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[EN] The Mousterian level of the Doline of Cantalouette 2, with a mean age of 60,000 years, is remarkable for its richness, composition and recurrent structuring of activities in space (Bourguignon et al., 2008). It also delivers a range of lithic tools used in percussion tasks. In addition to a large range of knapping hammers (on quartz pebbles, flakes or flint cores), massive flint flakes have also been used with percussion gestures for working perishable materials such as animal carcasses and plants. We will focus our present article exclusively on this last type of use. The lithic production activities of this Late Mousterian mainly involved an algorithmic knapping system, based on recurrent unidirectional series and obtained according to sub-parallel fracture planes following one or more surfaces. Thick flakes, often with lateral asymmetry, were obtained from one or more circumscribed percussion planes (opposite or perpendicular), which are very rarely prepared. More rarely, a preferential Levallois knapping system, oriented towards export of the products, was also implemented. At some distance from the knapping station the main production was made almost exclusively for immediate use with or without a preparation of the active and handling parts by retouching, (Bourguignon et al., 2008). From this lithic production, it was made a selection of massive flakes easily handled with bare hands. These blanks often came from the first stages of the operating chain (cortical) and were used in percussion tasks. On the basis of a macroscopic selection of the -often unretouched- cutting edges with stigmas of crushing, micro-flaking or scarring, a functional analysis was carried out according to the analytical methodology developed by S. A. Semenov (1964). As the tools were very large items, we produced replicas of the working edges on acetate for additional analysis with microscope. Two types of percussion activities were registered, one focused on butchering tasks and th, [FR] Le niveau moustérien de la Doline de Cantalouette 2, d’âge moyen de 60.000 ans est remarquable par sa richesse, sa composition et sa structuration récurrente des activités dans l’espace (Bourguignon et al. 2008). Il livre également une gamme d’instruments lithiques utilisés en percussion lancée. Outre une panoplie importante des percuteurs de taille (sur galets de quartz, éclats ou nucléus en silex), des éclats massifs en silex ont également été utilisés selon ce mode d’action pour des opérations de traitement de matériaux périssables tels les carcasses animales ou les végétaux. C’est exclusivement sur ces derniers modes de fonctionnement que nous orientons notre article. Les activités de production de ce Moustérien Récent participent essentiellement d’un débitage algorithmique mettant en oeuvre des séries unipolaires récurrentes obtenues selon des plans de fracturation subparallèles aux dépens d’une ou de plusieurs surfaces. Des éclats épais, présentant souvent une asymétrie latérale sont obtenus à partir d’un ou plusieurs plans de frappe circonscrits (opposés ou perpendiculaires) et très rarement aménagés. Plus rarement, un débitage Levallois à éclat préférentiel, orienté vers une exportation des produits est également mis en oeuvre. La production principale est quasi exclusivement réalisée pour une utilisation immédiate des éclats, distante du poste de taille, avec ou sans aménagement des parties actives et préhensives par la retouche (Bourguignon et al. 2008). C’est parmi cette production qu’une sélection d’éclats massifs aisément préhensibles à mains nues, souvent issus des premières étapes de la chaîne opératoire (corticaux), s’opère pour leur utilisation en percussion lancée. Sur la base d’une sélection macroscopique de tranchants (souvent bruts) présentant des stigmates d’écrasement, d’arrachement ou d’esquillement, une lecture fonctionnelle a été réalisée selon la méthodologie analytique développée par S.A. Semenov (1964). S’agissant d’objets de grande

Nous présentons dans ce travail, un panorama synthétique des occupations humaines du Nord du Maroc, en mettant l’accent sur l’association des données anthropologiques et des données culturelles, ceci dans un cadre chronologique compris entre le Paléolithique Moyen (MSA) et le Paléolithique Supérieur. Nous présentons aussi les projets développés, durant ces 15 dernières années, et les résultats les plus intéressants que nous avons obtenus. Pour conclure, nous proposons quelques réflexions sur l’évaluation culturelle et historique des enregistrements archéologiques de la région de Tétouan dans les périodes du Paléolithique Moyen et Supérieur., In this work, we present a synthetic panorama of the human occupations of northern Morocco, with an emphasis on the association of anthropological with cultural records, within the framework of the Middle Palaeolithic (MSA) and the Upper Palaeolithic. We also present the projects developed over the past 15 years and the most interesting results we have obtained. And we conclude bay providing some reflections on the cultural and historical evaluation of the archaeological records from the Tetouan region in the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic phases.

Balma del Gai site is a small rock shelter situated in the municipality of Moià (Barcelona, ​​ Spain) at an altitude of 760 m above sea level and 50 km from the current coastline. The levels of occupation in this context are dated between 13,442 cal BP and 9,552 cal BP, being related to the so-denominated “Epimagdalenian” and “Microlaminar Sauveterroid” complexes. The excavations have provided important mollusc samples, both terrestrial and marine, which have been studied and considered alimentary and adornment resources. In this article, we present the results of the use-wear analyses of the shell tools of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 and Glycymeris glycymeris (Linnaeus, 1758). The results of these analyses and their comparison with analytical experimentation demonstrate that some of these shells were used as tools for developing diverse productive activities related to the processing of materials of animal, mineral and vegetal origin. In this way, this research contributes to: 1) broaden the technological spectrum registered in this context and in a wider sense for Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers (beyond the traditional technological elements), 2) demonstrate a diversified use of the shells as adornments, food and tools in the site; an aspect of great interest especially bearing in mind the distance from the coast.

For the last twenty years, various interdisciplinary research programs have been studying human presence in high mountain environments and how the different activities carried out there have impacted on the landscape and transformed it since the Early Holocene. Grazing, hunting, mining, and charcoal-making are the most significant outdoor productive activities that have been detected. At the same time, on a day-to-day basis, there was a daily household firewood management, studied here, which was related to fires for cooking, heat and light, as basic needs to be satisfied in the caves and rock-shelters occupied in this high-mountain territory since Prehistory. This paper presents the anthracological results from three sites located in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (PNAESM) in the Central Pyrenees occupied between the 9th and the 1st millennia cal BCE. In the PNAESM, different types of occupations have been identified in a basic spatial distribution by a hearth and some artefacts associated with past daily life. In the limit between the upper montane and the subalpine zones, at 1,790 m a.s.l., Sardo Cave contains a sequence of seasonal occupations (4600-2500 cal BCE) that used local wood selected according to their needs. In the limit between the subalpine and alpine zones, firewood-gathering would have taken place in the surroundings of the sites from what was available at any moment. However the occupations identified in the rock-shelters of Estany de la Coveta I (7001-3028 cal BCE) at 2,430 m a.s.l. and Obagues de Ratera (8182-540 cal BCE) at 2,323 m a.s.l. seem to be short-term. In the context of the Central and Eastern Pyrenees, this appears to be the general pattern that will be better defined as more anthracological analyses are performed.

The surface treatment of handmade pottery is often described in ceramological studies of prehistoric collections. However, beyond inferences about its meaning, few works have addressed this issue in depth. For this study, an experimental program has been carried out, where the main variable being explored was the category of tool involved in the fabrication of prehistoric handmade pottery. Therefore, we start from the hypothesis that different tools generate differentiable traces. A catalogue of traces generated by five pottery tools (pebble, flint spatula, pottery spatula, shell spatula and linen rag) was created, with the aim of characterizing and systematizing them. The resulting macroscopic analysis allowed a first qualitative classification of the traces. Microscopic analysis by confocal microscopy then confirmed the classification with quantitative data. The potential of the proposed methodology for traceological and textural analysis of surface treatment in ceramics is highlighted. Hence, the possibility of discriminating different surface treatment techniques opens new perspectives for the study of prehistoric pottery.

Woodworking technology in prehistory has been studied primarily indirectly, which could be partial and incomplete information on wood technology. The Neolithic site of La Draga (Banyoles, Spain), due to its preservation of organic archaeological materials, presents exceptional conditions for its study. This paper will focus on the manufacture process of an ensemble of 44 wooden digging sticks from the site. It has been developed an experimental analysis, followed by the tool mark analysis of 3D models which suggests a differential woodworking process depending on the wooden raw material used; boxwood digging sticks required much more complex woodworking techniques. The 3D digitalization and tool mark analysis has been an excellent solution in order to prevent the fragile archaeological wooden tools from degradation and also it opens a wide and new range of possible research lines to be developed in the upcoming years as signature analysis.

Wooden digging sticks are one of the earliest kinds of tool in human evolution, and provably one of the most widely used in prehistory. This paper will focus on its role in the early agriculture development focusing on the case of the digging sticks assemblage of the Early Neolithic waterlogged site of la Draga (Spain). Ethnographically different uses can be attributed to this type of tool, being soil tilling for agricultural proposes the most economically and socially significant. Based on that hypothesis it has been developed an experimental analysis, followed by the use-wear analysis of 3D models, which suggests the use of the digging sticks of la Draga as agricultural tools. This experimental and use-wears new results are combined with the carpological record at la Draga in order to characterise the early agricultural development at the site.

The lithic assemblage studied here comes from El Horno Cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain) and is dated in the recent Magdalenian. It was recovered in Level 2 in this site, during fieldwork in 2000 and 2001, in association with a large collection of bone industry, portable art and fauna. The study has been conducted within an integral approach, on the premise that the technological organisation of Magdalenian groups included a series of inter-related strategies involving the procurement of raw materials and the production and fabrication, use and discard of lithic artefacts. Groups of raw materials were established for the technological study in order to characterise the different chaînes opératoires. These vary significantly depending on the flint type. In some cases all or part of the technological process is present, whereas in others only the implement use and discard stage is documented. The flint knappers at El Horno Cave used high-quality raw materials, particularly the Flysch flint-type. The circulation of raw materials indicates that the record at El Horno resembles the pattern identified at other Magdalenian sites in the region. The assemblage appears to correspond to a context of débitage. Although materials were widely available, only a moderate number of potential blanks were retouched into tools, and the choice of these was not especially strict. The retouched tools are not indicative of a situation of specialisation, and use-wear analysis has revealed functional diversity, including complex transformation activities, which are usually linked to stable occupations.

In this paper, we provide new data on fish resource exploitation during the Mesolithic and Neolithic period on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Evidence from four different sites is presented: Vale Marim I (end of the seventh/beginning of the sixth millennium cal BCE) and Vale Pincel I (2nd and 3rd quarters of the sixth millennium cal BCE), both located on the southwestern Portuguese coast, and La Esparragosa and SET Parralejos (fourth-third millennia cal BCE), both located on the southern Spanish coast. The analysis of the lithic assemblages by means of use-wear analysis provided evidence of fish-processing activities. The analysis of the archaeological tools has been based on a renewed experimental framework for fish-related use-wear traces. Despite data being still scarce and fragmentary, this study points out the necessity of a more integrating approach, including traceological analysis in the framework of a broader research on prehistoric fishing.

The rock shelter of Benzú, located in the Atlantic-Mediterranean geohistorical region of North Africa and the vicinity of the Strait of Gibraltar, presents a deep stratigraphic sequence dated, using various techniques, to a Middle and Late Pleistocene geo-archaeological context. We present a functional study of the site's Mode 3-Middle Palaeolithic scrapers and points, evaluating the raw materials, the technology and the use of these products. It is confirmed that these artefacts present no major differences in terms of use, being used as scrapers to process meat, hides, wood and fish, results which rule out the use of the points as projectiles. This suggests that they were used for domestic purposes, and sheds light on the use of Mode 3-Middle Palaeolithic technology in North Africa.

Materials of the multilayer wetland site Zamostje 2 are key to study the human cultural history of the Volga-Oka interfluve in Central Russia due to the diversity and completeness of the material culture, on the one hand, and encompass large information potential of fragile organic remains preserved in the waterlogged conditions, on the other hand. The existence of the lake settlement in the broad framework of ca. 7000–4300 cal BC includes the period of distribution of the first ceramics and development of ceramic production among hunter-fisher-gatherers. The purpose of this paper to synthesize the data obtained by natural scientific methods on the reconstruction of the paleolandscape and animal and plant resources, as well as compare them with archaeological evidence of hunting and, in particular, fishing practices. New data from the fishing zone and geological structure of the microregion have been brought. This analysis creates a context for adaptation of various multidisciplinary studies and fuels discussions of paleoecological and cultural events characteristic for the Upper Volga region in the period under consideration.

Since 2013, new excavations have focused on the northern part of the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião (TJBA-N) rockshelter, which is located on the edge of the Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil. Ten sediment samples were dated by multigrain quartz OSL and three samples by feldspar IRSL. Multigrain OSL ages on quartz were assessed using the Central Age Model (CAM) and a Bayesian model built with the R BayLum statistics package. Ages are in good stratigraphic agreement and ages from quartz and feldspars, when available, are internally consistent. Furthermore, we produced a Bayesian model (BayLum) based on OSL ages obtained for the six sediment samples of the main stratigraphy that included stratigraphic constraints and a covariance matrix of errors. Two gaps in sedimentation were detected and can be correlated with climatic changes during the MIS 3 and during the MIS 3 to MIS 2 transition. Finally, our results provide a chronological framework for a new important Pleistocene-Holocene sequence in the region.

Burins are a geographic and time-transgressive tool type, found in lithic industries throughout the world. The defining feature of a burin is the administration of a precisely placed blow (i.e., burin blow) on a natural or prepared striking platform at the edge of a blank. Burins were used for various activities, such as fashioning hunting equipment, figurines, musical instruments, or other decorative objects manufactured from wood, antler, or bone. In other settings, researchers have observed burins that were also used as cores, demonstrating the flexibility and utility of this tool type. Here we present the results of technological, typological and functional analyses of three burin assemblages from the Late Paleolithic of Dhofar, southern Arabia. Technological analysis indicates a significant degree of standardized production. Functional analysis suggests that these tools have been used in woodworking activities. Traceological studies suggest that the function of the burin blow was not the creation of an active working face, as often seen in the Southwest Asian and European Upper Paleolithic; rather, the burin blow functioned to stabilize the truncation and working edge of the tool. Traces of use have been identified mainly on the wide truncations, indicating that the artifacts were likely used to plane broad wooden surfaces. From these observations, we infer that woodworking was a significant component of Late Paleolithic human activity in Dhofar.

San Quirce is an MIS 4 open-air site with a Neanderthal occupation in primary position. Expeditious technology was used here, aimed at producing very simple tools. Meat consumption has been detected along with, more notably, work on hides, wood and plant fibres which could be processed for string. Only a small part of the San Quirce Neanderthals campsite has been dug to date. Nevertheless, it is a reference site in the search for evidence of Neanderthal patterns, cultural exchanges (learning, shared space) and resource administration (food, deferred consumption, differential object deposition, etc). San Quirce is defined as a site with a high degree of variability in the context of the Middle Palaeolithic cultural record. This assemblage provides valuable information for the reinterpretation of Neanderthal technological, economic, cultural and social capacities in an open air campsite.

A series of attributes observed on a number of quartz tools from Pleistocene deposits in Sierra de Capivara (Piauí, Brazil) are described. These attributes or traces are mainly notches, retouching and fractures on non-active parts of the tools which were possibly made in order to haft those implements in some way. These morphological alterations and other probable microscopic traces are identified and described as hafting wear and are compared with the traces attributed to the use of the tools in other productive tasks.

This article examines the role played by marine resources for hunter-gatherer groups of the Middle/Upper Pleistocene in the geohistorical region around the Straits of Gibraltar, on the basis of new evidence collected at the rock shelter of Benzú (North Africa). The stratigraphic sequence at Benzú has been dated to between 254 and 70 ka. The excavations have revealed the exploitation of marine gastropods and bivalves, alongside fish. The most common taxon in the sequence is the genus Patella. The analysis of the molluscs and their spatial distribution shows that these animals were purposely collected by humans, probably as a food source. In order to contribute to the debate about the origins and scale of the exploitation of marine resources during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, the evidence collected at Benzú is interpreted within the broader context of North Africa and southern Europe. The similarity of groups of Homo sapiens sapiens in North Africa and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis in southern Europe in terms of lifestyle and subsistence strategies is interpreted as reflecting equally similar social and economic practices, in spite of the diversity of anthropological perspectives on the relationship between humans and the environment currently in vogue.

The role played by the Magdalenian site of El Horno in the context of the Asón river basin (northern Spain) is considered in relation to its location and the physical characteristics of the surrounding area. This information has been integrated with data from the archaeological study. Special attention has been paid to the lithic tools and mammal remains recovered in the excavation as these played a particularly significant role at the site. The results suggest that the cave was occupied on a relatively stable basis although the situation changed in the course of the sequence. Level 1 reflects an occupation linked to the acquisition of meat and animal skins, worked mainly in a fresh state. The use of the site represented by Level 2 may have been more stable and complex, as this level displays greater functional diversity. Tasks involving hard animal material have been documented, as well as dry hide or leather processing. In addition, lithic reduction seems to have been more intense in Level 2.

Within the framework of the studies focusing on the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas, our French-Brazilian team has undertaken a pluridisciplinary research on different archaeological sites, inside and in the neighborhood of the Serra da Capivara National Park, in Brazilian Nordeste. The present study regards an archaeological site, Vale da Pedra Furada, situated in the Piauí state in Brazil. The results of technological and functional studies suggest the existence of different successive human occupations during the Pleistocene in this region. Moreover, the geological and geomorphological studies shed new light on our understanding of sedimentary processes and confirm that the levels were not subject to any significant post-depositional processes. This is also confirmed by macro- and micro-analysis of quartz artefact surfaces. The chronological study has recently been completed employing both radiocarbon and luminescence techniques; radiocarbon dates were obtained on charcoal, multi-grain and single-grain OSL ages on sedimentary quartz grains. The results obtained with the different methods are consistent with each other: the most recent archaeological level is dated to around 8 ka and the oldest to 24 ka, indicating the open-air site of Vale da Pedra Furada to be a succession of human occupations beginning from OIS 2. These results are discussed in the context of some archaeological sites studied in the Serra da Capivara National Park of the last few decades.

Cueva de Chaves represents a paradigm of a fully Neolithic ex-novo occupation. However, despite its importance within the chrono-cultural framework of the Iberian Prehistory, there is a lack of empirical evidences about the site's economic organization. While the herding of domesticated animals has been well-documented, agricultural and crafting activities have not been fully characterized. In this paper, we advance a socioeconomic interpretation of the flaked stone assemblage to identify the production processes in which lithic tools were involved. The results of the traceological analysis indicate that both animal and vegetal resources were exploited; food and craft production activities, which could not otherwise have emerged from the archaeological record, have been recognized. A mixed farming economy was practised at Cueva de Chaves, the ‘functional spectrum’ of which can be compared to the one of other open-air stable settlements of the western Mediterranean.

In the Patagonian archaeological record, the preservation of wooden artefacts is very restricted. Functional analysis of lithic artefacts is a way to get a better understanding about the use and consumption of the wood. Technological and use-wear analyses are applied in order to reconstruct the production processes of the wooden artefacts, from the raw-material supplying to the production of the finished tools. In this paper we present the results of a taxonomical and techno-functional analysis of the traces preserved on the surface of the two wooden artefact retrieved from layer 17 (9390 ± 40 C14 years BP) and layer 6 (5310 ± 110 BP) at the site of Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (province of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina). The interpretation of these two objects is complicated due to the absence of ethnographical references and the lack of similar archaeological findings in Patagonian hunter–gatherers sites. However, through the observation of the use-wear traces it is possible to reconstruct part of the manufacturing process and advance hypothesis on their mode of employment. Due to the distribution of the wears and the mineral-organic residues identified on the surfaces, it is proposed that one of the wooden artefact was probably used for rock-art production.

[EN] The Shelter of Benzú is located near the city of Ceuta, in North Africa. We are currently working on the final stage of the scientific report of the activities carried out in the last years. We have done an evaluation, although still not final, of geological, stratigraphic, chronological, and ecological data as well as the different resources used by prehistoric societies. We emphasize the technological data for the archaeological products and for lifestyles. Geological and paleoecological bases of the historical region of the Strait of Gibraltar provide great similarities between the European and North African shores. The shelter of Benzú has a sequence of seven archaeological levels with a clearly defined technology belonging to Mode 3 concept. The similarities with the sets of the southern Iberian Peninsula are evident. We also emphasize the exploitation of marine resources by hunter-gatherer societies since the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene sequence. With these archaeological bases and the context of recent studies in the North African region, we value the possible relationships and contacts between societies on both sides of the historical region of the Strait of Gibraltar., [FR] L’abri de Benzú est situé dans la ville de Ceuta, en Afrique du Nord. Nous apportons ici un bilan sur la géologie, la stratigraphie, la chronologie, l’écologie et les ressources utilisées par les sociétés préhistoriques de ce site. Nous mettons l’accent sur les données technologiques issues du mobilier archéologique et sur les modes de vie. Les fondements géologiques et paléo-écologiques de la région historique du détroit de Gibraltar offrent de grandes similitudes entre les rives africaine et européenne de cet espace. L’abri de Benzú dispose d’une séquence de sept couches stratigraphiques en relation avec un faciès technologique précis qui renvoie au Mode 3-Paléolithique moyen. Les similarités avec les contextes appartenant au Sud de la péninsule Ibérique sont significatives. De plus, nous souhaiterions souligner l’exploitation des ressources marines par les sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs, depuis le début de la séquence stratigraphique au cours du Pléistocène moyen. Avec cet ensemble de données archéologiques et le cadre offert par des études récentes sur ce secteur du Nord de l’Afrique, nous tentons d’évaluer les relations et contacts possibles entre les deux rives de la région géo-historique du détroit de Gibraltar.