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Long-standing archaeological narratives suggest that the 3rd millennium cal BC is a key period in Mediterranean and European prehistory, characterized by the development of extensive interaction networks. In the Balkans for instance, the identification of such interactions relies solely upon typological arguments associated with conflicting local terminologies. Through a combination of 25 new radiocarbon (C-14) dates and re-examination of the existing documentation, this paper defines the absolute chronology for groups which were previously only broadly framed into the 3rd millennium BC central Balkans (modern-day Serbia and North Macedonia). These absolute dates allow us to establish with greater clarity the chronological relations between different cultural groups that represent the main cultural units of the central Balkans sequence for the 3rd millennium cal BC: Cotofeni-Kostolac, Bubanj-Hum II, Belotic-Bela Crkva, Atmenochori, and Bubanj Hum M. When comparing together the chronologies for material culture, funerary treatment of the body, and funerary architecture, there are no easily discernible patterns. We observe instead a complex mix of traits criss-crossing over a wide area encompassing the Pannonian basin, the central Balkans and the Greek peninsula.

Anthropogenic changes in land use and land cover (LULC) during the pre-industrial Holocene could have affected regional and global climate. Existing scenarios of LULC changes during the Holocene are based on relatively simple assumptions and highly uncertain estimates of population changes through time. Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions have the potential to refine these assumptions and estimates. The Past Global Changes (PAGES) LandCover6k initiative is working towards improved reconstructions of LULC globally. In this paper, we document the types of archaeological data that are being collated and how they will be used to improve LULC reconstructions. Given the large methodological uncertainties involved, both in reconstructing LULC from the archaeological data and in implementing these reconstructions into global scenarios of LULC, we propose a protocol to evaluate the revised scenarios using independent pollen-based reconstructions of land cover and climate. Further evaluation of the revised scenarios involves carbon cycle model simulations to determine whether the LULC reconstructions are consistent with constraints provided by ice core records of CO2 evolution and modern-day LULC. Finally, the protocol outlines how the improved LULC reconstructions will be used in palaeoclimate simulations in the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project to quantify the magnitude of anthropogenic impacts on climate through time and ultimately to improve the realism of Holocene climate simulations.

In the field of human history, ancient DNA has provided answers to long-standing debates about major movements of people and has begun to inform on other important facets of the human experience. The field is now moving from mostly large-scale supraregional studies to a more local perspective, shedding light on socioeconomic processes, inheritance rules, marriage practices and technological diffusion. In this Review, we summarize recent studies showcasing these types of insights, focusing on methods used to infer sociocultural aspects of human behaviour. This approach often involves working across disciplines — such as anthropology, archaeology, linguistics and genetics — that have until recently evolved in separation. Multidisciplinary dialogue is important for an integrated reconstruction of human history, which can yield extraordinary insights about past societies, reproductive behaviours and even lifestyle habits that would not be possible to obtain otherwise.

In this study we present new absolute dates for the Early Eneolithic in Serbia. Four of them confirm the recently obtained dates from that period (Bubanj-Hum I culture) but two samples (from Mokranjske stene and Bubanj) provide somewhat later dates for this period, although their stratigraphic context makes their interpretation difficult. Pottery from those sites, besides the typical examples, also shows particular stylistic and typological characteristics that resemble Galatin or Sălcuţa IV cultures, so one can presume that the Bubanj-Hum I culture in Serbia may have lasted longer than what is generally assumed.

This paper reports the first radiocarbon (C-14) dates obtained for the Eneolithic/Bronze Age site of Bubanj, Serbia. Despite featuring prominently in the existing typo-chronological schemes for southeastern Europe, the history of research and recent large-scale destruction of the site had prevented so far the acquisition of samples from secure archaeological contexts. We fill this documentary gap by presenting 10 new C-14 dates, covering the late 5th, 4th, and 3rd millennia cal BC. These dates are compared to the existing documentation from the literature, in order to assess the placement of Bubanj within its wider archaeological context.

Space competition effects are well-known in many microbiological and ecological systems. Here we analyze such an effect in human populations. The Neolithic transition (change from foraging to farming) was mainly the outcome of a demographic process that spread gradually throughout Europe from the Near East. In Northern Europe, archaeological data show a slowdown on the Neolithic rate of spread that can be related to a high indigenous (Mesolithic) population density hindering the advance as a result of the space competition between the two populations. We measure this slowdown from a database of 902 Early Neolithic sites and develop a time-delayed reaction-diffusion model with space competition between Neolithic and Mesolithic populations, to predict the observed speeds. The comparison of the predicted speed with the observations and with a previous non-delayed model show that both effects, the time delay effect due to the generation lag and the space competition between populations, are crucial in order to understand the observations.

En l’absence de sources écrites teotihuacaines, la religion que pratiquaient les anciens Teotihuacains ne peut être appréhendée que par les traces archéologiques laissées par certains rites, par une analyse des sources écrites (mayas et aztèques) relatives à Teotihuacan, et surtout par une étude iconographique des principales figures divines de son panthéon. Après avoir détaillé les rites que pratiquaient les Teotihuacains et qui sont connus par ailleurs en Mésoamérique, la première partie de ma thèse propose une étude systématique des sources relatives à Teotihuacan (et notamment de la Relación de Teotihuacan). La seconde partie est consacrée à l’étude de l’iconographie et du symbolisme de Tlaloc, du Jaguar réticulé, de Xipe Totec, du Vieux dieu du feu, du Dieu papillon, et du Serpent à plumes., Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation histoire de l'art et archéologie, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The question of the relationships between the Corded Ware culture and the Bell Beaker phenomenon has been debated at length: continuity, convergence, contact, While arguments traditionally focus on ceramic typology or absolute chronology, we will pay more attention here to the isomorphisms that tie together the ways of cultural functioning of these two 3rd millennium BC archaeological complexes. The Bell Beaker phenomenon is characterized by a large geographical distribution and by its relative homogeneity, especially perceptible in the field of mortuary practices, two congruent features globally absent in the various substrata, except for the Corded Ware culture. From this point of view, the latter appears as the sole conceivable cultural prototype for the Bell Beaker phenomenon., SCOPUS: re.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Ethnoarchaeological studies have constantly emphasized the complexity of pottery distribution and its close ties with other aspects of social life. It is argued here that, among the Dowayo of northern Cameroon, pottery exchange is not regulated by preferential economic relationships between producers and consumers but rather by mechanisms such as fashion or the reputation of the artisans. © 2001 Plenum Publishing Corporation., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published