Search

The emergence of the Middle Palaeolithic, and its variability over time and space are key questions in the field of prehistoric archaeology. Many sites have been documented in the south-eastern margins of the Massif central and the middle Rhône valley, a migration path that connects Northern Europe with the Mediterranean. Well-dated, long stratigraphic sequences are essential to understand Neanderthals dynamics and demise, and potential interactions with Homo sapiens in the area, such as the one displayed at the Maras rock shelter ("Abri du Maras"). The site is characterised by exceptional preservation of archaeological remains, including bones dated using radiocarbon (14C) and teeth using electron spin resonance combined with uranium series (ESR/U-series). Optically stimulated luminescence was used to date the sedimentary deposits. By combining the new ages with previous ones using Bayesian modelling, we are able to clarify the occupation time over a period spanning 200,000 years. Between ca. 250 and 40 ka, the site has been used as a long-term residence by Neanderthals, specifically during three interglacial periods: first during marine isotopic stage (MIS) 7, between 247 ± 34 and 223 ± 33 ka, and then recurrently during MIS 5 (between 127 ± 17 and 90 ± 9 ka) and MIS 3 (up to 39,280 cal BP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues of chronology are central to inferences pertaining to relationships between both contemporaneous and successive prehistoric typo-technological entities (i.e., archaeological cultures), culture–environment relationships, and ultimately the mechanisms at play behind cultural changes observed through time in the archaeological record. We refine the chronology of Upper Paleolithic archaeological cultures between 35–18 calibrated kiloanni before the present in present-day France by incorporating recently published radiocarbon data along with new 14C ages that we obtained from several Gravettian archaeological contexts. We present the results of a Bayesian age model that includes these new radiometric data and that, more importantly, separates Gravettian contexts in regions north of the Garonne River into two successive cultural phases: The Northern Noaillian and the Rayssian, respectively. This new age model places the beginning of the Noaillian during Greenland Stadial 5.2. The appearance of contexts containing assemblages associated with the Rayssian lithic technical system occurs immediately prior to the termination of Greenland Interstadial 5.1, and it is present throughout Heinrich Event 3 (GS-5.1) and into the following GI-4 climatic amelioration. Despite the Rayssian's initial appearance during the brief and relatively weakly expressed Greenland Interstadial 5.1, its duration suggests that Rayssian lithic technology was well-suited to the environmental conditions of Greenland Stadial 5.1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ribemont‐sur‐Ancre, France, is the biggest excavated human skeletal assemblage of Northern Gaul. It is interpreted as a post‐battle deposit constructed to celebrate war. However, the chronology of the site, its organization and the origin of the buried warriors are still poorly understood. These problems are studied by a multi‐proxy approach, based on radiocarbon dating, stable and radiogenic isotope analysis of bone remains from three structures within the site. A total of 47 human and 12 animal bone samples were analyzed for their oxygen isotope composition of bone bioapatite (δ18Op), carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of bone collagen (δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll). Subsamples of 17 bone collagen and 20 bone samples were selected for radiocarbon dating and strontium isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr), respectively. All samples show preservation from diagenesis, although 87Sr/86Sr contribution from the burial environment cannot be excluded. Therefore, the strontium isotope data are included in the study but are not used in the interpretation of the results. Homogeneous radiocarbon dates of human remains are observed, whereas later dates are obtained for some animal remains, highlighting the continuous use of the monument decades after the conflict. Human individuals have homogeneous δ18Op values, which are consistent with independent numismatic analyses and lead us to propose the Maine region as a potential geographic origin. Heterogeneities of δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll values are highlighted between individuals from different structures and are attributed to preferential access to animal protein and different social statuses among the buried warriors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of seven palynological records, we reconstruct the forest-limit composition and dynamics during the second part of the Holocene, in the upper montane and subalpine zones of the Monts du Forez in the north-eastern Massif Central, using a 2 km long, elevational transect of sites at 1335–1590 m elevation. All sites are mires today, varying in size from 2 to <0.1 ha. The chronology of the pollen diagrams is based on calibrated radiocarbon dating combined with pollen-stratigraphic correlation among the diagrams using the regional pollen component. Corylus avellana forest with Ulmus developed in the study region soon after the start of the Holocene. Soon after Fagus sylvatica arrived in the study area and expanded after ca. 3500 BC (5450 cal yr BP) to full abundance within a few centuries at the cost of Corylus. Abies alba expanded slowly within the Fagus forest after ca. 3300 BC (5250 cal yr BP), taking two millennia to reach its final abundance. During ca. 800–650 BC (2750–2600 cal yr BP) Fagus and Abies had reached similar overall abundances and formed forests only minimally affected by prehistoric human impact, which could serve as a natural baseline condition for extant forest management. We hypothesise that during this period dense Abies – Fagus krummholz had an upper limit of 1570 m, with scattered Abies trees above this and open woodland of Sorbus , Betula and Acer up to the summit (1634 m a.s.l.). A varied cultural landscape was in place in medieval times, with cereal cultivation and grasslands in a predominantly forested landscape. A baseline condition of this kind of cultural landscape could be found in late medieval times. During the last several centuries major deforestations took place and planted Pinus sylvestris replaced much of the originally natural Abies – Fagus forest. Crop cultivation increased in the cultural landscape. All diagrams have hiatuses (missing peat layers), which in most cases could be attributed to domesticated animals damaging the mire surface. For mire protection we therefore recommend a limited grazing pressure by cattle. The major phases in settlement history from the Neolithic to medieval times can be recognized in the pollen diagrams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In nineteenth century France, an administrative practice underwent a spectacular expansion: the assessment of all civil servants, regardless of their ministry of affiliation. This article analyzes this innovation. In the first section, the political and administrative context of this assessment is presented. The second section describes the chronology of the expansion of performance appraisals and the content of the forms used: the competencies of the agents were dissected on all levels (attendance at work, technical abilities, and personal and family life). Finally, the last section will attempt to analyze the modalities, drivers, and effects of the expansion of this practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay adopts a semiotic perspective focused on practices of communication, movement, and translation to examine the global impact of A. J. Greimas (1917–1992) and his oeuvre. The linguist and semiotician's lecture trips abroad, the number and provenance of international students in his Paris seminar, and the chronology and linguistic geography of translations of his work help describe, gauge, and explain the dissemination and development of his ideas throughout the world. His project has engendered distinctive appropriations and at times productive institutional structures in a number of cultural and linguistic contexts, notably Romance, Anglo-American, Germanic, Russian, Lithuanian, and Chinese. The broader historical relations between France and other lands, and the extent of each society's use of the French language have conditioned, fostered, or impeded responses to his proposals. The conclusion's discussion of the relative importance of personal contacts, socio-historical context, and the sociolinguistic and pedagogical status of French for his international reception aims to contribute to general methodological debates in the history of science and ideas and in transnational history. Cette étude adopte une perspective sémiotique centrée sur des pratiques de communication, de déplacement et de traduction pour examiner l'impact international d'A. J. Greimas (1917–1992) et de son œuvre. Les missions scientifiques menées par le linguiste et sémioticien à l'étranger, le nombre et la provenance des étudiants étrangers inscrits dans son séminaire à Paris et la chronologie et la géographie linguistique des traductions de ses travaux aident à tracer, à évaluer et à expliquer la dissémination et le développement mondial de ses idées. Son projet a inspiré des appropriations distinctives et parfois des structures institutionnelles dans nombre de contextes culturels et linguistiques, notamment roman, anglo-américain, germanique, russe, lituanien et chinois. L'histoire des relations entre la France et d'autres états de même que le statut de la langue française dans chaque société influencent, favorisent ou empêchent les réponses à ses propositions. Dans la conclusion, la discussion de l'importance relative jouée par le contact personnel, le contexte sociohistorique et le statut sociolinguistique et didactique du français pour sa réception internationale vise à contribuer aux débats méthodologiques dans le domaine de l'histoire de la science et des idées et de l'histoire transnationale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Research on annual migration between regions of the same country is scarce because statistical sources are often lacking. Consequently, little is known about migration between French regions during the Second World War. OBJECTIVES Propose a new method to estimate the annual populations of each region and deduce the annual migration flows between regions of the same country. Use this method to present the chronology of inter-regional migration flows in France during the Second World War. METHODS Annual regional populations are estimated using census populations and death-by-cause statistics at the local level. Death-by-cause statistics can be used to dissociate symmetrical mortality, which trends in the same way in the national territory, from asymmetrical mortality, which trends differently. This makes it possible to deduce the trend in the mortality rate and populations at the local level. RESULTS Analysis of French migration reveals that (1) a large proportion of the population (up to 60%) was displaced from the north to the south in 1940 and 1941; (2) the demarcation line did not prevent population movements; (3) the demographic scars of war were still present in 1946 since not all the refugees from the northwest and northeast returned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the early part of the 20th century. It became the eponymous site for one variant of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, and its sequence was used to define stages of the Aurignacian, an early phase of the Upper Palaeolithic. Several Neanderthal remains, including two relatively intact skeletons, make it one of the most important sites for the study of Neanderthal morphology and one of the more important data sets when discussing the Neanderthal treatment of the dead. However, the site has remained essentially undated. Our goal here is to provide a robust chronological framework of the La Ferrassie sequence to be used for broad regional models about human behaviour during the late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods. To achieve this goal, we used a combination of modern excavation methods, extensive geoarchaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating. If we accept that Neanderthals were responsible for the Châtelperronian, then our results suggest an overlap of ca. 1600 years with the newly arrived Homo sapiens found elsewhere in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

– Tourville-la-Rivière (Normandy, France) is one of the rare Middle Pleistocene palaeoanthropological localities of Northern France. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and combined ESR/U-series dating methods were independently applied by different teams on sediments and teeth from this site. The present work provides an overview of this multi-laboratory dating work by integrating a description and discussion of the methodologies employed and results obtained. Results confirm that the ESR/U-series analyses of the teeth are greatly dependent on the U-uptake histories of the dental tissues. Although all teeth come from the same archeological level, the samples analysed by each team display two different patterns for the U-series data. This is most likely related to the different sampling areas selected by each team and may be interpreted as the result of local variations in the geochemical conditions of the surrounding environment. Concerning the ESR dating of optically bleached quartz grains, the use of the multiple centre approach seems crucial when dating such fluvial and fluvio-lacustrine sediments. Our results also confirm the great potential of the Ti-H centre to date late Middle Pleistocene deposits. Despite some (expected) discrepancies related to the independent use of parameters and approaches by the different teams involved in this multi-laboratory study, the whole ESR and ESR/U-series data set collected from Tourville-la-Rivière locality consistently correlates stratigraphic levels D1 to I and associated human occupation to MIS7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cet article est le premier volet d'un triptyque consacré à l'histoire et aux fonctions des Unités pour Malades Difficiles (UMD). Il est dédié à la plus ancienne de ces structures sécurisées, l'UMD Henri Colin, ouverte en 1910 à Villejuif sous l'appellation de quartier de sûreté. Il évoque l'évolution des prises en charge et des patients accueillis dans ce service depuis plus de cent ans, en parallèle des mutations sociétales. Quatre périodes chronologiques distinctes sont détaillées, tant du point de vue des pratiques professionnelles que des motifs d'admission ou des profils psychopathologiques des patients « dangereux ». Des vignettes cliniques illustrent cette évolution historique. This article is the first in a series of three, dedicated to the history and functions of what is known as a UMD in France: Unités pour Malades Difficiles , or "Units for Difficult Patients". This particular article focuses on the oldest such secure structure, UMD Henri Colin, created in 1910 in Villejuif as a quartier de sûreté, or a "secure ward". The article aims to detail evolutions in treatment and the types of patient treated over more than one hundred years, parallel to social change. Four distinct chronological periods are examined, for their perspective on professional practice as much as for the reasons given for patients' admission and the psychopathological profiles of "dangerous" patients. Clinical vignettes are used to illustrate this historical evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations of chronology play a key role in the majority of archaeological research endeavors and are particularly pertinent to examinations of culture-environment relationships, especially during periods characterized by rapid and marked climatic variability and environmental reorganization. Rigorous evaluations of available data and robust methods are required if one wishes to reconstruct reliable chronologies, and this is especially the case when examining periods that are associated with a relatively few radiometric measurements. Such is the case for the Upper Paleolithic archaeological record documented in present-day France from 32,000 to 21,000 calibrated years BP. We take into account critically examined radiocarbon measurements from contextually secure archaeological contexts and employ a recently-developed method of Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling to reconstruct the chronology of archaeological cultures from the Middle Gravettian to the Badegoulian. The calculated chronological intervals for each typo-technologically defined culture phase are compared to the Greenland ice core climatic record and a terrestrial paleoenvironmental record from Bergsee Lake (Southern Germany)—itself expressed in calendar years calculated with the same calibration curve employed in our age model—thereby permitting each archaeological culture to be correlated accurately with documented paleoclimatic variability. • Robust chronologies are needed to correlate past cultures with climate variability. • A recently-developed method of Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling is employed. • Temporal intervals for archaeological cultures are determined with this method. • Arguments are presented as to why this new Bayesian method is preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the astronomical works of Pierre de Lille, a little-known French participant in the debates on calendar reform during the Fifth Lateran Council (1512–1517). It argues that astrological ideas coupled with eschatological beliefs motivated his astronomical propositions to reform the Julian calendar. De Lille conceived the calendar solar year as a unit of a great cosmic year spanning 7,153 years, the duration that he assigned to the now-obsolete theory of the motion of trepidation of the eighth sphere. Although his use of this astronomical model for astrological speculations about world chronology was not new, de Lille gave an original and bold reply to Pico della Mirandola's devastating critique of astrology. The astronomical model and its astrological implications were eventually contested at the court and in academia in France, but the alliance of chronology, astrology, and apocalypticism was to play a major role during the second half of the sixteenth century in Lutheran thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absolute Thellier-Thellier archaeointensity determinations were conducted on 137 tiles and sedimentary blocks from five different structures from the 'Site de la Molère', southern France, to constrain the archaeological interpretation of a relative age difference between structures and add new data to the French secular variation database. We present 89 new archaeointensity and 20 new directional results, with averages of 57 (±8) μT in the second century ad and 68 (±7) μT in the third century ad. The overall data trend is consistent with the limited available data, indicating rapidly increasing field intensity from the second to the third century ad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present a first synthesis of the chronology of Cussac Cave (Dordogne, SW France). This deep cavern (1.6 km), discovered in 2000, is very well preserved ( e . g . intact floors) and thus favorable to research, especially given its rare association of parietal art and human remains, deposited in at least three locations. The scientific team working since 2009 presents here a first diachronic reconstruction of the natural (geological, biological) and anthropogenic (cultural, spiritual) elements relevant to the sectors of the cave accessible for study. In addition to the nuclear dating methods commonly used in karst contexts and decorated sites (U–Th and 14 C for speleothems, 14 C-AMS for organic materials, bone and charcoal), we drew upon other disciplines to determine the relative chronology of the events that occurred in the cave: geosciences (karstology, sedimentary geology, geoarchaeology), biological anthropology, paleontology, zooarchaeology, anthracology, ichnology, lithic and osseous technology, and of course, the study of parietal art. Their integrated study enabled us to define a coherent and global chronological framework. The results confirm that bears frequented the cavity several times before any human incursions. Humans later ventured into the cave after it had already undergone several phases of karstogenesis, collapse, sedimentation, erosion and concretion formation. The nuclear methods and relative dating methods employed concur in favor of the hypothesis of human incursions only during the Middle Gravettian period, approximately 28–29,000 cal BP, to carry out spiritual, graphic and sepulchral activities. After the cave was abandoned by Gravettian people, some final sedimentary and biological events occurred (partial flooding, concretion formation, presence of mesofauna and microfauna, etc.), but were insufficient to significantly modify the decorated and sepulchral sanctuary. Later human frequentations (Late Glacial, Late Magdalenian, Late Neolithic) are quantitatively anecdotal and, most importantly, were limited to the cave porch and vestibular areas, which were sealed-off from the internal zone by rockfall debris and Late Glacial or Holocene concretion formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Garonne River drains an important part of the northern Pyrenees and its northern foreland. We investigated the middle reaches of the Garonne River establishing a detailed morphogenetic profile of its foreland terrace staircase and the preserved palaeoglacier margins. We particularly focussed on the glaciofluvial interface, linking (also genetically) the fluvial sediment archives in the foreland with the terminal glacial basin upstream of the Pyrenees mountain front. Using cosmogenic nuclide 10Be analyses, two terrace exposures have been dated, including a prominent fluvioglacial outwash fan at the foreland transition. We identified three terminal margins of late Pleistocene glacier advances. The prominent Garonne staircase consists of three major terrace complexes, comprising eight individual terrace levels. Results indicate a young age of the lower terrace complex of the Garonne staircase (MIS 4–2). The morphogenetic relationships and the new 10Be exposure age constraints suggest that during the last glaciation (Würmian) the Garonne glacier reached its maximum extent at the north Pyrenean mountain front, apparently already during MIS 4. Two different ice margins were associated with MIS 2, indicating close to maximum ice-extent during early MIS 2 (LGM) and relatively stationary ice-recession in the late MIS 2. The extensive Garonne terrace complexes formed under cold-climate conditions and were abandoned by incision during major glacial–interglacial transitions. During warm–cold climate transitions lateral erosion caused the reworking of previously abandoned palaeofloodplains. The long-term (Quaternary) incision of the Garonne and other north Pyrenean rivers indicates that the proximal Aquitaine foreland basin experienced uplift. However, non-uniform lateral course migrations and valley asymmetries of the north Pyrenean piedmont rivers indicate that uplift magnitude is variable, with maximum amounts in the centre of the molasse-fan of Lannemezan: Rivers on the western part of the fan were tilted toward the west, whereas rivers in the eastern part, like the Garonne, were tilted to the east. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chronological thinking is an indispensable tool to structure a historical narrative and to give meaning to a sequence of events. It is not a natural skill, so the conscious inclusion of tasks stimulating that skill in teaching is crucial. It is important to appropriately test students' chronological skills by means of well--constructed examination tasks administered at the conclusion of subsequent stages of education. The authors discuss tasks that assess chronological thinking included in contemporary exam papers in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Russia, the USA and the United Kingdom. The tasks included in Polish arts and humanities exam papers at the lower secondary school level in the years 2002-2011 and the first history paper (2012) are then analysed. The final section presents the results of a survey to test the chronological thinking of lower secondary school students carried out by the Educational Research Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Ardèche River entrenches a deep canyon in the Saint Remèze plateau from Vallon-Pont-d''Arc to its confluence with the Rhône. This plateau is part of the Ardèche Cretaceous limestone plateau located at the edge of the Mid Rhône valley. It is characterized by dense multi-level cave systems, such as Saint-Marcel Cave (50km of mapped passages) and Chauvet Cave, famous for its paleolithic paintings. Until now, and despite the absence of absolute dating, stepping of the Saint Remèze cave levels has been interpreted as the result of the Messinian salinity crisis. To clarify this interpretation, fluvial sediments of cave systems have been absolutely dated, while cave sediments have been demonstrated to be ideal for “burial dating” based on the different radioactive decay rates of the in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides 10Be and 26Al. Combined with magnetostratigraphy and constrained by the Lower Ardèche base-level curve, this contribution provides an absolute dating for each cave level. The obtained results are consistent with the stepping per ascensum model of both surface landforms and caves for the Messinian–Pliocene eustatic cycle. Finally, this study provides evidence for a rise of the Ardèche river level to 40m above the Pliocene abandonment surface. The second active period of the Chauvet Cave is evidenced between 2.96 and 2.18Ma (cave filling). An absolute dating for the Pliocene abandonment surface between 1.94 and 1.77Ma is also obtained, which brings new understandings to the geodynamic evolution of the area. The Lower Ardèche has been uplifted after the Pliocene, with a rate of 0.03mm/year since 1.77Ma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Dating sedimentary series spanning the past few tens of thousands of years is often problematic due to the quality of radiocarbon data obtained from organic matter (OM), including bulk OM. This problem recently arose when establishing the chronology of a sediment infill at the Sarliève paleolake (French Massif Central). In the studied section of the cores that covers the Neolithic, Ruppia seeds yielded consistent ages for the lower part (7195 ± 75 to 6050 ± 60 yr BP). A reservoir age of 82 ± 42 14C yr was estimated through the comparison of ages derived from charcoal, Ruppia seeds, and charophyte oogonia sampled on a single level. The upper part of the cores lacks macrofossils and bulk OM dating yields unusable data because of a significant contribution of aged OM derived from the Oligocene substratum in the catchment. We therefore performed dating of lipids extracted from the sediments. The age of the lipids was 2880 ± 30 yr BP near the top of the section, i.e. much younger than the age estimated from previous correlations based on pollen assemblages. These new data call into question previous paleoenvironmental interpretations. The combined dating methodology used for the Neolithic series of Sarliève is a rather uncommon approach that may help to refine chronologies of Holocene sedimentary series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Road safety is a major concern in the West, especially in France. Among all the established risk factors for fatal crashes, speed is specific in two ways: every road-user is exposed to it, and it increases not only crash rates but also the severity of crashes. Thus, speed regulation is of primary importance in road-safety policy and has also generated much public debate. To contribute to this debate, we constructed a power-model which relates the number of fatal crashes to speed raised to the power four. Despite its simplicity, this model fitted the data well. Notably, it enabled the fractions of fatal crashes attributable to various levels of speeding to be estimated. Data for secondary roads over the period 2001–2010 showed that the fraction of fatal crashes attributable to high-level speeding (>20kph over the speed limit) decreased from 25% to 6% and that attributable to medium-level speeding (10–20kph over the speed limit) decreased from 13% to 9%, whereas that attributable to low-level speeding progressively increased from 7% to 13%. Similar trends were observed on main roads. These results highlight the effectiveness of the speed regulation policies introduced during the study period with respect to high-level speeding. They also suggest that future policy should focus on low and medium-level speeding in order further to reduce road deaths significantly, since these levels now correspond to the major fraction of fatal crashes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Aragón Valley glacier ( Central Western Pyrenees) has been studied since the late nineteenth century and has become one of the best areas in the Pyrenees to study the occurrence of Pleistocene glaciations and the relationships between moraines and fluvial terraces. New morphological studies and absolute ages for moraines and fluvial terraces in the Aragón Valley allow a correlation with other Pyrenean glaciers and provide solid chronologies about the asynchroneity between global last glacial maximum ( LGM) and the maximum ice extent ( MIE). Six frontal arcs and three lateral morainic ridges were identified in the Villanúa basin terminal glacial complex. The main moraines ( M1 and M2) correspond to two glacial stages (oxygen isotopic stages MIS 6 and MIS 4), dated at 171 ± 22 ka and 68 ± 7 ka, respectively. From a topographical point of view, moraine M1 appears to be linked to the 60 m fluvioglacial terrace, dated in a tributary of the Aragón River at 263 ± 21 ka. The difference in age between M1 moraine and the 60 m fluvioglacial terrace suggests that the latter belongs to an earlier glacial stage ( MIS 8). Moraine M2 was clearly linked to the fluvioglacial 20 m terrace. Other minor internal moraines were related to the 7-8 m terrace. The dates obtained for the last glacial cycle (20-18 ka) are similar to other chronologies for Mediterranean mountains, and confirm the occurrence of an early MIE in the Central Pyrenees that does not coincide with the global LGM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In western Europe, the techno-economic changes that affected human societies during the 16th millennium BC suggest a deep reformulation of social relations that led to the emergence of Magdalenian features, thanks to a powerful cultural acceleration process. In central France, these mutations, contemporary with the Heinrich 1 climatic event, took place in a paleohistorical framework whose structure was less distended than in other regions: the cultural answers seem to disappear behind social “waves” (hypertrophy of the circulation of lithic raw materials, the sudden resurgence of blade debitage) expressed in this area since the early Upper Paleolithic. They allow us to discern, in the long term, how the original experiments of the Middle Magdalenian materialized. In the short term, some limited geological episodes, such as the recovery of the volcanic activity of the Massif Central around 16 ka cal BC, offer some possible stimuli of the rapid changes that affected technical systems. Their variations reveal the conditions, the aspects and the rhythms of the emergence of new ideological attributes that formed the traditional basis of Magdalenian societies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In 2010, the foundation Institut de paléontologie humaine (Paris) acquired an assembled skeleton of woolly rhinoceros, Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799). Its exceptional state of preservation allowed a multidisciplinary study: anatomical, biometrical, geochronological (AMS radiocarbon dating on horn and some bones) and biogeochemical analyses (reconstruction of the palaeodiet and the palaeoenvironment using the method of carbon and nitrogen isotopes). A research about the origin of this specimen and its story before its acquisition was also carried out. These different investigations led us to precise the species identification of this Siberian fossil, its biological age and its gender, as well as its chronological attribution and its dietary behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New paleoclimatic data for the Lateglacial clarify climatic phases during the Lateglacial. Cold climate played a key role in limiting Magdalenian expansion from southwest and central Europe This paper presents chronological and geographic data for the different climatic phases to map the expansion of the Magdalenian into northwest Europe. Specifically, it can be seen that initial expansion follows a southwest-northeast trajectory into southern Germany, followed by northern expansion into Belgium, central Germany and the Paris Basin at the end of the Oldest Dryas. During the Bølling and Allerød phases, human occupation intensified in the Paris Basin and contacts and/or territorial exploitation between both the Paris Basin and the Rhineland region with Belgian territory is demonstrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Sancy (16km2) is the youngest of the two stratovolcanoes that constitute the Mont-Dore Massif (Massif Central, France). The restricted number of high precision radio-isotopic ages currently limits our knowledge of the pyroclastic chronology of this edifice which is the source of many tephra layers detected in middle Pleistocene sequences in southeast Europe. To improve our knowledge of the building phases of this stratovolcano, we collected thirteen pyroclastic units covering the entire proximal record. We present 40Ar/39Ar single grain laser dating performed in the facility hosted at the LSCE (Gif-sur-Yvette, France). The 40Ar/39Ar ages range from 1101±11ka to 392±7ka (1σ external). Four pyroclastic cycles lasting on average 100ka were identified (C. I to C. IV). C. I corresponds to the earlier explosive phase between 1101ka and 1000ka and starts about 100ka earlier than previously thought. The second pyroclastic cycle (C. II) is the main pyroclastic episode spanning from 818 to 685ka. This cycle is constituted of a minimum of 8 major pyroclastic eruptions and includes a major event that corresponds to a large plinian eruption at 719±10ka (1σ external) and recorded as a 1.4m thick layer 60km south-east of the Sancy volcano. The link between this large eruption and formation of a caldera stays however, hypothetical. The third pyroclastic cycle (C. III) found in the northeastern part of the Sancy (Mont-Dore valley) spanned from 642 to 537ka. Finally, the youngest pyroclastic cycle (C. IV) starts at 392ka and probably ends around 280ka. The age versus geographic location of each pyroclastic cycle indicates three preferential directions of channeling of the pyroclastic events and/or collapse of the volcanic edifice: northwest to west (C. I), southeast (C. II) and finally north to northeast (C. III and IV). The new high precision 40Ar/39Ar age for the Queureuilh bas pyroclastic unit (642±9ka) is identical within error with the U/Pb age obtained by Cocherie et al. (2009) [Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73, 1095–1108] and suggests a short residence time of the magma in a shallow, short-lived, small magmatic chamber. Finally, the source of the t21d tephra layer found in the Piànico Séllere varved sequence (Northern Italy) is not the Rivaux pumice flow as proposed by Brauer et al. (2007) [Journal of Quaternary Science 22, 85–96] and neither one of the C. II pyroclastic units as suggested by Roulleau et al. (2009) [Quaternary International 204, 31–43]. Accordingly, the source for the t21d layer has yet to be found at Sancy or elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Revue d'Economie Politique is the property of Editions Dalloz Sirrey and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The Drac Cave is a long corridor above Tarn River. In its first part, we observe the engraved relics of a long frequenting during the historic period: lineal figures, silhouettes, unsolved inscriptions, names and dates, etc. We also have inscriptions made with a colorant pencil or with a leaden lead and various parietal takings. We have no precise dating for each iconographic corpus but a relative chronology of parietal graphic expressions and a spatial evolution of these ones is realized. Numerous observations and interpretations permit us to suppose a particular status of this cave, a sacred atmosphere that has been modified along the time. Perhaps the toponym and the physical characteristics of the site have connection with the different natures and senses of graphic acts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Here we present the entire range of Lateglacial tree-ring chronologies from Switzerland, Germany, France, covering the Lateglacial north and west of the Alps without interruption as well as finds from northern Italy, complemented by a 14C data set of the Swiss chronologies. Geographical expansion of cross-matched European Lateglacial chronologies, limits and prospects of teleconnection between remote sites and extension of the absolute tree-ring chronology are discussed. High frequency signals and long-term fluctuations are revealed by the ring-width data sets of the newly constructed Swiss Late-glacial Master Chronology (SWILM) as well as the Central European Lateglacial Master Chronology (CELM) spanning 1606 years. They agree well with the characteristics of Boelling/Alleroed (GI-1) and the transition into Younger Dryas (GS-1). The regional chronologies of Central Europe may provide improved interconnection to other terrestrial or marine high-resolution archives. Nevertheless the breakthrough to a continuous absolute chronology back to Boelling (GI-1e) has not yet been achieved. A gap remains, even though it is covered by several floating chronologies from France and Switzerland. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Peat initiation during the Late-Holocene was studied in the eastern part of the Massif Central in France from the analysis of numerous conventional and AMS radiocarbon dates obtained in the basal layers of 83 mires, representative of old, thick deposits, but also of younger and marginal mire areas. Radiocarbon dates were calibrated to calendar years BP in order to generate probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates. Only the oldest dates from each mire were used for this statistical analysis. It appears that the Late-Holocene was one of the two most intensive periods of peat initiation since the end of the glacial period. Peat initiation began around 4500cal. BP, following a complete halt in the formation of mires from 5300 to 4500cal. BP. By contrast, peat initiation increased significantly since 2400cal. BP. This history of Late-Holocene peat initiation is not in agreement with chronologies of climatic change in Western Europe. The hypothesis is that peat initiation during the last 4500 years was a consequence of agricultural expansion in the Massif Central in France, which is supported by pollen and archaeological data. Nevertheless, the possible role of climate in certain periods, for example during the Little Ice Age, is not discounted. In term of conservation, the demonstration of a human origin of certain mires leads to a new interest in these ecosystems, and provide a huge argument in order to protect them. Indeed, because of their existence, they testify to the history of agricultural expansion, and some mires are therefore the object of archaeological studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we make an inventory of geomorphic remnants of past glaciations, especially glacial stages that occurred just after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). More than 35 terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclide (TCR) ages were obtained, providing new chronological benchmarks for defining the transition between the LGM and the Holocene, thus answering some remaining questions in the southern French Alps (upper Durance catchment). TCR ages fit very well with the scenario defined in other parts of the European Alps: two main generations of post-LGM moraines were identified, highlighting a synchronicity of glacial responses during the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal. Indeed, the first generation we identified corresponds to the Younger Dryas period, while the second generation was shaped during the Preboreal period. They suggest that a relatively thick glacier tongue (300m thick) occupied the upper catchment until the end of the Lateglacial period. The glacier tongue disappeared at the very beginning of the Holocene, before a short glacial re-advance during the Preboreal period. This scenario is linked to a very low equilibrium line altitude (ELA) during the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal: located respectively 340 and 150m below the Little Ice Age (LIA) ELA. Collectively, the results highlight a significant west–east gradient in ELA, probably in relation to westerly and northwesterly winds. Finally, the deglaciation pattern in this area is similar to that of the western and northern Alps, and appears significantly different from the patterns found in the inner and eastern Alps (such as the Ubaye and Maritime Alps patterns). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition is the key period for our understanding of Neanderthal and modern human interactions in Europe. The site of Les Cottés in south-west France is one of the rare sites with a complete and well defined sequence covering this transition period. We undertook an extensive radiocarbon dating program on mammal bone which allows us to propose a chronological framework of five distinct phases dating from the Mousterian to the Early Aurignacian at this site. We found that the Mousterian and Châtelperronian industries are separated from the overlying Protoaurignacian by a gap of approximately 1000 calendar years. Based on a comparison with Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe we see an overlap in the ages of Châtelperronian industries and Aurignacian lithic assemblages, which are usually associated with Anatomical Modern Humans, which is consistent with an acculturation at distance model for these late Neanderthals. The Proto and Early Aurignacian appear contemporaneous indicating that this transition was rapid in this region. Anatomically Modern Humans are present at the site of Les Cottés at least at 39,500 cal BP roughly coincident with the onset of the cold phase Heinrich 4. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A detailed reappraisal of the sequence of tectonic stages that has affected the eastern part of the Paris Basin from the late Jurassic to the end of Cainozoic is presented in order to improve knowledge of the relationships between tectonics and fluid/mass palaeo-transfers in that basin. This goal was performed in two steps: i) establishing a relative tectonic chronology on the basis of numerous observations and detailed analysis of geometrical relationships between striated planes, vertical and bedding stylolites, and tension gashes, and ii) discussing the geochemical signatures (δ 18O and δ 13C) of calcite from fracture infillings well positioned within the relative tectonic chronology. The resulting tectonic sequence agrees with the main events described by previous papers, but the present work details the Pyrenean s.l. (Eocene–Oligocene) and Alpine (Miocene–Pliocene) convergence stages and explains the mechanisms of the Oligocene–Miocene transition between the two previous events. The different tectonic stages are as follows: i) late Jurassic to early Cretaceous extension starting with a WNW–ESE direction but changing to E–W; ii) the Pyrenean convergence (Eocene), changing from NNE–SSW to NE–SW and finally ENE–WSW compression; iii) Oligocene transition from Pyrenean to Alpine convergence, marked by a drastic evolution of main stress which swaps from a horizontal position to a vertical one and radial extension marked by a strong reactivation of bedding stylolitisation; iv) the Alpine convergence (late Miocene to present-day), changing from WNW–ESE to NNW–SSE direction of shortening. δ 18O- and δ 13C-values of calcite from tension gashes associated to each tectonic stage spread from 18‰ to 27‰ (SMOW) and from 0.8‰ to 3‰ (PDB), respectively. According to the maximum thermal history of this part of the basin (T MAX =40°C or 60°C according to the available published estimates), the calculated δ 18O-values of fluids (−7‰ to −4‰) involved in mass transfer processes are interpreted as meteoric. The lowest δ 18O-values (18–20‰) are located around the main regional faults and associated with δ 13C-values that are rather different from those of host rocks. In contrast, calcites from non-faulted area present a higher δ 18O- (>20‰) and δ 13C-values close to those of host rocks. These data are explainable in terms of differences in the fluid/rock ratios prevailing during carbonate redistribution, the highest ratios being associated to discontinuities (faults, sometimes with hydraulic breccias) that were active during the Tertiary tectonic events. Outside the fault zones, the isotopic compositions of calcite from tension gashes are similar, at the regional scale, to those of calcite from geodes or cements analysed in previous studies on localized areas. As a result, we emphasize the fact that a significant part of the carbonate redistribution in the Middle to Upper Jurassic limestones from the eastern Paris Basin occurred during the Tertiary s.l., enlightening the influence of distant orogenic systems (extensive or compressive) in the matter redistribution within sedimentary basins, at variance of models inferring a porosity cementation predominantly during burial. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recurring large rock-slope failures of the Argentera–Mercantour massif (southern French Alps) over the past 20,000years were identified in the field and analyzed using a continuum mechanics approach based on material weakening in a three-dimensional finite-difference model. We compared a mountain-slope failure model neglecting the effect of rock strength loss with a model simulating the effect of strength loss and integrating cohesional weakening and frictional strengthening processes. The good correspondence between the relative chronology and location of observed and simulated deformations shows that (1) the gradual loss of rock mass strength related to stress release effects following the Pleistocene deglaciation can be as long as several thousands of years, and (2) the causes and triggering of the present-day active landslides are related to this long failure history. Our study suggests that the episodic nature of massive rock slides can be explained through the gradual development of tensile and shear failure, and time-dependent strength degradation. Our numerical model is a good reproduction of large landslides at the regional-scale of a mountainous massif. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Analysis of designs on iconographic rings has been hampered by a lack of information on sources in France for the rings themselves and limited contexts within which to interpret them. An examination of French rings and the possible meanings of designs in France open up new ways of thinking about the rings as tools for chronological analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed 40Ar/39Ar geochronology on single grains of muscovite was performed in the Variscan Tanneron Massif (SE France) to determine the precise timing of the post-collisional exhumation processes. Thirty-two plateau ages, obtained on metamorphic and magmatic rocks sampled along an east–west transect through the massif, vary from 302 ± 2 to 321 ± 2 Ma, and reveal a heterogeneous exhumation of the lower crust that lasted about 20 Ma during late Carboniferous. In the eastern part of the massif, the closure of the K–Ar isotopic system is at 311–315 Ma, whereas in the middle part of the massif it closes earlier at 317–321 Ma. These cooling paths are likely to be the result of differential exhumation processes of distinct crustal blocks controlled by a major ductile fault, the La Moure fault that separates both domains. In the western part of the massif, the ages decrease from 318 to 303 Ma approaching the Rouet granite, which provides the youngest age at 303.6 ± 1.2 Ma. This age distribution can be explained by the occurrence of a thermal structure spatially associated to the magmatic complex. These ages argue in favour of a cooling of the magmatic body at around 15 Ma after the country rocks in the western Tanneron. The emplacement of the Rouet granite in the core of an antiform is responsible for recrystallization and post-isotopic closure disturbances of the K–Ar chronometer in the muscovite from the host rocks. These new 40Ar/39Ar ages clearly outline that at least two different processes may contribute to the exhumation of the lower crust in the later stage of collision. During the first stage between 320 and 310 Ma, the differential motion of tectonic blocks limited by ductile shear zones controls the post-collisional exhumation. This event could be related to orogen parallel shearing associated with crustal-scale strike-slip faults and regional folding. The final exhumation stages at around 300 Ma take place within the tectonic doming associated to magmatic intrusions in the core of antiformal structures. Local ductile to brittle normal faulting is coeval to Upper Carboniferous intracontinental basins opening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present-day maritime landscape of Western France forms the geographical framework for a recent research project dedicated to the archaeological study of ancient fish-traps, combining regional-scale and site-scale investigations. Based on the compilation and exploitation of a large unpublished dataset including more than 550 sites, a preliminary synthetic study allows us to present some examples of synchronic and thematic approaches, and propose a morphological classification of the weirs. These encouraging first results open up new perspectives on fish-trap chronology closely linked to wider studies on Holocene sea-level changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Pyrenees Mountains of Spain and France are a collisional orogen cored by a south-vergent antiformal stack of Paleozoic basement thrust sheets (the Axial Zone). Thrusting accommodated shortening due to convergence between Iberia and Europe. Granitic plutons, intruded during the Hercynian orogeny, form an important component of the basement units. Thermochronology of granodioritic samples collected from a vertical [age–elevation] profile from the south-central Maladeta pluton provide new constraints on the timing of thrust faulting and rock exhumation of the Pyrenean orogen. The Maladeta massif lies within the Orri thrust sheet, presently occupying the immediate footwall of the Gavarnie thrust, a major Axial Zone Alpine-age thrust fault. New biotite and K-feldspar 40Ar/39Ar and apatite (U–Th)/He (AHe) data combined with previous apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology and structural studies of the Maladeta pluton constrain the thermal evolution of this massif. Biotite weighted mean plateau and K-feldspar maximum 40Ar/39Ar ages from the highest elevations of the Maladeta pluton (2850m) are ∼280Ma, close to the age of intrusion, and are interpreted to date the timing of rapid cooling in the Hercynian. Subsequently the Maladeta massif remained close to the surface as indicated by the presence of unconformable Triassic continental sediments. K-feldspar 40Ar/39Ar multiple diffusion domain thermal models from two samples at lower elevations (1780m and 1400m) indicate heating initiated at ∼65Ma, reaching maximum temperatures of 270 to 280°C. These data are interpreted to record thrust burial of the Maladeta pluton to depths of ∼6–10km in the footwall of the Gavarnie thrust. Burial and heating were followed by a period of relatively rapid cooling beginning at ∼50Ma, recorded in three K-feldspar thermal models from samples at different elevations (2850m, 1780m, and 1400m). AFT thermal models, in conjunction with the AFT and apatite AHe age–elevation profile interpretation reveal a lower temperature portion of the thermal history. These data indicate the onset of rapid cooling that began at 30–35Ma, slowed dramatically at 25–30Ma, and continued at a reduced rate until ∼15Ma. Finally, AFT thermal models from the lowest elevation samples record rapid cooling in the Late Miocene–Pliocene, most likely due to re-excavation of the southern flank of the Pyrenean orogen, following burial by syn-tectonic conglomerates. The integrated thermochronologic data set from the age–elevation profile within the Maladeta pluton illustrates the potential for obtaining age constraints related to processes operating within the interior portions of convergent orogenic systems (e.g., the onset and/or duration of thrust fault activity) that are otherwise unobtainable. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The middle Rhône valley, located at the southeastern margins of the Massif Central in France, produced a large number of Middle Palaeolithic sites, most of which dated to the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Due to its position, connecting northern Europe and the Mediterranean basin, this corridor and the surrounding plateaus are of particular interest in the study of human cultural evolution, including the emergence of Middle Palaeolithic technology around 300,000 years ago and its variability over time, as well as the subsistence and mobility strategies of Neanderthals. In the last 20 years, several research projects undertaken in this region allowed to revise key Middle Palaeolithic sequences. This work aims at synthesising previous and new chronological data obtained by using uranium-series of speleothems and bones, infrared stimulated luminescence of feldspar and electron spin resonance of tooth enamel and quartz. We review previous ages obtained in the area and present 43 new ages that are discussed together to propose a reliable spatiotemporal framework for Neanderthal occupations. We focus on major sites in the region: Payre, Ranc-Pointu 2, Baume Flandin, Abri du Maras, Grotte des Barasses II, Abri des Pêcheurs, Grotte du Figuier and Grotte de Saint-Marcel. They all provided significant information related to the biological and behavioural evolution of Neanderthal populations on the right bank of the Rhône valley. We present here the updated chronology for the Middle Palaeolithic of this area, ranging from ca. 300,000 to 40,000 years ago. • We review the Middle Palaeolithic chronology of the Middle Rhône valley in France. • We provide 43 new ages using U-series, ESR and IRSL dating methods. • The Levallois technology is documented as early as 300 ka. • We show that Neanderthals continuously occupied the area from ca. 300 ka to 40 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

French academic geography achieved remarkable success during the 1920s making Paris an appropriate location for the XIIIth International Geographical Congress to meet in 1931. These scholarly activities were counterpoised by expressions of an exotic‘popular geography’ at the great Exposition Coloniale staged in the French capital at the same time. At the Congress, French academics displayed their research achievements in denudation chronology, rural settlement studies and cartography, extending their work from the Hexagon to parts of the Empire. Patronage by leading professors in Paris and Grenoble clearly played a vital role in shaping the discipline. The location and content of excursions for visiting scholars also highlighted French achievements and suggested what remained to be done. Scrutiny of activities at the XIIIth IGC reveals a profession whose official pronouncements appear isolated from the momentous economic and political changes triggered by global depression at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After summarizing the evidence for the existence of sub-bass instruments in France before 1700, this article will endeavor to establish a precise chronology of the introduction of the double bass to the orchestra of the Académie royale de musique in Paris. Through a detailed examination of existing parts and scores of the works performed during this period, it will trace the evolution of the use of the double bass in early French opera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Last Interglacial-Early Glacial transition (MIS5-MIS4; ~73 ka), substantial hydroclimatic changes affected morphogenetic processes, landform dynamics, and ecosystem variability over the Mediterranean sub-alpine valleys. This transition is mainly preserved in the northern Mediterranean region in continuous marine, lacustrine, and peat bog archives. To understand better local-to-regional hydro-sedimentary processes, their climatic significance, and their direct impact on prehistoric settlements, this manuscript reinvestigates a known continental sedimentary record with revised methods. The Middle Palaeolithic site of La Combette in the western Provence region (southeastern France) presents a thick sedimentary key sequence for studying environmental changes from the MIS5 to the MIS3. A review of previous studies with the integration of new micromorphological, sedimentological, physicochemical, malacological, and luminescence ages allows us to characterize the sedimentary processes and environmental patterns during this major climatic transition. Alternating warm and cold conditions and shifting vegetation patterns reflect the strong environmental instability of the end of the Last Interglacial Period. The emergence of a steppe-like ecology dominated by cryo-turbated loess deposition marks the beginning of the Early Würmian Glacial period (MIS4-MIS3; ~73 ka to ~50 ka), contemporaneous with the last Neanderthal occupation at La Combette rock shelter. Comparisons with regional palaeoclimatic data allow us to detail local climatic settings and provide evidence of divergences with larger-scale quantitative reconstructions during a period of significant environmental and socio-cultural shifts. • Coupled sedimentological and paleoecological studies at La Combette rock shelter. • Evaluating environmental reactivity during the Last Interglacial-Glacial transition. • Strong environmental instability at the end of MIS 5 in link to warm-cold shifts. • Loess deposition and steppe-like cold environments from ~64 ka. • Local data provide new information to regional climatic trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue Française de Sociologie is the property of Presses de Sciences Po and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Causality assessment methods aim at estimating the probability for one or several drugs to be involved in the occurrence of an adverse event. Available methods are either “global”, like that developed by the WHO, or “algorithmic”, like that used in France. All take into account chronological, semiological and bibliographical criteria. These methods are sensitive for detecting adverse drug reactions, but they present poor specificity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A sedimentological and chronostratigraphical investigation was carried out on two loess sections located in the Mediterranean area in southeast France along the Rhône River (Lautagne) and the lower reach of a tributary of the Rhône River (Collias). High-resolution sampling (5–20 cm) for magnetic susceptibility, grain size distribution (including non-parametric end-member modelling), colour reflectance and geochemistry was performed. The chronology was based on luminescence dating of quartz grains and radiocarbon dating of small gastropod shells, coupled with hierarchical Bayesian modelling. The Collias section (∼8 m thick) records the whole last climatic cycle. It comprises a thick red basal pedocomplex S1 developed during the Last Interglacial and the Early Glacial, similar to that observed elsewhere in southern and southeastern Europe. Loess deposition occurred during the Lower (L1L2) and the Upper Pleniglacial (L1L1). It was interrupted by soil formation during the Middle Pleniglacial, of which a brown Bwk horizon has been preserved (L1S1). By contrast, the ∼5 m thick Lautagne section provides a detailed record of the Upper Pleniglacial. Weakly developed hydromorphic soils are correlated with the Greenland Interstadials GI-4 to GI-2, while the main period of coarse loess sedimentation corresponds to the Greenland Stadials GS-5 to GS-2. At a regional scale, the time of loess deposition ranges between 38.5 ka and 12 ka, with a peak at ∼28–24 ka, overlapping with the maximal advance of the Alpine Ice Sheet (AIS). This strongly suggests that regional glacier dynamics was the main driver of loess sedimentation. • Two high-resolution loess-palaeosol records in the Rhône Valley, southeast France. • The Collias section exhibits a remarkable (8 m) Last Glacial loess accumulation. • The Lautagne section provides a detailed record of the Upper Pleniglacial. • The main period of loess deposition ranges between 28 ka and 24 ka. • The maximum dust accumulation coincides with the maximal advance of the Alpine glaciers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]