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En el marco del proyecto de «Caracterización del macizo y sistema kárstico de Alkerdi, de la cueva de Alkerdi y de su entorno de protección», se continúa con el estudio científico de la cavidad de Alkerdi 2. Las labores de prospección espeleológica del desarrollo kárstico de la cavidad han permitido localizar una galería decorada inédita en 2020. En un primer estudio se ha identificado en su interior un conjunto de pinturas y de grabados compuestos principalmente por representaciones animales de bisontes, caballos y uros, a los que se unen un panel decorado con vulvas y dos conjuntos de trazos pareados en rojo. Within the framework of the characterization project of the karstic massif of Alkerdi and its system, the cave of Alkerdi and its protected environment, we have continued with the scientific study of the cave of Alkerdi 2. The speleological prospecting work of the karstic development of the cave has allowed locating an unknown decorated gallery in 2020. In a first study, a set of paintings and engravings has been detected inside, composed mainly of animal representations of bison, horses and aurochs, to which a panel decorated with vulvas and two sets of paired red traits are added

Les prospections menées depuis les années 2000 dans la vallée du Ruisseau de Saman-Cabrils (Tautavel, France) ont permis de repérer, dans ce micro-territoire, plusieurs sites de plein air attribuables au Paléolithique supérieur ancien, c’est-à-dire à l’Aurignacien et au Gravettien. Tel fut le cas, dans les années 2010, du Jas d’en Biel 1 et 2 et du Ravin d’en Saman 1 et 2. La découverte récente d’un nouveau site, le Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5, vient relancer l’hypothèse d’une concentration de sites dans ce petit territoire. Malgré un effectif lithique relativement faible, le Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 s’inscrit culturellement dans le contexte du Gravettien tel qu’il a été identifié dans la zone orientale du versant nord pyrénéen. Comme dans le cas du Ravin d’en Saman 1 et 2, plusieurs indices techno-typologiques renvoient à des moments anciens du Gravettien. C’est, en particulier, le cas d’une pointe de la Font-Robert qui représente, à ce jour, le spécimen connu le plus méridional en latitude. Éloignée de plus de 200 km du foyer périgordin, cette pointe témoigne de relations entre la zone orientale du massif des Corbières et la Dordogne. Même si la très grande partie de l’outillage lithique du Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 relève d’une origine locale, à moins de 30 km, correspondant aux gîtes oligo-miocènes du Bassin de Narbonne-Sigean, deux pièces proviendraient des formations crétacées d’Aquitaine. L’absence d’études paléo-environnementales et de datation 14C, liées aux conditions de dépôt du gisement, nous prive de données qui auraient été précieuses pour préciser le type d’occupation humaine dont le site a été le lieu. À ce jour, le Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 confirme la présence du Gravettien ancien dans une zone dont il était absent jusqu’à encore très récemment. De plus, il engage, par la présence de la pointe de la Font-Robert et de matières premières allochtones, dans la voie d’une recherche de relations humaines à longue distance qui auraient existé entre la zone méditerranéenne du piémont nord pyrénéen et l’Aquitaine. Until recently, the early Upper Palaeolithic was unknown in the Mediterranean part of the French Pyrenees. This absence is difficult to explain given that sites from this period have been known for some time north of the Pyrenees, in Narbonne region (La Crouzade Cave), south, in the Girona region (the caves of L’Arbreda and Reclau Viver), and to the west, in the central Pyrenees (the caves of Tuto de Camalhot, Portel, Enlène-Trois Frères and the open-air sites of Sers and Taoua). The 2008 discovery of Jas d’en Biel 1 provided additional evidence for a Late Gravettian presence in this area of the Pyrenees, partially filling the aforementioned chrono-cultural gap.Two Upper Palaeolithic groups occupied open-air camps on river terraces, not far from the banks of two streams, the Saman-Cabrils and Rec del Fenoll, that lie on either side of the low altitude Col del Buix (absl 208 m) and drain into the Mediterranean. Several of these sites have been published over the last few years or are in the course of publication, including Jas d’en Biel 1 (2008), Jas d’en Biel 2 (2022), Ruisseau de la Redouna (2021), Ravin d’en Saman 1-2 (2021) and Ruisseau de la Boulière 2 (submitted). These sites provided evidence for a human presence in the region during the Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Mesolithic. The newly discovered site of Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 attests to a human presence as early as the first stages of the western European Gravettian.The artefacts were collected from the surface of a clayey formation containing almost no stone blocks. The remains were distributed uniformly in all sectors of the site, which is due to long history of vineyard activities in this area. The large blades from Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 appear to have either been produced in a different part of the site or imported, while bladelets were detached from cores recovered from the site. The discovery of a Font-Robert point supports an early Gravettian attribution for the assemblage. Like all Upper Palaeolithic sites in the area, raw materials consist of a high proportion of local Oligocene-Miocene flint varieties from Narbonne-Sigean or Roquefort-les-Corbières as well as jasper from Villefranche-de-Conflent. The assemblage also contains two pieces in exotic materials from the Bergerac region of the Aquitaine Basin, which attest to communication routes running along a N-W/S-E axis being in place from the early stages of the Gravettian. Almost thirty years ago, Y. Taborin’s sourcing of the shells used for Upper Palaeolithic personal ornaments highlighted exchange routes between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. The two pieces from Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 provide additional evidence that these same communication routes were used for the exchange of certain high-quality flints.The Col del Buix likely met the needs of Upper Palaeolithic hunters, as it provided decent sun exposure, easy access to water and stone free ground. The minor obstacle of the pass, however, may have presented considerable difficulties for gregarious animals. This particular topographic context potentially required a mode of hunting which, in the absence of organic material, remains hypothetical.The discovery of a Font-Robert point raises two important issues:- First, in the eastern Pyrenean area, this point type demonstrates an early Gravettian presence, which was previously proposed based on very limited evidence that unfortunately derives from old excavations. This is the case, for example, with the small points from La Crouzade (Gruissan, Aude department), as rightly noted by D. Sacchi.- Second, it updates and completes the distribution map of Font-Robert points in western European, with the Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 example being the southernmost occurrence.Forty years after initial surveys, a cluster of open-air sites broadly attributable to the Gravettian have been documented in the area of Ravin d’en Saman-Cabrils and Rec del Fenoll, an exceptional discovery for the eastern Mediterranean coast. This new data raises questions as to why humans repeatedly settled the area during this period. The small size of the sites suggests they represent short-term stopover sites along migration routes extending far beyond the eastern Pyrenean region, as suggested by the presence of the Font-Robert point and exotic raw materials.

The Cro-Magnon rock-shelter hosted the first discovered and certainly one of the most important Gravettian burial sites in Europe. However, the copious ornament collection found among the human skeletons was not analysed with modern techniques. After proposing a synthesis of the complex curatorial history of the Cro-Magnon material, we submitted a large proportion of the personal ornaments found at the site, hosted in five conservation institutions, to a taxonomic study as well as to taphonomic, morphometric and microscopic analyses. The studied assemblage encompasses shell beads belonging to six species (L. littorea, N. lapillus, Turritella sp., L. obtusata, L. lurida, C. jeffreysianus), two perforated teeth - a Red Deer canine and a bovid incisor - and three shaped pendants, two made of ivory and one displaying no diagnostic features allowing a clear identification of the raw material. Shell ornaments were compared to modern reference collections to identify selection criteria. The Cro-Magnon people used marine shells coming from both the Atlantic and possibly the Mediterranean coasts as ornaments. The distance to these coasts indicates that shells may have been acquired via exchange or during seasonal migration. Very few may have originated from closer fossil outcrops. Conversely, ivory and teeth were available locally. No size preference is observed in the L. littorea, the most represented shell species used as beads. The vast majority of shell beads were perforated by puncturing them through the aperture. All ornaments bear diagnostic traces indicating that they were worn during the individuals’ lives, and suggesting they belong to beadwork buried with the deceased. The three shaped pendants feature differences in technology, shape, size and decoration suggesting different agency for each. Re-examination of the single radiocarbon age obtained from one of the L. littorea leads us to propose, in the light of more up-to-date calibration curves and the nature of the sample, that additional radiocarbon dating should be performed in order to refine the chronological attribution of the Cro-Magnon burials. L’abri-sous-roche de Cro-Magnon est l’un des premiers sites archéologiques à avoir livré des restes humains aux côtés de vestiges de faunes disparues depuis le Pléistocène supérieur. Ce site a ainsi contribué à démontrer sans équivoque que les hommes du Paléolithique supérieur enterraient leurs morts et suscité l’intérêt du public et des universitaires. Alors que le site a livré sans doute l’une des plus importantes sépultures gravettiennes d’Europe, en raison de la nature pionnière de la fouille et de l’importance de la découverte de Cro-Magnon et dans la hâte de partager les résultats, la disposition spatiale du matériel archéologique a été peu documentée. Depuis leur mise au jour, des analyses de plus en plus exhaustives et informatives ont été réalisées sur les restes humains, ce qui a permis de fournir des données anthropologiques inédites sur la biologie des défunts, leur état de santé et leur comportement. Malgré le rôle clef du site, les nombreux objets de parure trouvés parmi les restes humains n’ont jamais été analysés avec les techniques modernes. Après avoir proposé une synthèse de l’histoire complexe du matériel de Cro-Magnon après sa découverte, nous avons soumis une majeure partie des ornements corporels, conservés dans cinq institutions différentes, à des analyses taphonomiques, morphométriques et microscopiques. Sur les quelque trois cents parures de coquillages mentionnées par Lartet (1868), nous avons pu en localiser deux cent deux (cent quatre-vingt-quatre L. littorea, une L. obtusata, quatre Turritella sp., six Nucella lapillus, une Luria lurida, un fragment de nacre et un Colus jeffreysianus). Deux dents perforées (une canine de cerf et une incisive de bovidé) et trois pendentifs façonnés, deux en ivoire et un ne présentant pas de caractéristiques claires pour identifier la matière première sont également présents dans la collection. L’ensemble du matériel est dispersé dans de nombreux musées et, nous avons pu étudier cent quarante-trois objets de parure. Les ornements en coquillages ont été comparés à des collections de référence modernes afin d’identifier les critères de sélection et d’évaluer la provenance des coquillages. Les hommes de Cro-Magnon ont sélectionné des coquillages provenant à la fois des côtes atlantique et peut-être méditerranéenne. La distance qui sépare ces côtes du site indique que les coquillages ont pu être acquis par échange. Quelques spécimens proviennent d’affleurements fossiles plus proches. À l’inverse, l’ivoire et les dents étaient disponibles localement. L’analyse microscopique a permis d’identifier des traces laissées par des prédateurs et des spongiaires, indiquant que les coquilles ont été ramassées après leur mort, apparemment dans le seul but d’être transformées en ornements, et non pour être consommées. Aucune sélection en fonction de la taille des coquilles n’est observée pour l’espèce de coquillage la plus représentée (i.e., L. littorea). Diverses méthodes ont été employées pour perforer les coquilles, la pression à travers l’ouverture à l’aide d’une petite pointe étant la technique privilégiée. La propension à utiliser cette méthode peut être liée à la morphologie de la coquille des L. littorea, afin de minimiser les risques de fracture des coquilles lors de la perforation. Tous les ornements portent des traces diagnostiques indiquant qu’ils ont été portés, suggérant que les perles trouvées à Cro-Magnon appartenaient aux défunts. La présence de différents degrés d’usure sur les L. littorea pourrait résulter du fait que l’assemblage comprend des coquillages qui étaient à l’origine intégrés dans différentes parures, utilisées pendant des périodes différentes, et que ces parures ont été recyclées, réparées ou réassemblées au cours du temps. Alternativement, l’intensité de l’usure variable pourrait aussi dépendre du type de suspension, des colliers, par exemple, produisant un degré de mouvement plus élevé que les coquillages cousus sur les vêtements. Les données contextuelles de terrain manquent pour avancer dans cette discussion. L’ocre observé à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur des coquilles indique sa présence à la fois sur le fil et sur le matériau avec lequel les coquilles étaient en contact (vêtements, peau humaine). La présence d’ocre est aussi attestée sur les pendeloques en ivoire et sur les restes humains, ce qui indique que soit l’ocre était présent sur les parures et les hommes de Cro-Magnon de leur vivant, soit il était apposé sur une couverture qui protégeait les corps dans le dépôt funéraire, soit il a été dispersé lors de l’inhumation, aucune de ces hypothèses n’étant mutuellement exclusive ou facile à vérifier à partir des données de terrain disponibles. Quoi qu’il en soit, il convient de noter que la présence d’ocre est une caractéristique commune des sépultures gravettiennes à travers l’Europe. Les trois pendentifs en os présentent des différences en termes de technologie, de forme, de taille et de décoration, indiquant différents modes de production et d’utilisation. Bien que l’utilisation de l’ivoire pour les ornements personnels ait été très répandue au Gravettien, les pendentifs de Cro-Magnon sont particuliers de par leur forme et leur aménagement. Une explication de ces idiosyncrasies peut être que la sépulture de Cro-Magnon recrutait des individus ayant un statut social exceptionnel associé à des types de pendentifs en ivoire particuliers. Cette différence est également observée dans la proportion des parures à Cro-Magnon par rapport au site voisin de l’Abri Pataud. Cro-Magnon présente une abondance de L. littorea et une relative rareté de pendentifs en ivoire, alors que le niveau 5 contemporain de l’Abri Pataud présente l’inverse. Cette différence peut être due aux fonctions des sites, c’est-à-dire une habitation par rapport à une inhumation. Une hypothèse alternative est que malgré leur proximité et leur pénécontemporanéité, Cro-Magnon et l’Abri Pataud étaient fréquentés par des groupes gravettiens différents portant les mêmes parures mais dans des proportions différentes. Lartet (1868) mentionne aussi qu’un des pendentifs en ivoire a été retrouvé légèrement éloigné des restes humains à Cro-Magnon. Il est possible que les pendentifs en ivoire n’aient pas été portés sur le corps des individus mais plutôt utilisés pour décorer des objets tels que des sacs, des couvertures et des objets en bois, ce qui aurait entraîné leur sous-représentation dans les contextes funéraires. Cette hypothèse est toutefois partiellement contredite par la découverte de pendentifs en ivoire similaires dans des sépultures gravettiennes d’Europe de l’Est. La comparaison typologique des ornements corporels de Cro-Magnon avec le matériel documenté sur d’autres sites montre que le matériel de Cro-Magnon s’intègre à la diversité stylistique connue pour le Gravettien. Bien que présentant des similitudes avec ceux des autres groupes, les ornements de Cro-Magnon affichent néanmoins un certain degré de spécificité, soulignant le désir de cette communauté de montrer sa propre identité dans un cadre symbolique plus large. Le réexamen de l’unique âge radiocarbone obtenu sur l’une des L. littorea nous amène à proposer, à la lumière de courbes de calibration les plus récentes et de la nature de l’échantillon, que des datations radiocarbones supplémentaires sont nécessaires afin d’affiner l’attribution chronologique des sépultures de Cro-Magnon.

À Cussac, grotte ornée et sépulcrale gravettienne, les manifestations graphiques relèvent presque exclusivement de la gravure. Ce choix technique est-il volontaire ? Est-il dicté par le support que sont les parois de la cavité ou par les instruments à disposition, ou par les deux simultanément ? Si les outils utilisés demeurent encore inconnus, les caractéristiques des parois peuvent a minima être précisées. Envisageant les media de la gravure, c’est-à-dire à la fois le support et les instruments, par une approche interdisciplinaire associant observations de terrain, analyses pétrographiques, outils 3D et tests expérimentaux, l’étude permet d’élaborer et d’éprouver une méthodologie afin de définir une typologie des incisions, et de documenter de potentiels instruments ainsi que la nature des faciès lithologiques choisis. Les reproductions expérimentales des types de gravure ont permis de définir des stigmates témoins de ces media qu’il est possible de retrouver sur quelques-uns des panneaux ornés de la cavité. The choice of tools and techniques to produce parietal art reflect the physical interaction between the artist and the cave wall, which is equally influenced by specific cultural norms that varied over time and space (Feruglio 2018). These choices, as well as the types of graphic representations produced, can thus be studied as an element of material cultural in order to better elucidate and define the various Late Palaeolithic techno-complexes. The tools used to produce cave art are therefore central to this issue. However, studying them faces certain methodological difficulties linked to accessing the decorated walls and the adoption of tools and techniques initially developed for analysing portable art. Here, we address the technology of engravings found in Cussac Cave using an interdisciplinary approach that considers both the nature of the cave wall and potential tools for producing rock art, which we collectively refer to here as media.Cussac Cave, in the Dordogne departement of south-western France (fig. 1), contains both graphic expressions and human funerary deposits (Kacki et al. 2020), the latter dated to the Middle Gravettian, between 29,700 and 28,700 cal BP (Jaubert et al. 2017). The most recent surveys of the site recorded more than one thousand figurative and abstract graphic units (Feruglio et al. 2020a), of which engravings account for three-quarters. The decorated rock surfaces are mainly concentrated in a large segment of the middle part of the wall (Ferrier et al. 2017; fig. 2). In addition to the availability of large surfaces, the possibility of broad fluid movements afforded by the physical properties of this area also contributed to the monumental aspect of the artworks.The superficial dissolution of the calcium carbonate component increased the porosity of the limestone walls to a depth of several millimetres, reducing the cohesion between particles and highlighting the soft character of the support (Ferrier et al. 2017). Nonetheless, important questions remained concerning the properties and thickness of this alteration, with it quickly becoming clear that a sampling programme was necessary. As conservation measures prohibit directly sampling the cave wall, this problem could be overcome thanks to the proximity of the Pigeonnier Caves. Located about 500 m from the entrance of Cussac and formed by the dissolution of Upper Campanian limestones, the walls of these caves present similar superficial alterations (Ferrier et al. 2017).While mechanical and physical analyses were inconclusive, the porosity of the altered cave walls could be quantified using microscopic imagery (fig. 6) and led to the identification of a 2.6-mm-thick surface alteration that was particularly porous compared to the underlying rock surface. We used measurements of surface porosity as a proxy for evaluating the humidity of the wall surfaces.The relatively plastic aspect of the cave wall likely allowed engravings to be produced using a large range of tools.Initial observations of the Cussac engravings showed them to have been produced using either fingers or soft and hard tools with large, rounded or pointed active ends (Feruglio et al. 2020a). A technological analysis of a test panel (Panneau du Réticulé, 3D2; fig. 3) was carried out in order to more precisely document the tools used to produce the engravings. This panel, composed of 23 graphic units (tabl. 1), was chosen for several reasons:- it hosts a large variety of engravings representative of the range of marks observed at Cussac;- the engravings were produced on two lithologically distinct surfaces that allow the influence of the rock support on the morphology of the marks to be evaluated;- direct observations could easily be made from the passageway;- a photogrammetric model was recently produced for the panel.The morpho-typological description of the engravings was based on three criteria that could be quantified using measurements obtained from the 3D model using the SensoMAP (Mountains) software package:- width: narrow (≤ 10 mm) / medium (10-15 mm) / wide (≥ 15 mm);- depth: shallow (≤ 2 mm) / medium (2-4 mm) / deep (≥ 4 mm);- cross-section morphology: V-shaped, asymmetrically V-shaped, U-shaped, W-shaped.This data was subsequently used to produce a technological survey of the panel (fig. 7, 8, 9, 10 et 11).Experiments were then carried out using a protocole based on four varying parameters: rock support, tool, rendering and execution. Engravings were produced directly on the cave walls of the neighbouring Pigeonnier Cave (fig. 4) using fingers and seven tools: a flint blade and burin, a stalactite, an antler rod (Cervus elaphus) and two wooden sticks (Pinus sylvestris, Betula pendula). “Rendering” corresponds to basic graphic types (rectilinear or curvilinear lines) as well as the repetition of marks. Lastly, “execution” can group several variables: stature, position, pressure exerted, hand preference, tool motion (pitch and working angle; fig. 5) and direction of movement.Photogrammetric models of the wall were produced before and after engraving using the Agisoft Metashape software and subsequently compared using CloudCompare (EDF R&D) to determine the depth of the marks according to the techniques used (fig. 14). The morpho-typological description of the engravings was made on-site, complemented by observations of both the photogrammetric and microphotographic models.Two types of engravings could be distinguished by combining archaeological and experimental data. As regards the first type, the altered surface of the wall was incised with a tool made of hard animal matter (fig. 13B), wood, or using the fingers (fig. 13A), which produced a U-shaped section and traces resembling scales and fins (fig. 12). In the second type, surfaces incised using flint tools generated a V-shaped section (fig. 13C). In this case, matter was removed from the wall rather than remodelling the surface alteration as is the case for the first type.These analyses pave the way for future studies of the Cussac Cave engravings, including the establishment of a relative chronology for techniques employed on the same panel or mapping the techniques and tools used throughout the cave. Our novel methodology for the technological analysis of marks and the identification of engraving tools at Cussac will be refined and carried out for more areas of the cave and, if necessary, extended to other sites.

The site of Tercis, in the Adour Basin, contains several distinct artefact concentrations. It consists of a vast open-air knapping workshop where the production of lithic weapon tips in Tercis flint was a significant activity. Some of the lithic concentrations can be attributed to the Gravettian culture. However, the degree of technical investment varies from assemblage to assemblage, contrasting this probable cultural unity. This paper presents a study of the apprenticeship process revealed by these assemblages in order to stress the high degree of technical investment devoted to projectile tips, and consequently, their significant role in the evolution of lithic production systems.

This study is concentrated on the modalities of use of the Gravettian backed tools, considering the Adriatic side and that Tyrrhenian of southern Italy.A first part of the work has regarded the functional analysis of the backed instruments found in the Ancient Gravettian layers of Grotta Paglicci (Foggia).The methodological proposal derived from this study, based on the association of the techno-typometric and typological analysis with the use-wear analysis, has been extended for a comparison to the backed tools from a Gravettian site, almost coeval, on the opposite side of our peninsula: Grotta della Cala (Salerno).

Le matériel des sites gravettiens de Moravie (Dolní Věstonice I et Předmostí I), où la domestication du loup / chien a été étudiée, a été analysé afin de détecter la présence éventuelle d’interventions ou manipulations effectuées par l’Homme, en l’occurrence des artefacts incrustés à l’intérieur des crânes de Canidae ou des crânes portanidaent des perforations post mortem. Nous avons utilisé les méthodes de segmentation et l’analyse de CT-scans pour visualiser les structures internes et pour caractériser les perforations. Grâce à nos résultats, nous pouvons apporter des éléments de réponse sur la relation des Hommes modernes et des grands Canidae, potentiellement domestiqués avant le Dernier Maximum glaciaire. Material from Gravettian sites in Moravia (Dolní Věstonice I and Předmostí I), where the domestication of wolf / dog has been studied, was analysed in order to detect the existence of potential interventions or manipulations by humans, in this case artefacts inserted into skulls of Canids or post mortem perforations of skulls. Segmentation methods and analyses of CT scans were applied to visualise internal structures and to study the perforations. The obtained results allow to partially answer the questions concerning the relationship between Modern Humans and large Canids potentially domesticated before the Last Glacial Maximum.

Identifying, analyzing, and explaining trends in the development of material culture is one of the major concerns in prehistoric archaeology. The traditional recording of data in typologies, however, is not optimal for answering the question of diachronic change because typological data capture variability poorly and are often incompatible with multivariate statistics. To overcome these problems, we present PyREnArA (Python-R-Environment for Artifact Analysis), a trait-based tool that allows for a systematic recording of diversity and variability in a way that is applicable to quantitative analysis and multivariate statistics. Using Gravettian assemblages from Lower Austria and Moravia as a case study, we analyze changes in the morphology as well as the design of lithic projectiles and statistically determine the amount of variation that correlates with the progression of time. We identify a slow trend towards slenderer and more pointed projectiles and a shift from laterally to latero-frontally hafted implements. Most of the analyzed traits, however, appear not to experience selective pressure and seem to be unrelated to the passage of time. We discuss these results with regard to different scales of selection, in particular individual choice vs. macroevolutionary group selection over longer periods of time and thus beyond the realm of individual intend, and we raise questions for future research.

Le site gravettien de plein air de Feldberg « Steinacker » se trouve dans la région de Müllheim/Baden, située dans le Markgräfler Hügelland en Bade-Wurtemberg (Allemagne). Il a été découvert lors de prospections dans un champ, mais des fouilles y ont également été menées. L’outillage lithique comprend de nombreux artefacts typiques du Paléolithique supérieur dont des outils caractéristiques du Gravettien comme des pointes de La Font-Robert et des pointes de La Gravette. Le but de cet article est de montrer l’importance du site de Feldberg « Steinacker » et de présenter les groupes d’artefacts majeurs. In the end of the 1960s numerous stone artefacts made of jasper were found in a field in the region of Müllheim/Baden in the Markgräfler Hügelland in Southwestern Germany. Among the findings there are Font-Robert points, Gravette points and microgravettes which allow an attribution to the Gravettian. Different test excavations were made in which more artefacts were discovered. Since 2003 the area and the surrounding fields have been surveyed by two amateurs who still find a lot of different and important stone artefacts.The different findings show good parallels to other Gravettian open air sites in Germany and other surrounding countries, but this site is not much known. The site of Feldberg “Steinacker” can be regarded as one of the most important Upper Palaeolithic open air sites of Baden-Württemberg.

Le nomadisme est considéré comme le mode de vie principal des chasseurs-cueilleurs du Paléolithique supérieur européen avant l’apparition de la sédentarité qui caractérise le Néolithique. Une organisation intermédiaire de type semi-sédentaire, basée sur l’économie du mammouth, a néanmoins été proposée pour le Gravettien et l’Épigravettien d’Europe centrale et orientale. Cependant, alors que le Gravettien est une unité paneuropéenne du Paléolithique supérieur, cette hypothèse n’a encore jamais été avancée pour des sites d’Europe occidentale. Sur la base de l’étude des industries lithiques, cet article explore la possibilité que les Gravettiens de Brassempouy (Landes, France), il y a environ 30 000 ans, vivaient de manière semi-sédentaire. Nomadism is traditionally considered as the main lifestyle for hunters-gatherers in the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe before the appearance of the settled way of life characterizing the Neolithic. A semi-sedentary intermediate organization based on the economy of the mammoth was nevertheless proposed for the Gravettian and Epigravettian of Central and Eastern Europe. However, while the Gravettian is a pan-European unit of the Upper Palaeolithic, this working hypothesis has never been raised for sites in Western Europe. Based on a study of the lithic industry, I explore the possibility that the Gravettian Groups occupying Brassempouy (Landes, France) approximately 30,000 cal. BP lived a semi-sedentary lifestyle.

Jusqu’à très récemment le Paléolithique supérieur ancien était absent de la zone orientale méditerranéenne des Pyrénées. Certes, depuis 2008, le gisement du Jas d’en Biel 1 avait confirmé une présence du Gravettien de plein air dans le massif des Corbières. La récente découverte des sites de plein air du Ravin d’en Saman a révélé, sur un même lieu, une occupation aurignacienne puis gravettienne.La présence de l’Aurignacien dans cette partie des Pyrénées vient combler une lacune que rien n’expliquait, puisque cette culture était connue de longue date en Languedoc (France) et en Gironès (Espagne). Les sites du Ravin d’en Saman s’inscrivent au sein d’une importante série de sites de plein air de part et d’autre d’un col de faible altitude qui a pu jouer un rôle essentiel dans les stratégies cynégétiques des groupes humains qui avaient choisi ce lieu pour leurs implantations. Until very recently the ancient Upper Paleolithic was absent from the Eastern Mediterranean area of the Pyrenees. Admittedly, since 2008, the Jas d’en Biel 1 site had confirmed a presence of the Gravettian in the open air in the Corbieres massif. The recent discovery of the open air sites of the Ravin d’en Saman revealed, on the same place, an Aurignacian and then Gravettian occupation.The presence of the Aurignacian in this part of the Pyrenees fills a gap that nothing explained, since this culture was known for a long time in Languedoc (France) and Gironès (Spain). The sites of the Ravin d’en Saman are part of an important series of open air sites, on the same place, that may have played an essential role in the hunting strategies of the human groups that had chosen this place for their settlements.

En el marco del proyecto de «Caracterización del macizo y sistema kárstico de Alkerdi,de la cueva de Alkerdi y de su entorno de protección», se procede a la exploración de la cavidad de Alkerdi 2. Las labores coordinadas han permitido identificar un conjunto de arte parietal asociado a evidencias arqueológicas en superficie. El estilo de las grafías animales grabadas apunta hacia una atribución Gravetiense para la presencia humana. La datación por radiocarbono de uno de los motivos parietales y de un carbón procedente del contexto arqueológico, lo corroboran. Se trata así de la segunda cavidad decorada durante el Paleolítico en Navarra y la muestra artística más antigua de la Comunidad Foral. Within the framework of the characterization project of the massif and karst system of Alkerdi, the Alkerdi cave and its protective environment, the Alkerdi 2 cavity was explored. The coordinated work has made it possible to identify a set of parietal art associated with archaeological evidence on the surface. The style of the engraved animal points towards a Gravettian attribution for human presence. Radiocarbon dating of one of the parietal motifs and a charcoal from the archaeological context corroborate this idea. This is the second cavity decorated during the Paleolithic in Navarre and the oldest artistic remain in the Autonomous Community.

This paper presents the first attempt to establish a Mid and Late Upper Palaeolithic absolute chronology of the Adriatic basin, including both eastern and western Adriatic coasts and their hinterlands. The proposed chronology for Gravettian, Early and Late Epigravettian techno- complexes is based on statistical analysis of 278 14C dates from 66 archaeological sites. Our analyses are directed towards 1) identifying whether major climatic episodes and corresponding transformations in the local environments are correlated with long-term demographic trends, and potential changes in spatial patterning of human occupation, and 2) identifying robust absolute chronological estimates of techno-complexes to establish the timing of their succession, including their possible overlaps. Results show that the Gravettian appears in the Adriatic area at c. 35-34ka cal BP and ends at c. 26-25ka cal BP. Early and Late Epigravettian timespans are between c. 26-25ka and 18.1e17.6ka cal BP and 17.6e17.1 ka and 11.9e11.6 ka cal BP respectively. The Early-Late Epigravettian transition in the Great Adriatic-Po Region coincides with the transition between GS-2.2 and GI-2.1 and is also associated with apparent transformations in settlement pattern as new biotopes appear to be occupied, particularly in the mountainous areas such as Alps and Dinaric Alps. According to our results, the timespan of Early Epigravettian covers the Badegoulian, Solutrean and even Lower Magdalenian periods in western Europe, hence challenging the earlier interpretations on Early Epigravettian and Solutrean contemporaneity. This suggests an independent cultural evolutionary path for territories that previously (during the Gravettian) showed a high degree of technological affinity.

El Abric de la Ratlla del Bubo (Crevillent, Alicante) es uno de los yacimientos clave para el conocimiento del Paleolítico superior en el área central del Mediterráneo ibérico, especialmente en lo que a sus fases iniciales se refiere. El yacimiento ha sido objeto de varias intervenciones arqueológicas, tanto clandestinas como científicas. Sin embargo, hasta este trabajo, la información disponible era parcial y, en muchos casos, remitía a materiales sin referencia estratigráfica. En este estudio se exponen los resultados del análisis del material lítico, del registro vegetal y de la fauna recuperada en las campañas de 1986 a 1991. Además, se presenta una amplia serie de dataciones radiocarbónicas por AMS. A partir de toda esta información, ha sido posible establecer la secuencia de ocupación de los cuatro niveles a techo de la estratigrafía del abrigo excavados durante las campañas a estudio. Los tres niveles inferiores documentados, a partir de la tecno-tipología lítica y la cronología, han podido ser definidos y relacionados con el tecnocomplejo Gravetiense. El nivel superior carece de datación 14C y ha presentado mayor dificultad de adscripción; las características del material lítico nos llevan a relacionarlo con ocupaciones del Solútreo-gravetiense. Por otro lado, una parte fundamental del trabajo son los resultados del análisis de los restos arqueobotánicos y faunísticos que son coherentes con la propuesta secuencial y permiten comprender de forma precisa la ocupación humana de la zona, además de la utilización de los recursos durante el Gravetiense y el Solútreogravetiense. Uno de los resultados de mayor relevancia del trabajo es que la secuencia de ocupación planteada modifica la adscripción preliminar realizada a principios de los años noventa del siglo XX. El estudio permitirá mejorar la información disponible hasta ahora para el Paleolítico superior inicial en la fachada mediterránea ibérica y, especialmente, en su área central. The rock shelter of Ratlla del Bubo (Crevillent, Alicante) is one of the key sites for the knowledge of the Upper Palaeolithic in the central Iberian Mediterranean basin, especially regarding its initial phases. Several archaeological fieldworks has been carried out in the site, both clandestine and scientific. However, before this paper, the information available was partial and, in many cases, referred to remains without stratigraphic reference. This study presents the results of the analysis of the lithic, archaeobotanical and faunal material recovered during the 1986-1991 campaigns. In addition, we present an extensive series of AMS radiocarbon dates. On the basis of all this information, it has been possible to establish the occupational sequence of the four levels on the top of the rock shelter stratigraphy excavated during the studied campaings. The three lower levels documented, based on the lithic techno-typology and chronology, have been defined and related to the Gravettian technocomplex. The upper-level lacks 14C dating and it has been more difficult to assign; the characteristics of the lithic material lead us to link it to Solútreo-Gravettian occupations. On the other hand, a fundamental part of the paper are the results of the analysis of the archaeobotanical and faunal materials, which are coherent with the proposed sequence and allow a precise understanding of the human occupation of the area, as well as the use of resources during the Gravettian and Solútreo-Gravettian periods. One of the most relevant results of the study is that the proposed occupation sequence modifies the preliminary ascription made at the beginning of the 1990s. The study will improve the information currently available for the Early Upper Palaeolithic in the Iberian Mediterranean basin and, especially, in its central area. Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco de los proyectos de investigación HAR2017-85153-P del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y PROMETEO2017/060 de la Generalitat Valenciana.

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB Cova Gran de Santa Linya is part of the project Human settlement during the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene in the Southeastern Pyrenees (PID 2019-104843GB-I00) and the 2017SGR-1357 research group. This research has been also supported by MINECO-FPU scholarships. Fieldwork was funded by Servei d'Arquelogia I Paleontologia from the Generalitat de Catalunya (CLT009/18/00012). We thank the support given by the Institute for Field Research, all volunteers that participate in the fieldwork, and the kind permission of the Societat de Munts de Santa Linya to authorize the excavation in Cova Gran. Altres ajuts: Generalitat de Catalunya/CLT009/18/00012 Lithic resources can be accumulated to form caches or hoards as an effective subsistence strategy in response to times of stress. Hoarding behaviour is the manifestation of foresighted mechanisms, and is one of the common and also little known strategies among forager groups. In this paper, we present the evidence of such behaviour: a deposit of raw material recovered from level 497C of the Cova Gran de Santa Linya (SE Pyrenees). The lithic hoard is made up of 27 chalcedony nodules that have been tested at the site and exhibit great variability in terms of size and shape. The geostatistical analysis applied to the accumulations of raw materials identified has allowed us to determine spatial relationships between different categories in the archaeological record, such as nodules and cores, and has yielded insight into the use of chalcedony in specific areas of the occupation. The archaeological data suggest that this stockpile of raw material functioned as small-scale storage, constituting one of the few references about hoarding behaviour during the Palaeolithic, and the first time it has been exhaustively described in the Gravettian on the Iberian Peninsula. The lithic hoard from the Cova Gran allows us to investigate the role played by raw material hoards in the planning of subsistence activities and the organisation of human occupations.

Este artículo pretende realizar una revaloración de los yacimientos del Paleolítico superior de la cuenca del Guadalete. En su mayoría fueron dados a conocer en la década de los 90 del siglo pasado, pero desde esas fechas se han añadido nuevas localizaciones, así como nuevos estudios. Dada la oportunidad de este Homenaje, creemos conveniente realizar una contextualización dentro del panorama actual de las investigaciones. This article aims to carry out a re-evaluation of the Upper Palaeolithic sites of the Guadalete River basin. Most of these were made known in the 1990s, but new locations and studies have come to light since then. We have taken the opportunity, in this special edition tribute, to contextualise these within the current research panorama.

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG [Abstract] Sopeña is a limestone shelter in the northern slopes of the Cantabrian range of mountains of northern Spain. A long sequence of in situ nearly undisturbed archaeological strata has been documented there, including seven Gravettian, four Early Upper Palaeolithic and a minimum of four Mousterian levels, and bedrock has not been reached. Dating the last occupations by Neanderthals and their substitution by modern humans in northern Spain is a currently debated issue, made difficult by the scarcity of sites bearing those levels and able to produce reliable dates. Earlier work in Sopeña pointed to a disappearance of the Mousterian that was later than proposed by other authors on other sites of what is known as Cantabrian Spain, a mountainous fringe facing the Bay of Biscay. Here we present 11 new dates, corresponding to Gravettian, Early Upper Palaeolithic and Mousterian levels, and some of these new dates are ultrafiltered. It is concluded that although the earliest Sopeña Gravettian dates are older than those proposed elsewhere in the region, we do not have still enough information to produce a definite model for the Gravettian of this site. Furthermore, a Bayesian model is produced for the interpretation of the dates obtained for the earliest Upper and the latest Middle Palaeolithic, and it is concluded that the disappearance of the Mousterian in Sopeña is indeed a few millennia later than currently proposed by others in the region, while that available dates cannot shed unquestionable light on the existence or not of a hiatus between the dismissal of Neanderthals and the earliest arrival othe Upper Palaeolithic technocultures at the site. The dating of the new bone samples from Sopeña was made possible thanks to the financial support of the PalArq Foundation (https://fundacionpalarq.com/). Funding for open access: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG

The impact of deteriorating climatic conditions on variability in the archaeological record towards the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) remains uncertain. Partly as a result of poor-quality data, previous studies on Upper Palaeolithic (UP) societies of North-Western Europe prior to the LGM have focused on techno-typological traditions and diversification to outline the diachronic processes through which assemblage composition changed. This study addresses the adaptive trade-offs brought about by the general climatic downturn towards the LGM in North-Western Europe, by investigating the impact of local climate and habitat characteristics on the behavioural variability that characterises Gravettian technological organisation compared to the previous Aurignacian, based on two assemblages from Walou Cave, Belgium. This site is one of the rare well-stratified sites in North-Western Europe with evidence for multiple occupation events accompanied by a fine-grained palaeoenvironmental record. We use a combination of analytical techniques (AMS, LA-ICP-MS and ZooMS) to evaluate questions about hunter-gatherer adaptations. Faunal remains at Walou Cave mirror the faunal diversity documented at numerous other Aurignacian and Gravettian sites in the broader European context, which is similar between both periods. The overall picture presented here, using multiple lines of evidence, is not entirely clear; nonetheless, the results suggest that Gravettian technologies are unlikely to solely be a product of heightened risk in relation to a significant reshuffling of food resources compared to the previous Aurignacian. Future research of the factors structuring assemblage variability prior to the LGM will have to assess whether Aurignacian and Gravettian technologies indeed offer no relative material advantage over one another, a phenomenon called ‘technological equivalence’.

Este artículo pretende realizar una revaloración de los yacimientos del Paleolítico superior de la cuenca del Guadalete. En su mayoría fueron dados a conocer en la década de los 90 del siglo pasado, pero desde esas fechas se han añadido nuevas localizaciones, así como nuevos estudios. Dada la oportunidad de este Homenaje, creemos conveniente realizar una contextualización dentro del panorama actual de las investigaciones., This article aims to carry out a re-evaluation of the Upper Palaeolithic sites of the Guadalete River basin. Most of these were made known in the 1990s, but new locations and studies have come to light since then. We have taken the opportunity, in this special edition tribute, to contextualise these within the current research panorama.

Unlike other Upper Paleolithic industries, Gravettian assemblages from the Swabian Jura are documented solely in the Ach Valley (35-30 Kcal BP). On the other hand, traces of contemporaneous occupations in the nearby Lone Valley are sparse. It is debated whether this gap is due to a phase of human depopulation, or taphonomic issues related with landscape changes. In this paper we present ERT, EC-logging and GPR data showing that in both Ach and Lone valleys sediments and archaeological materials eroded from caves and deposited above river incisions after 37-32 Kcal BP. We argued that the rate of cave erosion was higher after phases of downcutting, when hillside erosion was more intensive. To investigate on the causes responsible for the dearth of Gravettian materials in the Lone Valley we test two alternative hypotheses: i) Gravettian humans occupied less intensively this part of the Swabian Jura. ii) Erosion of cave deposits did not occur at the same time in the two valleys. We conclude that the second hypothesis is most likely. Ages from the Lone Valley show increasing multimillennial gaps between 36 and 18 Kcal BP, while a similar gap is present in the Ach Valley between 28 and 16 Kcal BP. Based on geoarchaeological data from previous studies and presented in this paper, we interpreted these gaps in radiocarbon data as indicating of cave erosion. Furthermore, we argued that the time difference across the two valleys show that the erosion of cave deposits began and terminated earlier in the Lone Valley, resulting in a more intensive removal of Gravettian-aged deposits. The hypothesis that cave erosion was triggered by regional landscape changes seems to be supported by geochronological data from the Danube Valley, which show that terrace formation at the end of the Pleistocene moved westwards throughout southern Germany with a time lag of few millennia. PTDC/HAR-ARQ/27833/2017 info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In two publications from 1967 and 1971, M. Masali described human skeletal remains presumed to have been found in the Balzi Rossi caves (Ventimiglia, Italy), based on a signed note dated to 1908. Since then, the remains - dubbed "Conio's Finds" and preserved at the University of Torino - had not been further studied. We performed a multidisciplinary investigation aimed at clarifying the geographical and chronological attribution of these specimens. Collagen extraction for AMS dating was unsuccessful, but we obtained two direct dates on the best- preserved crania via 231Pa/235U direct gamma-ray spectrometry (10,500±2,000 years BP and 12,500±2,500 years BP). We analyzed the metrics and morphology of the crania and femora by comparing them with samples belonging to the Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods, and evidenced that the "Conio's Finds" are morphologically more compatible with a Late Pleistocene rather than Holocene attribution. We analyzed the literature regarding the history of excavations at Balzi Rossi, and we propose that - if any credence should be given to the note accompanying the material - the remains may have been found in front of Grotta dei Fanciulli or Grotta del Caviglione, in the redeposited soil dug up during the installation of lime kilns carried out between the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. These hypotheses may be tested in the future by comparing the speleothem deposited on one of the crania and the remaining deposit at the site.