 92,700±4500 years B.P. The raw material exploited consists of Senonian flint cobbles from the local alluvial deposits of the Isle River. Technological analysis reveals a predominant discoid flaking method and a subordinate bifacial component. Most of the cores were exploited by a centripetal method, a few of them were reduced by convergent removals. The flake tool component is represented by 60 objects. Sidescrapers are dominant and preferentially made on quadrangular flakes, semi-cortical flakes and pseudo-Levallois points. Several open-air sites in close proximity, like Bois de Reymondeau, La Rogère and Champ-de-Bossuet have recently yelded lithic industries containing discoid flaking methods. It is already apparent that at Forêts the centripetal and unipolar core reduction methods are conceived as part of a debitage economy and correspond to circumstantial technical solutions, which belong to a single and unique conception of discoid flaking.

In several Middle Paleolithic assemblages in Western Europe, cores and bifaces with percussion zones that are not related to their usual mode of functioning have been observed.  We used experimental cores and bifaces as percussion tools on different materials. The stigmata produced during percussion on stone materials closely resemble those observed on archaeological objects. Though the use of these pieces as hammerstones or retouchers is difficult to firmly demonstrate, this is the most probable hypothesis. The characteristics of the traces observed are similar to those observed on classic hammerstones. While the recycling of bifaces and cores into hammerstones, sometimes followed by their reuse, depending on their original function, is infrequently observed in Middle Paleolithic assemblages, it appears to be a recurrent characteristic that is independent of environmental constraints or economic or technical contexts. This practice thus seems to be associated with cultural choices, perhaps of a universal nature.

This experiment was conducted as part of research undertaken since 2005 on the characterization and the significance of Middle Paleolithic flint assemblages. It concerns questions related to Levallois and Discoid flint production systems described in archaeological assemblages in southwestern France. We hypothesize that the complexity of these lithic assemblages results from different methods and objectives, as well as the contingencies specific to the raw materials used, but also the levels of knowledge and technical skills of the Neandertal artisans. Experimental tests of Levallois and Discoid production systems were performed by two groups of modern flint knappers of well-differentiated skill levels and were then analyzed from a quantitative point of view. Comparison with the archaeological data of the flint artifacts from layer VIIb of Combe Brune 2, in the Dordogne - dated to 187 ka (± 21) - shows that it is important to consider the differences observed between modern flint knappers due to different skill levels.

Variability and significance of lithic productions in the Early Middle Paleolithic. An analysis of three open-air sites in the Bergeracois region (Dordogne, France).

From the beginning of the second to last interglacial period (Eemian), lithic industries show a proliferation of production conceptions, methods and techniques: Levallois, Discoid and SSDA debitage, laminar debitage, anvil debitage, and the shaping of pieces that were unique or adhered to a techno-type. This diversity of lithic production conceptions sometimes appears in archaeological assemblages in which distinct flaking and shaping chaînes opératoires coexist; for example, a mixed production conception associating flaking and shaping on the same matrix (raw material volume) has been observed in several assemblages.
This work addresses the question of inter- and intra site variability and its behavioral significance through a techno-economic analysis of lithic industries and an experimental procedure. For nine lithic assemblages from three sites in the Bergeracois region, Canatalouette 1, Combre Brune 2 and Combe Brune 3, each of the production methods was analyzed based on a quantitative evaluation of all the operational phases present from the procurement of lithic raw materials to the use of the products. The role of experimentation in this procedure is to create specific reference bases that can be compared with the lithic assemblages in order to obtain a better estimation of their techno-economic representivity.
The main goal is to give an account of the variability within the industries of the flaking and shaping productions, their possible interrelations and the objectives’ diversity in terms of blanks and produced tools. I tried to define the independence, the succession or the mixing of shaping and flaking operative schemes within these industries.
The economic functioning modes of the occupations are analyzed. Thanks to inter-sites comparisons and thanks to an experimental frame of reference, our approach was to look for evidences of export, import, transit, moving or carrying away of matrices.
The spatial settlement of sites within the territory of subsistence and the temporal dimension of duration and frequency of occupation are also discussed. I had to model the functioning modes of the occupations in relation to invested space and to the potential duration of activities.
The objective of this research is to propose coherent models of the functioning of human occupations at the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in relation to their locations and potential complementarity within and across a single subsistence territory. The respective occupation types illustrated by the three sites studied are thus modeled and compared to other sites in the Dordogne and other regions.
Finally, I discuss the socio-economic behavior of human groups at different scales from the technical space to the occupied space. The specificity and complementarity of sites are addressed as well as the potential mobility of groups through the circulation of lithic artifacts and raw materials.
The results show that socio- economical behaviors observed as early as the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic already foreshadow the complexity of the later Mousterian industries. They could reflect rational and anticipated subsistence behaviors at different scales, which are freed in part from environmental contingencies.

La fouille préventive du site du Paléolithique moyen récent de Chemin d’herbe sur le tracé du contournement de la RN21 à Saint Antoine de Ficalba (Lot-et-Garonne) a été conduite du 3 novembre au 1 décembre 2008 par une équipe de l’Inrap composée de deux préhistoriens et d’un topographe. En raison d’une faible densité des vestiges lithiques, le niveau archéologique a été décapé en grande partie à la pelle mécanique. Cette opération fait suite au diagnostic archéologique réalisé précédemment début 2008 par une autre équipe de l’Inrap (Resp : F. prodéo) et en particulier à la fouille d’un site paléontologique de l’ère tertiaire en collaboration avec l’université de Toulouse.
La démarche a consisté à décaper mécaniquement du Nord au Sud une surface prescrite de 1800 m² par le Service Régional de l’Archéologie d’Aquitaine à partir de la tranchée qui avait révélé le plus de matériel archéologique. Un total de 335 artefacts lithiques de plus de 1 cm a ainsi été découvert et situé en trois dimensions au Théodolite à infra-rouge. Le niveau archéologique a été identifié entre 1,20 m et 1,50 m de profondeur sur une épaisseur moyenne de 25 cm avec une densité très variable suivant les secteurs de fouille. Seul un secteur de près de 80 m², avec une plus forte densité d’artefacts, a fait l’objet d’un test de fouille manuel et de prélèvements de sédiment pour dater le niveau archéologique. Les résultats préliminaires des datations menées par le laboratoire de l’Université d’Oxford, lui donne un âge entre 38 et 45 ka.
L’étude des objets lithiques a montré que des activités partielles de débitage de silex ont été effectuées sur place par des hommes qui ont apporté avec eux l’ensemble de leurs blocs de silex, leurs nucléus et leurs outils de percussion. Il s’avère également, selon l’analyse tracéologique de certains outils, que ceux-ci ont été utilisés pour la boucherie, ce qui suggère que le site n’était pas seulement un atelier de taille sur un lieu de passage mais a pu fonctionner aussi comme un campement de durée indéterminée ou comme une halte de chasse.