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Interpretations of the European Upper Paleolithic archaeological record have long relied on concepts of past populations. In particular, cultural taxonomic units-which are used as a framework for describing the archaeological record-are commonly equated with past populations. However, our cultural taxonomy is highly historically contingent, and does not necessarily accurately reflect variation in the archaeological record. Furthermore, we lack a secure theoretical basis for the inference of populations from taxonomic units. In order to move past these problems and satisfactorily address questions of Upper Paleolithic populations, we need to entirely revise our approach to chronocultural framework building.Here, I outline a specific way of describing the archaeological record that deliberately avoids the use of cultural taxonomic units and instead concentrates on individual features of material culture. This approach may provide a more appropriate basis for the archaeological study of Upper Paleolithic populations and for comparison with genetic data.

"On the motivation of the recent palaeolithic expert-knappers" During the Upper-Palaeolithic, different knapped lithic products can be qualified as “exaggerated”, regarding their dimension and their high level of technical investment : large blades exceeding 20 if not 30 cm long, and some of the Solutrean laurel leaves and shouldered points. As a realization of very skilled prehistoric knappers, that modern knappers can hardly imitate, they have been compared with some Neolithic productions and thus attributed to specialized knappers. However, they differ from the latter through two important aspects. The highly skilled Neolithic productions are that of particular products in their context, -such as rare large blades, daggers, etc-, and are purpose of exchange. That of the Palaeolithic remain anecdotical and correspond to an exaggerated expression of the traditional types, magnified without any clear economical or functional justification. This is indeed what confirms a critical review of the famous case of the Etiolles Magdalenian site, thanks to the detailed data published by Nicole Pigeot and collaborators. It is then in certain features of human nature that we propose an explanation for these exaggerated performances. The first lies in the intimate pleasure felt by the actor in the technical action itself, particularly in the exercise of know-how (a notion now confirmed at the neuropsychological level in monkeys). The child gives us a clear expression of this, in his impulse to act, to train first to imitate the grown-ups, then, as a teenager, to invest in a particular activity, until he goes beyond what is sufficient. Knapping, with its difficulties and incidents, can also be compared to a playful activity - in which we “get caught up in the game” - and even to a story with twists and turns. A second feature is the visibility of the skill manifested in knapping, during its unfolding which can make a spectacle, as in its tangible result that can be assessed in the blink of an eye by a fellow human. Competence therefore exposes itself to the appreciation of others, of the group or of other groups during meetings. A competitive emulation between knappers who had a taste for it, as in so many sports, games and arts or crafts currently practiced, has certainly pushed some individuals to performance, to a frank exaggeration, already perceptible in some impressive but ergonomically "unreasonable" bifaces from the Early Palaeolithic., Sur la motivation des tailleurs experts du Paléolithique supérieur Au cours du Paléolithique supérieur, se remarquent çà et là des productions lithiques qualifiables d’exagérées au vu de leurs dimensions et haut degré d’investissement technique : des débitages de grandes lames, et une part des feuilles de laurier et pointes à cran du Solutréen. Réalisées par des tailleurs de grand savoir-faire, que peinent à atteindre les tailleurs modernes les plus expérimentés, elles ont été rapprochées de certaines réalisations néolithiques, et ainsi attribuées à des « spécialistes » de la taille. Mais deux caractères importants les en distinguent. La plupart des productions néolithiques de haut niveau technique portent à la fois sur des types particuliers pour l’époque (grandes lames, « poignards », etc) et sont excédentaires et ainsi diffusées. Celles du Paléolithique restent anecdotiques et reviennent à une expression exagérée des modèles traditionnels, sans justification économique ou fonctionnelle. C’est d’ailleurs ce que confirme une révision critique du cas bien connu des grandes lames du site magdalénien d’Etiolles, grâce aux données détaillées de Nicole Pigeot et collaborateurs. C’est alors dans certains traits de la nature humaine que nous proposons une explication à ces performances exagérées. Le premier réside dans le plaisir intime ressenti par l’acteur dans l’action technique elle-même, particulièrement dans l’exercice du savoir-faire (notion désormais confirmée au niveau neuropsychologique chez le singe). L’enfant nous en donne une nette expression, dans son élan à agir, à s’entraîner d’abord pour faire comme les grands, puis, adolescent, à s’investir dans telle ou telle activité, jusqu’à dépasser le suffisant. La taille, avec ses difficultés et ses incidents, est aussi assimilable à une activité ludique – à laquelle on se « prend au jeu »-, et même à un récit à rebondissements. Un second trait tient à la visibilité de la compétence manifestée dans la taille, lors de son déroulement qui peut faire spectacle, comme dans son résultat tangible évaluable en un clin d’œil par un congénère. La compétence s’expose donc d’elle-même à l’appréciation des autres, du groupe ou d’autres groupes à l’occasion de rencontres. Une émulation compétitive entre les tailleurs qui en avaient le goût, comme dans tant de sports et jeux actuellement pratiqués, a certainement poussé certains individus à la performance, jusqu’à une franche exagération, déjà perceptible dans certains bifaces impressionnants mais ergonomiquement « déraisonnables » du Paléolithique ancien.

Le qualificatif de « naturaliste » est très régulièrement appliqué à l’art magdalénien, et cet article s’interroge sur les liens qui pourraient exister entre les notions de « naturalisme esthétique » et de « naturalisme ontologique ». Un style naturaliste dans la production des images serait-il mécaniquement l’indice d’un rapport au monde de type naturaliste, au sens de Ph. Descola (2005) ? C’est ce que semble affirmer E. Guy (2017) dans un ouvrage ambitieux qui interprète la volonté d’imitation des artistes magdaléniens comme le signe d’une mentalité proche de celle des sociétés de l’Occident moderne - impliquant notamment l’instauration de hiérarchies sociales au Paléolithique récent. Les images magdaléniennes présentent toutefois un naturalisme qui se borne presque exclusivement à la représentation d’animaux isolés. Dans l’histoire de la discipline, cette caractéristique étonnante est depuis longtemps discutée, et a fait l’objet de diverses interprétations jusqu’à celle d’E. Guy (2017). Si un naturalisme stylistique peut être évoqué à propos de la figuration du Magdalénien, celui-ci est toujours restreint et morcelé. Parler d’une « imitation de la Nature » semble donc abusif dans ce cas. La mobilisation de la notion de « Nature » pousse par ailleurs à attribuer de manière systématique un naturalisme ontologique aux Paléolithiques, dans la mesure où ce terme est un pivot incontournable de la pensée naturaliste. Quoi qu’il en soit, nous remarquons que les modalités de représentation du Magdalénien ne présentent que très peu des caractéristiques qui seraient attendues d’une figuration traduisant un naturalisme ontologique, et certains aspects paraissent même incongrus pour un tel régime. Le « naturalisme magdalénien » pourrait ainsi être paradoxalement « un naturalisme sans l’idée de Nature ». Il nous semble que les modalités de représentation propres au Magdalénien pourraient aussi être à comprendre dans une perspective ontologique alternative au naturalisme, et relevant possiblement de l’animisme. Nous soumettons ainsi l’hypothèse que la tendance à la figuration mimétique, observable pour certaines images de ce contexte paléolithique, pourrait refléter l’intention d’affirmer la coexistence d’une multiplicité d’êtres singuliers, et s’inscrire dans une ontologie qui placerait les rencontres interindividuelles entre humains et animaux au premier plan. The term « naturalism » is very regularly applied to Magdalenian art, and this article examines the links that could exist between the notions of «aesthetic naturalism» and « ontological naturalism ». Is a naturalistic style in the production of images necessarily indicative of a naturalistic relationship to the world, in the sense of Ph. Descola (2005)? This seems to be what E. Guy (2017) asserts in an ambitious work that interprets the tendency towards imitation among Magdalenian artists as the sign of a mentality close to that of modern Western societies - implying in particular the establishment of social hierarchies during the recent Palaeolithic. However, the Magdalenian images present a naturalism that is limited to the representation of isolated animals. In the history of the discipline, this astonishing characteristic has long been discussed, and has been the subject of various interpretations until E. Guy (2017). If a stylistic naturalism can be evoked about the depiction in the Magdalenian, it is always a restricted and fragmented naturalism. To claim that it is an «imitation of Nature» therefore seems abusive in this case. Moreover, this mobilization of the notion of «Nature» encourages the attribution of an ontological naturalism to the Palaeolithic, insofar as this term is an inescapable element of naturalistic system of thought. Anyway, the modes of representation of the Magdalenian show very few of the characteristics that would be expected of a depiction reflecting an ontological naturalism, and certain aspects even seem incongruous for such a system. «Magdalenian naturalism» could thus paradoxically be «a naturalism without the idea of nature». It seems that the modalities of representation specific to the Magdalenian could also be understood in an ontological perspective alternative to naturalism, and could relate to animism. I thus submit the hypothesis that the tendency to mimetic depiction, in this Paleolithic context, could reflect the intention to affirm the coexistence of a multiplicity of singular beings, and be part of an ontology giving a central place to inter-individual encounters between humans and animals.

La grotte des Combarelles I (Les Eyzies, Dordogne) est connue pour la densité et la diversité de son dispositif gravé magdalénien, véritable palimpseste de chevaux, bisons, rennes, mammouths, qui orne près de 500 m² de parois. Mais au cœur de ce décor exceptionnel se logent de nombreuses traces colorées, essentiellement noires, qu’une mauvaise conservation a rendues peu lisibles.Mettant à profit les moyens actuels de traitement des images, nous avons réalisé un nouvel inventaire à vocation exhaustive de ces traces colorées présentes tout au long du parcours souterrain. La quantité des traces observées a suscité une réflexion générale sur la place de ce décor spécifique au sein du dispositif pariétal gravé. Nous avons ainsi mis en évidence différentes façons de « mettre en couleur » : taches isolées, représentations figuratives dessinées ou mixtes… Nous avons également noté l’existence de très nombreuses traces, plutôt discrètes, qui rehaussent ou marquent les gravures animales. Réalisées pour la plupart avant les gravures, elles ébauchent la figure tout en insistant sur certains détails essentiels à la matérialisation de l’animal. Nous avons enfin remarqué de nombreux ensembles linéaires, évoquant des lignes dorsales, comme autant d’échos aux nombreuses files d’animaux gravés.À travers cette nouvelle vision de l’art pariétal des Combarelles I, nous espérons approcher le mieux possible les processus conceptuels et symboliques des artistes, notamment par le rapport intime qu’ils entretiennent aux parois et à la morphologie de la cavité. The Combarelles I cave (Les-Eyzies, Dordogne) is known for the quality of its Magdalenian engravings, a complex superimposition of horses, bison, reindeers and mammoths which covers nearly 500 m² of walls. But at the heart of this exceptional assemblage there are many colored traces, mainly black, which a poor conservation has made difficult to read.Through the use of modern technology on images, we have carried out a new exhaustive inventory of these colored traces present all along gallery. The number of traces observed led to a general wondering on the place of this specific decoration within the engraved parietal device. We have considered different ways of « coloring »: isolated spots, drawn or mixed figurative representations... We have also observed the existence of many traces, discreet in themselves, which enhance the animal engravings. Most of them were made before the engravings and they outline the figure while emphasizing essential details to the materialization of the figure. We also noticed many linear patterns, evoking dorsal lines, like so many echoes of the many lines of engraved animals.Through this new vision of cave art from Combarelles I, we hope to approach as best as possible the conceptual and symbolic processes of the artists, in particular through the close link with the walls and the morphology of the cavity.

Ce travail est une synthèse des données expérimentales et archéologiques relatives à l’identification d’un apprentissage des graveurs pendant le Magdalénien dans la région franco-cantabrique. Les analyses réalisées ont permis d’identifier des graveurs inexpérimentés, ainsi que les chaînes opératoires suivies par les graveurs débutants. Par ailleurs, l’étude des objets archéologiques permet de différencier des œuvres appartenant à des artistes à divers stades d’apprentissage. La différenciation, dans le registre archéologique, des matières premières utilisées par ces deux types de graveurs nous permet d’avancer des hypothèses sur une utilisation différentielle des supports en fonction de la maîtrise des artistes. Ces évidences seront mises en rapport avec d’autres données sur la production artistique ainsi que sur la mobilité et la démographie à cette période, pour proposer des hypothèses relatives à l’existence d’un « statut » des artistes, et sur une complexité sociale croissante à la fin du Paléolithique supérieur. This work is a synthesis of experimental and archaeological data relating to the identification of an apprenticeship of engravers during the Magdalenian in the Franco-Cantabrian region. The analysis carried out made it possible to identify inexperienced engravers, as well as to identify the operating chains followed by novice engravers. Also, the study of archaeological objects makes it possible to differentiate between works belonging to expert and inexperienced artists. The differentiation at the level of the archaeological record of the raw materials used by these two types of engravers allows us to propose hypotheses on a differential use of the media according to the skill of the artists. These evidences will be put in relation with other data on artistic production as well as on mobility and demography in this period, to propose hypotheses relating to the existence of a «status» of artists, and to an initial social complexity at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic.

In contrast to the still standing paradigm of local evolution in Upper Paleolithic (UP) research in Eastern European Paleolithic archaeology, this article proposes a view that sees the Late UP record as a punctuated presence of different UP industries in the southern part of Eastern Europe, i.e. the Great North Black Sea region. This punctuated presence seems to be predominantly connected to the influence of palaeoenvironmental conditions around the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Basic UP features can be summarized as follows: the exclusive occurrence of Epi-Aurignacian sites during Heinrich Event 2; the permanent presence of a regional variant of Epigravettian sites in the Great North Black Sea region since the LGM sensu stricto despite lacking evidence of the preceding Gravettian; the absence of any “generic industrial links” between the Gravettian and Epigravettian in the central part of Eastern Europe; an Early Epigravettian “hiatus” in the central part of Eastern Europe that might explain the presence of some assemblages of “Magdalenian character” before the appearance of Late Epigravettian sites.

International audience; The Badegoulian technocomplex holds a special place among the West European Upper Paleolithic (UP) cultural traditions. Often understated or even bypassed by the main prehistorical overviews, caught between the fascinating Solutrean and the "classic" Magdalenian technocomplexes, it nonetheless probably marks a turning point in the evolving trajectory of hunter-gatherers in present-day France. The deep typo-technological changes, traditionally noted through lithic equipment, have recently been examined in the framework of interdisciplinary programs centered on several key-stratigraphic sequences located in southwest France. The combined analyses of flint, bone and antler assemblages, ornaments and faunal remains, together with the implementation of systematic archaeostratigraphic reassessment and radiometric dating, serve to confirm the speed and the strength of these changes ca. 23 cal ka BP. Without going into detail into the Solutrean-Badegoulian transition issue, the present paper provides a synthetic overview of the main Badegoulian characteristics-and their known variability on the basis of the lithic and osseous equipment that guided the original identification. Following a three-step structure successively exploring the "when", the "what" and the "where" questions, we will look at the current challenges in LGM chronocultural research, between (false) consensus and (true) sticking points.

El Mirón is an important archaeological cave site in Cantabria (Spain) with a stratigraphy covering the late Middle Paleolithic to the Modern Period. The Magdalenian levels are especially rich in artifacts, faunal remains, and features, and included the burial of an adult female (“the Red Lady”), as well as other scattered human remains, while the Neolithic levels contained the oldest combined evidence of ceramics, domesticated grain and livestock in the region. However, in the absence of diagnostic artifacts in many levels that would always provide a traditional cultural chronology, radiocarbon dating has been essential in understanding the temporal framework for human activity at the site. Over the duration of more than two decades, the El Mirón Project has therefore obtained 93 radiocarbon dates, which cover the entire stratigraphic record as found in several different excavation areas. In light of the considerable methodological advances that radiocarbon dating has seen since 1996 we aim to evaluate the reliability of the published 14C record for El Mirón Cave, and to improve the accuracy of the radiocarbon based chronostratigraphy through Bayesian modeling. The results shed light on which dates may be used for future research and where dating discrepancies reflect taphonomic processes, thereby advancing intra-site and regional archaeological comparisons.

This paper briefly presents and critically discusses decorated objects (stone, bone and antler), personal ornaments and other perforated objects from the Upper and Late Palaeolithic in the Netherlands. The finds can be attributed to the Hamburgian, the Federmessergruppen and the Ahrensburgian. To date no engravings and ornaments are known with certainty from the Late Magdalenian or the Creswellian. Finds from the Federmessergruppen confirm the transition from a more naturalistic way of representation to more stylized, geometric Mesolithic art. Besides directly dated objects and objects from secure contexts a number of controversial pieces is discussed as well.

espanolLa cavidad de Aizkoltxo se encuentra junto a la orilla del rio Deba, proxima a otras cavidades con ocupaciones del Magdaleniense Superior-Final (Agarre, Ermittia, Praileaitz I y Urtiaga). A consecuencia de la actividad de furtivos se decidio realizar un sondeo para evaluar la estratigrafia del yacimiento y contextualizar los restos recuperados. En el curso de dichos trabajos se identifico un nivel atribuible al Magdaleniense Superior-Final, cuyo proceso de formacion es poco habitual. En el, ademas de una abundante industria litica y osea datada en 14864-14160 cal BP se localizo el baston que describimos, que conserva al menos cuatro perforaciones y que esta profusamente decorado con motivos figurativos (un ciervo en vision frontal, y dos astas de ciervo ademas de dos equidos o, quizas, leporidos) y signos (trazos simples, ahusados, Vs embutidas, Vs paralelas, etc.). Este excepcional objeto, junto a otros frecuentemente senalados, corrobora la estrecha relacion de los yacimientos de la Cornisa Cantabrica con los del Golfo de Bizkaia, Pirineo Occidental y Central. EnglishThe cave of Aizkoltxo is located beside the river Deba, close to other caves with Upper-Late Magdalenian occupation (Agarre, Ermittia, Praileaitz I and Urtiaga). Due to the activities of looters, an archaeological survey was carried out to evaluate the site’s stratigraphy and to contextualise the recovered materials. During these works, a level that had an uncommon formation process and could be attributed to Upper-Late Magdalenian was identified. In this level, along abundant lithics and osseous artefacts dated between 14864-14160 cal BP, a baton perce was recovered. It has at least four perforations and it is profusely decorated with figurative motifs (a frontal view red deer, two red deer antlers, two equids or, perhaps, leporids) and signs (simple marks, converging lines, multiple embedded and parallel chevrons, etc.). This exceptional object, along with other similar ones, corroborates the tight relation of the sites of the Cantabrian region with sites of the Bay of Biscay and the Central and Occidental Pyrenees.

The Tardiglacial of Portugal has been associated with the Magdalenian culture and lithic industries characterized by tool miniaturization, a diversity of microlith types, and the absence of a intentional blade production. The technological characterization, the chronology and the phasing of the Portuguese Magdalenian have been defined based on data recovered from open-air sites of the Estremadura region (Central Portugal). This paper presents an overview of the research undertaken over the last twenty-five years, including results from research and preventive archaeology fieldwork outside this region, namely in the Côa, Sabor and Vouga Valleys (northern Portugal), as well as in the Guadiana Valley and Algarve regions (southern Portugal). Our chronological boundaries are the Greenland Stadial 2-1b and the 8.2 ka event, from Early Magdalenian to Early Mesolithic. Regarding vegetation, deciduous Quercus underwent expansion during the warm phases of the Tardiglacial and retracted during cold ones, when pines increased. After the Solutrean, the faunal assemblages show a decrease in the variability of the represented species and an increase in fish, birds, small mammals and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Concerning the cultural sequence, the Middle Magdalenian remains uncharacterised. After the Upper Magdalenian, and thenceforward, the use of local raw materials and of cores-on-flakes (burin or carinated endscraper type) for bladelet production gradually increased. In terms of lithic armatures typology, a four-stage sequence can be discerned: 1) Upper Magdalenian with axial points rather than backed bladelets, quite common in previous phases; 2) Final Magdalenian with an increase in the diversity of armature types; 3) Azilian with geometric microliths, curved backed points (Azilian points) and Malaurie points, and 4) Early Mesolithic without retouched bladelet tools or at best a persistence of Azilian armature types. There were some changes in the Palaeolithic rock art of the Douro basin between phase 3 (Final Magdalenian) and phase 4 (Late Azilian): figurative animal representations give place to animal depictions characterized by their geometrical bodies, often filled-in, and red deer becomes the best-represented animal. FCT: PTDC/EPH-ARQ/0326/2014 info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

For the first time we compare lithic production systems from the three archaeological phases identified in the Iberian Mediterranean region between 14.5 and 10.5 ky cal BP: final Magdalenian, microlaminar Epipalaeolithic and sauveterroid Epipalaeolithic. These phases coincided with rapid palaeoenvironmental changes, whose effects on a peripheral region of southern Europe require a regional analysis. The basic blanks used in all three phases were blades and bladelets and there is considerable typological homogeneity. The results obtained in the study of the three phases identified at Coves de Santa Maira provide new grounds for discussion about lithic production systems during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Through this study it has been possible to establish the local and regional origin of the raw materials. At the same time, it has been observed that the standardisation typical of the classic Magdalenian decreased and there was an increase in more flexible and opportunistic chaines operatoires, in addition to the absence of some stone points that are characteristic of more northern facies and cultures. The results have made it possible to contextualise the known data for the central–southern region of the Iberian Peninsula, allowing us to draw up a regional model of lithic production systems and assess the continuity or break between the three phases, as well as providing new possibilities to investigate the relationship with other facies and regional groups.

La grotte de la Mairie à Teyjat (Dordogne) abrite un dispositif pariétal constitué d’une cinquantaine de représentations animales (rennes, cerfs, aurochs, bisons, chevaux, ours et animaux indéterminés) et de nombreux tracés indéterminés qui ont pour caractéristique commune et originale d’être tous gravés sur les vestiges d’un imposant et vieil édifice stalagmitique (planchers, cascade, coulée, etc.) démantelé. Sa découverte date du début du XXème siècle. La question du statut de cet art pariétal d’entrée de grotte, associé à deux importants niveaux d’occupations du Magdalénien supérieur, s’est posée dès les premières recherches conduites par P. Bourrinet, H. Breuil et D. Peyrony. La mobilité de certaines dalles de calcite, leur fragmentation et leur relation avec les occupations préhistoriques ont fait naître l’idée que la grotte de la Mairie était un site « mixte », pariétal et mobilier à la fois. Il y a bien quelques objets ornés sur os, bois de cervidés et sur matériaux lithiques (jais et calcite) découverts dans les deux niveaux de Magdalénien, mais le dispositif gravé sur les grandes plaques de concrétion relève bien dans sa totalité d’un art de paroi, immeuble par destination. Les archives, les publications et nos propres travaux dans le cadre d’un Projet Collectif de Recherche conduit de 2012 à 2017 en servent la démonstration. Mais cette enquête montre aussi que la fragmentation du dispositif pariétal de la Mairie a des causes multiples, anthropiques et surtout naturelles, et qu’il convient d’apprécier le degré d’intégrité du dispositif pariétal. Plusieurs dalles et blocs redécouverts dans les musées, mobiles par accident, ont ainsi retrouvé leur origine pariétale. Ils contribuent à compléter le dispositif iconographique et à réunifier son discours symbolique. The cave of La Mairie in Teyjat (Dordogne) offers a parietal device constituted of about fifty animal representations (reindeer, deer, aurochs, bison, horses, bears and indeterminate animals) as well as many indeterminate traces whose shared and original feature is to be engraved on the remains of an old imposing stalagmitic building (floors, cascade, casting, etc.) dismantled. Its discovery dates from the beginning of the 20th century. The question of the status of this art in the entrance of the cave, associated with two important levels of occupations of the Upper Magdalenian, existed since the first researches conducted by P. Bourrinet, H. Breuil and D. Peyrony. The mobility of some calcite slabs, their fragmentation and their relation with prehistoric occupations have led to the idea that the Cave of La Mairie was a "mixed" site, with both rock art and portable art. There are indeed some decorated objects on bone, antler and lithic materials (jais and calcite) discovered in the two Magdalenian levels, but the engraved dispositive on the large elements of concretion are constitutive of parietal art, immovable by destination. Archives, publications and our own work in the frame of a Collective Research Project conducted from 2012 to 2017 serve this demonstration. But this survey also shows that the fragmentation of the parietal art of La Mairie has multiple causes, anthropic and especially natural, and that one must understand to appreciate the degree of integrity of the art. Several slabs and blocks were rediscovered in the museums, mobile by accident, thus founding their parietal origin. They contribute to complete the iconographic device and to reunite its symbolic discourse

Cette note succincte a pour objectif de signaler a la communaute scientifique des objets peu connus ou inedits de l’art du Magdalenien ardechois retrouves entre 1990 et 1994 lors des fouilles de Gerard Onoratini dans l’abri du Colombier II. En particulier, nous reproduisons ici les releves de deux bouquetins, dont le travail sur le rendu du pelage et l’encornure merite selon nous qu’ils soient integres dans les inventaires stylistiques pour les etudes a venir, qui seront menees par d’autres que nous. La presence d’un sabot boulete, convention stylistique surprenante dans cette periode et cette zone geographique, rappelle une fois encore, s’il en etait besoin, la fragilite des analyses stylistiques basees sur l’inventaire statistique de conventions graphiques aisement reproductibles, sans prise en compte du contexte ni de l’epoque de leur realisation.

Résumé. Découvert en 1894, « l’Homme des Hoteaux » est l’une des rares sépultures du Paléolithique supérieur connues depuis la fin du xixe siècle. Dès sa découverte, elle suscita débats et polémiques entre chercheurs et ne cessa d’agiter le spectre des ambiguïtés quant à son exhumation et son attribution à l’« âge du Renne ». Tombé dans l’oubli et victime d’une histoire mouvementée, le crâne et la mandibule ayant disparu lors d’une exposition, ce document fait l’objet d’un réexamen de l’état de conservation du squelette, de l’âge au décès et du type de sépulture ainsi que d’une réévaluation de l’attribution chronoculturelle à travers l’analyse des composantes archéologiques entourant le squelette, et d’une datation 14Cen SMA obtenue récemment sur un fragment de côte humaine. Cette datation (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) exclut l’association classiquement admise du défunt avec un bâton percé en bois de renne daté en 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Elle interroge de ce fait une stricte attribution au Magdalénien supérieur d’autant plus que la révision chronologique et typo-technologique de l’industrie lithique et osseuse soulève l’hypothèse d’une appartenance à l’Azilien ancien. Abstract. The sepulture of Les Hoteaux, discovered in 1894 is one of the first examples of Upper Palaeolithic burials. It has always provoked debate and polemic between researchers as to its exhumation and the chronocultural attribution to the “reindeer age”. Victim of a turbulent history, the skull and the mandible disappeared during an exhibition, this document emerges today from a lengthy hiatus. This fossil is the subject of a re-examination of the state of preservation of the skeleton, the age at death and the type of burial as well as a re-evaluation of the chronocultural attribution through the analysis of the archaeological components surrounding the skeleton and a recent 14C AMS dating on a fragment of a human rib. It is a primary grave of an adolescent. It is dating (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) excludes the classically accepted association of the skeleton with a perforated baton dated in 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Also, a strict attribution to the upper Magdalenian is questioned because the chronological and typo-technological revision of the lithic and bone industry highlight the hypothesis of an affiliation to the early Azilian.

Résumé. Découvert en 1894, « l’Homme des Hoteaux » est l’une des rares sépultures du Paléolithique supérieur connues depuis la fin du xixe siècle. Dès sa découverte, elle suscita débats et polémiques entre chercheurs et ne cessa d’agiter le spectre des ambiguïtés quant à son exhumation et son attribution à l’« âge du Renne ». Tombé dans l’oubli et victime d’une histoire mouvementée, le crâne et la mandibule ayant disparu lors d’une exposition, ce document fait l’objet d’un réexamen de l’état de conservation du squelette, de l’âge au décès et du type de sépulture ainsi que d’une réévaluation de l’attribution chronoculturelle à travers l’analyse des composantes archéologiques entourant le squelette, et d’une datation 14Cen SMA obtenue récemment sur un fragment de côte humaine. Cette datation (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) exclut l’association classiquement admise du défunt avec un bâton percé en bois de renne daté en 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Elle interroge de ce fait une stricte attribution au Magdalénien supérieur d’autant plus que la révision chronologique et typo-technologique de l’industrie lithique et osseuse soulève l’hypothèse d’une appartenance à l’Azilien ancien. Abstract. The sepulture of Les Hoteaux, discovered in 1894 is one of the first examples of Upper Palaeolithic burials. It has always provoked debate and polemic between researchers as to its exhumation and the chronocultural attribution to the “reindeer age”. Victim of a turbulent history, the skull and the mandible disappeared during an exhibition, this document emerges today from a lengthy hiatus. This fossil is the subject of a re-examination of the state of preservation of the skeleton, the age at death and the type of burial as well as a re-evaluation of the chronocultural attribution through the analysis of the archaeological components surrounding the skeleton and a recent 14C AMS dating on a fragment of a human rib. It is a primary grave of an adolescent. It is dating (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) excludes the classically accepted association of the skeleton with a perforated baton dated in 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Also, a strict attribution to the upper Magdalenian is questioned because the chronological and typo-technological revision of the lithic and bone industry highlight the hypothesis of an affiliation to the early Azilian.

The lithic assemblage studied here comes from the space known as the ' Area de Estancia in Tito Bustillo Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain), a representative Magdalenian site. The remains were found in Sub-level 1c2 in the Lower Complex (1LC), which was excavated by J.A. Moure Romanillo from 1981 to 1983 and is associated with abundant evidence of osseous industry, fauna, portable art, etc. The present study is especially innovative because it introduces a holistic approach to the understanding of the management of lithic resources by hunter -gatherer groups in the late Pleistocene. It establishes the two main groups of raw materials in the assemblage (flint and quartzite) and the different types through a petrographic description, and the different procurement strategies that were employed. Some preliminary results about the functionality of these tools are also offered. The occupants of this cave during the Greenland Stadial 2 traced a diversified and complex dynamic of exploitation of lithic resources that combined both the most immediate, easily available and in greater volume (for example, quartzite and Pilon similar to a flint), and the most distant, of good knapping quality (Flysch flint, funda-mentally). This circulation of raw materials is parallel to the patterns detected in other deposits in the region with a similar chronology. Significant differences are observed in the knapping schemes between raw materials based on the production of blanks for the manufacture of tools, whose typological classification and analysis of use-wear makes us propose a specialized and little diversified functionality, which is usually related to that of temporary occupations. This research was undertaken in the context of Ph.D. scholarship Junta de Castilla y León and Fondo Social Europeo (S. Martín-Jarque), and of the Spanish projects PID2020-114462 GB-100 and PID2020-118359 GB-I00 both funded by the Programa Estatal de Fomento de Generación de Conocimiento y Fortalecimiento Científico y Tecnológico, of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. A. Prieto is a postdoctoral researcher supported by the UPV/EHU and the Spanish Ministry of Science with UE-Next-Generation funds (María Zambrano Fellowship). His research was also supported by the PID2021-126937NB-I00 and the HAR2017-82493-C3-1-P Spanish Ministry of Science projects.

RESUMEN: En las recientes excavaciones llevadas a cabo en el Abrigo de La Castañera (Obregón de Villaescusa, Cantabria), se han identificado niveles del Paleolítico Superior con dataciones correspondientes al Magdaleniense superior-final. En estos niveles han aparecido un gran número de evidencias que prueban la ocupación del abrigo por grupos de cazadores-recolectores. En este TFM se han estudiado, desde una perspectiva arqueozoológica, los materiales de macrofauna aparecidos durante las campañas de 2018 y 2019. Para ello se llevó a cabo la identificación, tanto anatómica, como taxonómica, además del análisis de los procesos tafonómicos que alteraron los materiales biológicos, realizados por los grupos humanos y los diferentes procesos post-deposicionales acontecidos una vez abandonados por éstos. Los resultados han ayudado a comprender la utilización del yacimiento durante el Paleolítico Superior, a la vez que conocer la subsistencia durante en Magdaleniense. ABSTRACT: In the recent excavations carried out at the La Castañera rock shelter (Obregón de Villaescusa, Cantabria), archaeological levels were dated to the Final-Upper Magdalenian. A large number of faunal remains was found in those levels, showing the occupation of the shelter by hunter-gatherer groups. This Master Dissertation is focused on studying, from an archaeozoological perspective, the macrofaunal materials found during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. Therefore, both anatomical and taxonomic identification was achieved, in addition to the analysis of the taphonomic processes that altered these bioarchaeological materials both by human groups and other biostrationomic and diagenetic processes. The results provide insights to understand the use of this rock shelter during the Upper Paleolithic and to disentangle the Magdalenian human. Máster en Prehistoria y Arqueología

In environments poor in vegetal resources, the acquisition of the hunter-gatherers’ alimentary and technical resources largely rests upon the success of the hunting activity; this activity thus possesses a structuring role in their techno-economic organisation. Identifying the hunting weaponry, understanding its design and its management is therefore particularly informative on the dynamics of the Palaeolithic societies, whose economies were likely mostly based on the exploitation of animal resources. This reflection is based on the detailed functional analysis of several large assemblages of microliths from the Middle Magdalenian (19.5-16 cal ka BP) of Tastet cave, Blanchard cave, and La Marche, and on a comparison with the available data on antler points from these sites. This comparative approach allows an in-depth reflection on the hunting weaponry for a period of the recent Palaeolithic marked by regional variations of certain productions and hunting purposes: the Early Middle Magdalenian (EMM; 19-17.5 cal ka BP) and the Late Middle Magdalenian (LMM; 18-16 cal ka BP) are characterised by the regionalisation of certain types of microliths and osseous projectile points, species of ungulates hunted, as well as art and ornament productions; these elements allow recognising several technical traditions in France and northern Spain. The archaeological assemblages considered here illustrate one part of the diversity of this period, as they are associated with distinct traditions and yield different morphologies of microliths and osseous points—two categories of artefacts often associated with the hunting activity, and which may have been used together as composite projectiles. La Marche is at the heart of the definition of the EMM tradition “with Lussac-Angles points” (notably characterised by the production of eponymous short, single-bevelled, slotted points and truncated backed bladelets), Blanchard cave is emblematic of the EMM traditions “with navettes” (notably characterised by long, double-bevelled, slotted points, and truncated backed bladelets), and Tastet cave is associated with the LMM tradition with scalene triangles of the northern slope of the Pyrenees, and yields non-slotted, single-bevelled points.Results allow discussing the economy of hunting weapons, offering hypothesis regarding the weapons’ design, and the potential reasons of design variations. The functional analysis shows that the use-wears on microliths and on certain osseous points are due to the impact and indicate the use of the microliths as projectile inserts: at La Marche, 34% of the 181 analysed microliths have a diagnostic impact fracture, 32% have lateral impact scars and 0.5% have linear impact traces. At Blanchard cave (layers B2-B6), 51% of the 173 analysed microliths have a diagnostic impact fracture, 35% have lateral impact scars, and 0.6% have a linear impact trace. At Tastet cave, where the sampling strategy is not based on the functional potential (as it is in the two previous sites) but includes most microliths excavated between 2013 and 2018, the frequency of damage is closer to the experimental patterns: 2% of the 126 microliths analysed in stratigraphic units 206a and 306 have an impact fracture, and 11% show lateral impact scars. Data from the microliths and projectile points analysis indicate that the projectiles were brought back to the sites after the hunting episodes, and that the damaged lithic or osseous inserts were then replaced if necessary. The accumulation of damaged lithic inserts and of osseous points indicate that these repairing sessions were recurrent. The high standardisation of osseous points (e.g., morphotype of Lussac-Angles, of la Garenne, of the north slope of the Pyrenees), and of microliths (e.g., truncated backed bladelet, scalene triangle), must have allowed the different components of composite projectiles to be interchangeable.The analysis of the orientation, location, and frequency of impact damages on lithic inserts and their comparison to experimental data suggest that microliths from the three archaeological assemblages were likely positioned laterally (i.e., insert distant from the penetrating point of the projectile) or disto-laterally (i.e., insert in direct proximity to the penetrating point) rather than axially (i.e., insert positioned as projectile point). The comparison of the specificities of the impact damage shows their high homogeneity among the different morphotechnic categories of microliths (i.e., longitudinal cutting edge, monopoint, double-point, non-slashing rectangle) at the intra-site scale. There are however substantial differences at the inter-sites level regarding the specificities of impact fractures: bending initiated fractures and burin-like fractures are the most numerous fracture types at La Marche, bending initiated fractures dominate the small set of impact fractures at Tastet cave, whereas spin-off fractures are by far the most numerous ones at Blanchard cave. These differences refer to distinct modalities of application of impact forces, and at this stage of the methodological developments, the hypothesis of variations of propulsion type cannot be verified. Without ruling out this possibility, we suggest that the differences of impact damage are rather correlated to a combination between the differences of projectile point morphologies and different hafting modalities of lithic inserts: the short single-bevelled points of Lussac-Angles have a groove shaped on one or both sides and the length of these grooves corresponds to the average length of the microliths of La Marche, suggesting that lithic inserts were generally isolated on a face of these points. The points from Blanchard cave are longer and the groove on their side are deeper and longer, and several juxtaposed lithic inserts can potentially be inserted in them. This hypothesis is consistent with the predominance of spin-off fractures on microliths, which can be due to the constraints of the axial hafting or, more likely here, to the juxtaposition of lateral or disto-lateral lithic inserts. The size of the single-bevelled points of Tastet cave is intermediary between the two other sites, and their calibre is closer to the Lussac-Angles points. The absence of lateral grooves may refer to a multitude of hafting modalities of lithic inserts, and at this point it is not possible to precisely define how inserts were hafted. These inter-sites differences in projectile designs can be due to multiple factors, including environmental ones (e.g., vegetal cover, climate, season, game type and availability), the efficiency sought from the projectiles (e.g., in terms of penetration depth or width of the slashed wound), or technical styles (e.g., related to cultural identities or technical transfers). Our data underline that the regional and chronological diversity of the Magdalenian is expressed in many fields, and among those fields, the variations of the hunting weaponry is particularly important as it has a key role in the economies of hunter-gatherer societies during the Palaeolithic. The joint approach of the lithic and osseous industries dedicated to the hunting activity thus participates in renewing the understanding of the complex rhythms of technical change among the Late Glacial societies of western France., L’équipement cynégétique tient un rôle essentiel dans les économies des chasseurs-cueilleurs largement basées sur l’exploitation des ressources animales, c’est pourquoi l’identification de cet équipement, la restitution de son design et de sa gestion sont riches d’informations sur les dynamiques de ce type de société du Paléolithique à nos jours. L’analyse fonctionnelle détaillée de plusieurs séries de microlithes du Magdalénien moyen (19.5-16 cal ka BP) issues de la grotte Tastet, de la grotte Blanchard et de la grotte de la Marche, et la comparaison avec les données disponibles sur les pointes osseuses, permettent de discuter l’économie de l’armement de chasse et de proposer une restitution du design des projectiles pour les ensembles archéologiques considérés. La comparaison de la fréquence et de la spécificité des stigmates d’impact sur les microlithes montre leur grande homogénéité à l’échelle intra-site, en revanche, à l’échelle inter-sites, il existe des différences d’endommagement significatives pouvant être liées à des montages différents sur les pointes osseuses. Ces données croisées des industries lithiques et osseuses dédiées à la chasse participent à renouveler notre approche des traditions du Magdalénien moyen en affinant notre perception des rythmes complexes de changements techniques parmi les sociétés tardiglaciaires de l’Ouest de la France.

RESUMEN: En este artículo se revisa la información disponible sobre las intervenciones arqueológicas llevadas a cabo en la conocida como Área de Estancia de la cueva de Tito Bustillo, tanto por Miguel Ángel García Guinea (campaña de 1970), como por J. Alfonso Moure Romanillo (campañas de 1972 a 1986). Se hace particular hincapié en la publicación de nuevos datos sobre el yacimiento, relacionados con dataciones radiocarbónicas y con determinados análisis llevados a cabo a partir de los restos de origen biótico (mamíferos, aves, peces, moluscos, industria ósea y objetos de adorno) y abiótico (procedencia de las materias primas líticas). Por último, se adelantan los primeros resultados sobre la intervención arqueológica llevada a cabo en el año 2020 en esta zona de la cueva, que consistió en la realización de la topografía y en la limpieza de los perfiles dejados en las intervenciones de los años setenta y ochenta del siglo pasado, con el objeto de tomar muestras de diferentes tipos, destinadas a comprender mejor la dinámica del yacimiento. ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the available information about the excavations carried out by Miguel Ángel García Guinea (1970) and J. Alfonso Moure Romanillo (1972-1986) in the chamber in Tito Bustillo cave known as the Living Area. It highlights the publication of new data about the deposit, comprising radiocarbon dates and the analyses of biotic remains (large mammals, birds, fish, molluscs, bone industry and objects of adornment) and abiotic artefacts (provenance of lithic raw materials). It also provides the preliminary results of the archaeological fieldwork in the same part of the cave in 2020, which consisted of surveying the area and cleaning up the sections left by the excavations in the 1970s and 80s, in order to collect different types of samples and acquire a better understanding of the dynamic of the deposit. Este artículo ha sido realizado dentro de dos proyectos. En primer lugar, del proyecto Símbolos subterráneos: una aproximación al pensamiento de los cazadores-recolectores del Tardiglaciar y del Holoceno usando tecnologías informáticas (SimTIC) (HAR2017-82557-P), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad. Gobierno de España; en segundo lugar, Contactos a corta, media y larga distancia entre los grupos humanos del Paleolítico superior en el Golfo de Bizkaia a través de los recursos bióticos y abióticos (PaleontheMove) (PID2020-114462GB-I00), financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Gobierno de España.

The Mas d'Azil cave is a major site for the study of European prehistory, and the evolution of the discipline itself, especially regarding our understanding of the late Upper Paleolithic. In particular, its mobiliary art is one of the richest and the most beautiful known in a Magdalenian context. Lesser known however, is its rock art. Few publications are devoted to these works of prehistoric art, and despite several field work campaigns we still lack a general synthesized study of them at the scale of the entire cave system. A survey of the Mas d’Azil cave system is currently underway, and the aim of this project is to map the archaeological and geoarchaeological organization of the site. Obtaining a reliable topography of the cave, an endeavor begun in the 1980s but never finished, is essential to resituating the archaeological deposits relative to the various natural processes and formations having affected and conditioned their deposition and conservation, as well as the different historical phases of exploitation of the cave. Using this survey approach, we already have a clearer picture of the repartition of Magdalenian areas and circulation spaces of the right bank. Thus, if the residential areas are located on the upper parts of the cave (La Rotonde, Galerie Des Silex), that benefit from more stable and mild temperatures, the lower parts (Salle Piette, Galerie Rouzaud) do not appear to have been residential areas. Our approach also shows that the current entrance of the “Galerie Breuil”, which is located at the end of one of the lower rooms and is the main decorated part of the cave, was likely unknown to the Magdalenians. They could only have entered the Galerie Breuil via a smaller hidden corridor that was blocked after the Magdalenian occupation, as the growth of the speleothem obstructing this passage dates to 13 000 y BP. The clear difficulty encountered by Magdalenian occupants as they attempted to access this gallery may have contributed to a symbolic separation between residential and symbolic, and therefore decorated, spaces, where access to the latter may have been actively limited and/or controlled. In this paper, we propose to describe the palaeotopography of the cave during the Magdalenian period, supported by the analysis of the stratigraphy, new dates, as well as the historical archives from early excavations. By crossing these different lines of evidence we will investigate the question of accessibility and visibility of prehistoric rock art in a cave that have sometimes been considered a Magdalenian “aggregation site”.