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1. A 36,200-year-old carving from Grotte des Gorges, Amange, Jura, France

Author

Francesco d’Errico, Serge David, Hélène Coqueugniot, Christian Meister, Ewa Dutkiewicz, Romain Pigeaud, Luca Sitzia, Didier Cailhol, Mathieu Bosq, Christophe Griggo, Jehanne Affolter, Alain Queffelec, and Luc Doyon

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Abstract The earliest European carvings, made of mammoth ivory, depict animals, humans, and anthropomorphs. They are found at Early Aurignacian sites of the Swabian Jura in Germany. Despite the wide geographical spread of the Aurignacian across Europe, these carvings have no contemporaneous counterparts. Here, we document a small, intriguing object, that sheds light on this uniqueness. Found at the Grotte des Gorges (Jura, France), in a layer sandwiched between Aurignacian contexts and dated to c. 36.2 ka, the object bears traces of anthropogenic modifications indicating intentional carving. Microtomographic, microscopic, three-dimensional roughness and residues analyses reveal the carving is a fragment of a large ammonite, which was modified to represent a caniformia head decorated with notches and probably transported for long time in a container stained with ochre. While achieving Swabian Jura-like miniaturization, the Grotte des Gorges specimen displays original features, indicating the craftsman emulated ivory carvings while introducing significant technical, thematic, and stylistic innovations. This finding suggests a low degree of cultural connectivity between Early Aurignacian hunter-gatherer groups in the production of their symbolic material culture. The pattern conforms to the existence of cultural boundaries limiting the transmission of symbolic practices while leaving space for the emergence of original regional expressions.

Published
2023
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2. Symbolic innovation at the onset of the Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia shown by the personal ornaments from Tolbor-21 (Mongolia)

Author

Solange Rigaud, Evgeny P. Rybin, Arina M. Khatsenovich, Alain Queffelec, Clea H. Paine, Byambaa Gunchinsuren, Sahra Talamo, Daria V. Marchenko, Tsedendorj Bolorbat, Davaakhuu Odsuren, J. Christopher Gillam, Masami Izuho, Alexander Yu. Fedorchenko, Dashdorjgochoo Odgerel, Roman Shelepaev, Jean-Jacques Hublin, and Nicolas Zwyns

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Abstract Figurative depictions in art first occur ca. 50,000 years ago in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Considered by most as an advanced form of symbolic behavior, they are restricted to our species. Here, we report a piece of ornament interpreted as a phallus-like representation. It was found in a 42,000 ca.-year-old Upper Paleolithic archaeological layer at the open-air archaeological site of Tolbor-21, in Mongolia. Mineralogical, microscopic, and rugosimetric analyses points toward the allochthonous origin of the pendant and a complex functional history. Three-dimensional phallic pendants are unknown in the Paleolithic record, and this discovery predates the earliest known sexed anthropomorphic representation. It attests that hunter-gatherer communities used sex anatomical attributes as symbols at a very early stage of their dispersal in the region. The pendant was produced during a period that overlaps with age estimates for early introgression events between Homo sapiens and Denisovans, and in a region where such encounters are plausible.

Published
2023
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3. Technological and functional analysis of 80–60 ka bone wedges from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

Author

Francesco d’Errico, Lucinda R. Backwell, Lyn Wadley, Lila Geis, Alain Queffelec, William E. Banks, and Luc Doyon

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Abstract Fully shaped, morphologically standardized bone tools are generally considered reliable indicators of the emergence of modern behavior. We report the discovery of 23 double-beveled bone tools from ~ 80,000–60,000-year-old archaeological layers at Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We analyzed the texture of use-wear on the archaeological bone tools, and on bone tool replicas experimentally used in debarking trees, processing rabbit pelts with and without an ochre compound, digging in sediment in and outside a cave, and on ethnographic artefacts. Debarking trees and digging in humus-rich soil produce use-wear patterns closely matching those observed on most Sibudu tools. This tool type is associated with three different Middle Stone Age cultural traditions at Sibudu that span 20,000 years, yet they are absent at contemporaneous sites. Our results support a scenario in which some southern African early modern human groups developed and locally maintained specific, highly standardized cultural traits while sharing others at a sub-continental scale. We demonstrate that technological and texture analyses are effective means by which to infer past behaviors and assess the significance of prehistoric cultural innovations.

Published
2022
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5. The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy)

Author

Marie-Hélène Moncel, Carmen Santagata, Alison Pereira, Sébastien Nomade, Pierre Voinchet, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Camille Daujeard, Antonio Curci, Cristina Lemorini, Bruce Hardy, Giacomo Eramo, Claudio Berto, Jean-Paul Raynal, Marta Arzarello, Beniamino Mecozzi, Alessio Iannucci, Raffaele Sardella, Ignazio Allegretta, Emanuela Delluniversità, Roberto Terzano, Pauline Dugas, Gwenolé Jouanic, Alain Queffelec, Andrea d’Andrea, Rosario Valentini, Eleonora Minucci, Laura Carpentiero, and Marcello Piperno

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Abstract Notarchirico (Southern Italy) has yielded the earliest evidence of Acheulean settlement in Italy and four older occupation levels have recently been unearthed, including one with bifaces, extending the roots of the Acheulean in Italy even further back in time. New 40Ar/39Ar on tephras and ESR dates on bleached quartz securely and accurately place these occupations between 695 and 670 ka (MIS 17), penecontemporaneous with the Moulin-Quignon and la Noira sites (France). These new data demonstrate a very rapid expansion of shared traditions over Western Europe during a period of highly variable climatic conditions, including interglacial and glacial episodes, between 670 and 650 (i.e., MIS17/MIS16 transition). The diversity of tools and activities observed in these three sites shows that Western Europe was populated by adaptable hominins during this time. These conclusions question the existence of refuge areas during intense glacial stages and raise questions concerning understudied migration pathways, such as the Sicilian route.

Published
2020
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6. Correction: A Database of Lapidary Artifacts in the Caribbean for the Ceramic Age

Author

Alain Queffelec, Pierrirck Fouéré, and Jean-Baptiste Caverne

Subjects
caribbean, lapidary artifacts, ceramic age, beads, pendants, raw materials, Archaeology, CC1-960
Abstract

This article details a correction to: Queffelec, A., Fouéré, P. and Caverne, J.-B., 2021. A Database of Lapidary Artifacts in the Caribbean for the Ceramic Age. Journal of Open Archaeology Data, 9, p.2. DOI: 'http://doi.org/10.5334/joad.74'

Published
2021
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7. A Database of Lapidary Artifacts in the Caribbean for the Ceramic Age

Author

Alain Queffelec, Pierrirck Fouéré, and Jean-Baptiste Caverne

Subjects
caribbean, lapidary artifacts, ceramic age, beads, pendants, raw materials, Archaeology, CC1-960
Abstract

Lapidary artifacts show an impressive abundance and diversity during the Ceramic period in the Caribbean islands, especially at the beginning of this period. Most of the raw materials used in this production do not exist naturally on the islands of the Lesser Antilles, nevertheless, many archaeological sites have yielded such artifacts on these islands. In the framework of a four-years-long project, we created a database by combining first hand observations and analysis, as well as a thorough literature survey. The result is a database including more than 100 sites and almost 5000 beads, pendants, blanks and raw material fragments.

Published
2021
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8. A Paleolithic bird figurine from the Lingjing site, Henan, China.

Author

Zhanyang Li, Luc Doyon, Hui Fang, Ronan Ledevin, Alain Queffelec, Emeline Raguin, and Francesco d'Errico

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

The recent identification of cave paintings dated to 42-40 ka BP in Borneo and Sulawesi highlights the antiquity of painted representations in this region. However, no instances of three-dimensional portable art, well attested in Europe since at least 40 ka BP, were documented thus far in East Asia prior to the Neolithic. Here, we report the discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved miniature carving of a standing bird from the site of Lingjing, Henan, China. Microscopic and microtomographic analyses of the figurine and the study of bone fragments from the same context reveal the object was made of bone blackened by heating and carefully carved with four techniques that left diagnostic traces on the entire surface of the object. Critical analysis of the site's research history and stratigraphy, the cultural remains associated with the figurine and those recovered from the other archeological layers, as well as twenty-eight radiometric ages obtained on associated archeological items, including one provided by a bone fragment worked with the same technique recorded on the object, suggest a Late Paleolithic origin for the carving, with a probable age estimated to 13,500 years old. The carving, which predates previously known comparable instances from this region by 8,500 years, demonstrates that three-dimensional avian representations were part of East Asian Late Pleistocene cultural repertoires and identifies technological and stylistic peculiarities distinguishing this newly discovered art tradition from previous and contemporary examples found in Western Europe and Siberia.

Published
2020
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9. Patterns of change and continuity in ochre use during the late Middle Stone Age of the Horn of Africa: The Porc-Epic Cave record.

Author

Daniela Eugenia Rosso, Francesco d'Errico, and Alain Queffelec

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Ochre is found at numerous Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites and plays a key role in early modern human archaeology. Here we analyse the largest known East African MSA ochre assemblage, comprising 40 kg of ochre, found at Porc-Epic Cave, Ethiopia, spanning a period of at least 4,500 years. Visual characterisation of ochre types, microscopic identification of traces of modification, morphological and morphometric analysis of ochre pieces and modified areas, experimental reproduction of grinding processes, surface texture analysis of archaeological and experimentally ground ochre facets, laser granulometry of ochre powder produced experimentally on different grindstones and by Hamar and Ovahimba women from Ethiopia and Namibia respectively, were, for the first time, combined to explore diachronic shifts in ochre processing technology. Our results identify patterns of continuity in ochre acquisition, treatment and use reflecting both persistent use of the same geological resources and similar uses of iron-rich rocks by late MSA Porc-Epic inhabitants. Considering the large amount of ochre processed at the site, this continuity can be interpreted as the expression of a cohesive cultural adaptation, largely shared by all community members and consistently transmitted through time. A gradual shift in preferred processing techniques and motions is interpreted as reflecting cultural drift within this practice. Evidence for the grinding of ochre to produce small quantities of powder throughout the sequence is consistent with a use in symbolic activities for at least part of the ochre assemblage from Porc-Epic Cave.

Published
2017
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10. Evaluating the Photoprotective Effects of Ochre on Human Skin by In Vivo SPF Assessment: Implications for Human Evolution, Adaptation and Dispersal.

Author

Riaan F Rifkin, Laure Dayet, Alain Queffelec, Beverley Summers, Marlize Lategan, and Francesco d'Errico

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Archaeological indicators of cognitively modern behaviour become increasingly prevalent during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). Although the exploitation of ochre is viewed as a key feature of the emergence of modern human behaviour, the uses to which ochre and ochre-based mixtures were put remain ambiguous. Here we present the results of an experimental study exploring the efficacy of ochre as a topical photoprotective compound. This is achieved through the in vivo calculation of the sun protection factor (SPF) values of ochre samples obtained from Ovahimba women (Kunene Region, Northern Namibia) and the Palaeozoic Bokkeveld Group deposits of the Cape Supergroup (Western Cape Province, South Africa). We employ visible spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and granulometric analyses to characterise ochre samples. The capacity of ochre to inhibit the susceptibility of humans to the harmful effects of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is confirmed and the mechanisms implicated in the efficacy of ochre as a sunscreen identified. It is posited that the habitual application of ochre may have represented a crucial innovation for MSA humans by limiting the adverse effects of ultraviolet exposure. This may have facilitated the colonisation of geographic regions largely unfavourable to the constitutive skin colour of newly arriving populations.

Published
2015
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11. An ochered fossil marine shell from the mousterian of fumane cave, Italy.

Author

Marco Peresani, Marian Vanhaeren, Ermanno Quaggiotto, Alain Queffelec, and Francesco d'Errico

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

A scanty but varied ensemble of finds challenges the idea that Neandertal material culture was essentially static and did not include symbolic items. In this study we report on a fragmentary Miocene-Pliocene fossil marine shell, Aspamarginata, discovered in a Discoid Mousterian layer of the Fumane Cave, northern Italy, dated to at least 47.6-45.0 Cal ky BP. The shell was collected by Neandertals at a fossil exposure probably located more than 100 kms from the site. Microscopic analysis of the shell surface identifies clusters of striations on the inner lip. A dark red substance, trapped inside micropits produced by bioeroders, is interpreted as pigment that was homogeneously smeared on the outer shell surface. Dispersive X-ray and Raman analysis identify the pigment as pure hematite. Of the four hypotheses we considered to explain the presence of this object at the site, two (tool, pigment container) are discarded because in contradiction with observations. Although the other two ("manuport", personal ornament) are both possible, we favor the hypothesis that the object was modified and suspended by a 'thread' for visual display as a pendant. Together with contextual and chronometric data, our results support the hypothesis that deliberate transport and coloring of an exotic object, and perhaps its use as pendant, was a component of Neandertal symbolic culture, well before the earliest appearance of the anatomically modern humans in Europe.

Published
2013
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12. Le travail des peaux et du cuir durant le Haut-Empire à Bordeaux/Burdigala (Gironde), d’après les vestiges mis au jour sur le site de la rue Jean-Fleuret

Author

Vanessa Elizagoyen, Christophe Sireix, Gisèle Allenet de Ribemont, Laurence Benquet, Philippe Borgard, Emilie Claud, Katleen Couchez, Marie-France Dietsch-Sellami, Stéphan Dubernet, Véronique Guitton, Jérôme Hénique, Yannick Le Digol, Martine Leguilloux, Sébastien Lepetz, Fabrice Leroy, Hélène Martin, Alain Queffelec, Stéphanie Raux, Nima Saedlou, Farid Sellami, Laure Simon, and Serge Vigier

Subjects
Archaeology, CC1-960
Abstract

Successive excavations in and around the Mériadeck neighbourhood of Bordeaux have revealed the occupation of a humid suburban area on the western edge of the city’s capital, dominated by numerous small streams and regularly affected by flooding. From the 1st century BC onwards, it is particularly indicative of the establishment of iron and non-ferrous metalworking crafts, as well as workshops dedicated to the working of hides, leather, animal bones and possibly textiles. Strong clues point to the immediate proximity of the oldest glassmaking workshop in Burdigala, as well as the presence of horn makers.Within this artisanal neighbourhood, the Jean-Fleuret site offers an exceptional mix of archaeological material, including: 8,800 botanically tanned leather scraps, 26 of which bear tanners’ marks, over 6,300 animal bone remains, wooden objects and equipment, specific tools and alum amphorae from Lipari. This evidence sheds light on techniques used in hide working and the production of leather goods in the Early Roman Empire. It also serves at least partially to reveal the organization of this kind of workshop and the operational sequence of the crafts practised in it. Its importance and novelty lie in the fact that it provides insight into a poorly known and under-documented craft, that of hide working, as well as the production of leather objects. It also enables us to track the changes in workshop practices over almost a century.From the earliest period, between 50 and 110/120, artisanry was practiced around a large earthen and wooden building erected on the highest part of the site. Close to the Peugue stream, to the south, a 65 m2 basin may have been used as an area for “river work”, the purpose of which was to clean, scrape and prepare hides for further processing. To the north, a tank with a capacity of almost 2 m3, with clay-sealed walls, was undoubtedly used to impregnate goat skins with a mixture including alum and/or oil, and may also have been used for “chamoisage” or buffing. The building would then have housed the dressing-finishing activities, together with the production of objects from tanned hides processed in another workshop and alum-treated hides. Olive oil was used to treat goat skins, but it is not known whether it was used during the alum treatment, during the dressing-finishing operations or whether it was used to buff the skins, i.e. for oil-only treatment. The use of lithic macro-tools and metal pins is also linked to the specific treatment of the hides of small ruminants, whether for finishing or to facilitate the impregnation of treatment products. A circular, recessed hearth may have been used to heat the room in which these activities took place, in this case acting as an oven to facilitate oil penetration during lubrication. It may also have been used to heat water, fat or any other liquid in an overhead container. The cupped quadrangular pits identified in the other rooms could have been used for finishing, a process in which various substances were applied and the skins were buffed.Between 110/120 and 130/140, the workshop’s specialty changed. The focus shifted from goats to adult cattle. This is the first evidence in Antiquity of the use of alum for the “whitening” of cattle hides, a process previously thought to have appeared in modern times. The use of alum increased, while Baetican olive oil was no longer employed. Hides of this type may have been finished using locally-sourced vegetable oils, such as linseed, with which it is possible to produce a glue used in the manufacture of a “white finishing paste”. Animal fats can also be used exclusively to treat these hides. The dressing and finishing processes differed from those used for goatskins, with no macro-tools or iron plugs being employed.Later, long-bone and horn production supplemented the work on cattle hides. Leather objects continued to be assembled, although it is not clear whether tanned cattle hides were used. Nearby, a glassmaker’s workshop appears. The craft activity identified at Jean-Fleuret ceased around 150/160, at which time the area appears to have been put under cultivation, perhaps until the end of the 2nd century. The neighbouring site of Fly Islet, 100 m to the east, then appears to have taken over in terms of craft activity, as indicated by the series of vats comparable to those at Jean-Fleuret, distributed within two spaces separated by a line of wooden stakes and piles perpendicular to the channel and served by a wooden landing stage. By the 3rd century, the installations had been abandoned, and a midden on the banks of the river reflects activity practised nearby by horn-makers, in the vicinity of which hide-processing probably remained active, indicated by the combined presence of Lipari amphorae and African oil amphorae.

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13. Diversity and similarity in the Ceramic Age lapidary production in the Caribbean islands

Author

Alain Queffelec

Abstract

Personal ornaments are an important part of the archaeological record, as theyprovide valuable insights into various aspects of past human societies. Amongthese ornaments, those made of lithic materials are particularly significant due to their wide distribution and excellent preservation in archaeological sites. In the Caribbean islands, during the Ceramic Age, lapidary artifacts exhibit remarkable abundance and diversity in terms of both raw materials and typology. While archaeologists have previously highlighted differences between the Saladoid and Post-Saladoid periods, this was based on incomplete data without robust mineralogical or typological identification. A South-American origin of the specific lapidary production of the Early Ceramic period has been proposed, following the origin of Ceramic production styles, but relies on the same incomplete data. In this article, I demonstrate that robust analysis of extensive datasets, combining first-hand identification and literature survey, enables to address the questions of spactial and temporal distribution, diversity and similarity of lithic beads and pendants during the Caribbean Age in the Antilles. The study reveals that the Early and Middle Ceramic periods exhibit higher raw material and typological diversity compared to later periods. Furthermore, similarities are greater between sites attributed to the same period than between geographically close sites, both in terms of mineralogy and typology. Finally, I establish that the lapidary production during the Early Ceramic Age differs significantly between South American sites and Saladoid sites in the archipelago. Some indications pointing to the Isthmo-Colombian area are proposed, which will require further research to enhance our understanding to the same level as that of the Caribbean islands, enabling advanced comparisons.

Published
2023

14. Last Glacial Maximum cryogenic calcite deposits in an alluvial fan at Villetoureix, southwest France

Author

Pascal Bertran, Isabelle Couchoud, Karine Charlier, Christine Hatté, Yannick Lefrais, Nicole Limondin‐Lozouet, Alain Queffelec, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives - Centre de recherches archéologiques de Bègles (Inrap, Bègles), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Melbourne, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Silesian University of Technology, Archéosciences Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Institut National de Recherches en Archéologie Préventive, Service Départemental de l'Archéologie de la Dordogne.

Subjects
cryogenic calcite, Last Glacial Maximum, O and C stable isotopes, malacofauna, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, icing, southwest France, Earth-Surface Processes
Abstract

International audience; The origin of white calcite silts forming 0.5 to 3-cm-thick lenses in alluvial fan deposits 14C-dated to the Last Glacial Maximum in the Dronne Valley (Dordogne, southwest France) is investigated using microscopic imagery, chemistry, and O and C stable isotopes. The calcite silts, composed mainly of aggregates of 3–5-μm euhedral crystals, do not resemble secondary precipitations of pedological origin because of the strata-like pattern and the lack of clearly identifiable biological structures. Their association with evidence of ice formation in the soil (platy structure, involutions) suggests that they were deposited in a deep seasonal frost context. Their isotopic composition differs significantly from those of detrital carbonates and of Holocene bioprecipitation and seems to be best explained by precipitation under closed-system conditions. Calculation of the isotopic composition of calcite that would have formed in equilibrium with groundwater of regional LGM aquifers provides values that are in the range of the composition of the calcite silts for a precipitation temperature close to 0°C. Therefore, these deposits are interpreted as cryogenic calcite precipitated from waters close to saturation with respect to calcite freezing at the base of/within icings or within the ground, possibly from frost blisters. Similar calcite precipitation at the outlet of karstic springs may have been abundant in the calcareous terrains of southwest France during the LGM, although still unrecognized in the geological record.

Published
2023

15. Exploring Hypotheses on Early Holocene Caspian Seafaring Through Personal Ornaments: A Study of Changing Styles and Symbols in Western Central Asia

Author

Solange Rigaud, Alain Queffelec, François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, Saltanat Alisher kyzy, Stanley H. Ambrose, Ronan Ledevin, Redzhep Kurbanov, Alexandra Buzhilova, Natalia Berezina, Rustam H. Ziganshin, and Svetlana Shnaider

Subjects
Archeology, Conservation, Education
Abstract

This article studies the discoid Didacna sp. shell beads discovered at Kaylu, a Middle Holocene burial site located in Southern Turkmenistan. Microscopic, morphometric, spectrometric, and SEM analyses were carried out on the material to identify how the beads were manufactured and used. New radiocarbon dating and bioanthropological data to age and sex the two skeletons discovered in the burials are provided. A regional synthesis shows that personal ornaments from the Caspian region were diversified through time and that a stylistic shift between the last foragers and the first farmers occurred. We also observed strong correspondences between the personal ornaments documented in the northern, eastern, and western Caspian Sea during the Neolithic, with no evidence of similar symbolic production in Northern Iran. We propose that a northern route may have allowed the diffusion of common ornamental traditions in the Caspian region to the exclusion of the southern Caspian. Alternatively, discontinuities in material culture diffusion in coastal areas could be evidence of maritime voyaging. Seafaring may have granted the fast and spatially erratic diffusion of specific bead types, people, information, knowledge, and symbols from both sides of the Caspian Sea, by long maritime voyages or by leapfrog diffusion during the Neolithic.

Published
2023

16. Technological analysis and experimental reproduction of the techniques of perforation of quartz beads from the Ceramic period in the Antilles

Author

Madeleine Raymond, Pierrick Fouéré, Ronan Ledevin, Yannick Lefrais, and Alain Queffelec

Abstract

Personal ornaments are a very specific kind of material production in human societies and are particularly valuable artifacts for the archaeologist seeking to understand past societies. In the Caribbean, Early Ceramic Age sites have yielded a highly diverse production both in terms of raw materials and typology. In recent years they have been the subject of renewed interest, mainly based on the diversity and provenance of raw materials, and on typological similarity, used as proxies for exchange networks, social interactions and the evolution of these phenomena through the Ceramic Age. Meanwhile, the chaîne opératoire for lithic beads and pendants has not been investigated in detail, including the process of creating narrow perforations in quartz beads several centimeters long. This hard material (7 on the Mohs scale), represented as rock crystal and amethyst in the collections, is indeed very difficult to perforate without the use of metal drills or harder minerals used as drill-bits or abrasives such as diamond or emery. In this work we demonstrate that it is possible to produce these perforations with cactus thorns and crushed quartz as abrasive powder. We also show that the wear created by our experimental work is fully comparable to the stigmata visible on the archaeological artifacts. This process, using only materials available to Ceramic Age people, also accounts for the absence of both adequate drills and production wastes of quartz beads in the archaeological record. The investment of Ceramic Age inhabitants of the Lesser Antilles in the production of the many beads made of very hard material recovered in archaeological excavations is once again highlighted. The perforation process, not investigated in detail so far in this archaeological context, has to be taken into account in the value of these highly symbolic artifacts, in addition to the exotic provenance of the raw material.

Published
2022

17. Lithic raw materials provenance in the Caribbean islands: flint, jasper, obsidian and so on

Author

Alain Queffelec, Vincent Delvigne, Arthur Leck, Morgane de Parthenay, Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet, Céline Leandri-Bressy, Isaac Shearn, Christian Soutvenot, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Technologie et Ethnologie des Mondes Préhistoriques (TEMPS), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), université de Liège - service de Préhistoire, Archéosciences Bordeaux, Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), De la Molécule aux Nanos-objets : Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies (MONARIS), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Corse (Drac Corse), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Morgan State University, and Service régional de l'archéologie. Direction des affaires culturelles de la Guadeloupe (SRA-DAC Guadeloupe)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry, [SDU.STU.PE]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Petrography, [SDU.STU.VO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Volcanology, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS
Abstract

Lithic materials in archaeological records have always been the object of special attention by archaeologists, especially from prehistoric contexts. They draw such attention thanks to their often excellent preservation, and the information that the intrinsic characteristics of the rocks can yield about past behaviors including mobility of goods and people through chemical analysis and provenance studies. Although they do not represent the majority of the artifacts recovered from precolonial archaeological sites in the Lesser Antilles, their diversity necessitates varied knowledge, methods, and skills to be studied. Here, we present preliminary results from lithic specialists in characterization of volcanic rocks, diorite, turquoise used for bead production, and silicites.Several volcanic glass artifacts have been identified for the first time from Saladoid sites from Guadeloupe and Dominica. However, many questions remain about the geological origin and the petrogenesis of these artifacts given their very specific chemical composition. On the other hand, detailed microtextural and micropaleontological studies of the different siliceous raw materials provide first results identifying and mapping their origin and distribution among the Caribbean islands. As a first glance of what will become a long-term project, results presented in this paper demonstrate the capacity of petrological studies carried out with appropriate technical methods to help us improve our knowledge of the Ceramic Age populations’ movement and rock distribution networks.

Published
2022

18. Provenancing turquoise: a difficult task

Author

Alain Queffelec

Subjects
Lapidary, Archeology, Provenance, Turquoise, visual_art, visual_art.visual_art_medium, Gemstone, Archaeology
Abstract

Turquoise is a blue-green phosphate gem used for millennia in the lapidary artwork of numerous past societies. It was one of the first gemstones, and has proved to be a valuable material that was part of long-distance exchange networks on every continent where it is available. Nonetheless, provenance studies for this material is absent from gemological literature, and scarce in the archaeological literature. This work reviews the mineralogy, geology, geographical and archaeological distribution of this gemstone, and presents different mineralogical, geochemical and spectroscopic approaches used in provenance studies. Sophisticated methods are needed to reconstruct the origin of turquoise and the commercial networks in the ancient times for this lapidary raw material, and we show that, even with these methods, a lot of work still remains to be done.

Published
2020

20. Multiproxy Analysis of Upper Palaeolithic Lustrous Gravels

Author

Lila Geis, Francesco d'Errico, Fiona Jordan, Michel Brenet, and Alain Queffelec

Abstract

Upper Palaeolithic sites in southwestern France attributed to the Upper Gravettian and the Solutrean yielded sub spherical gravels with a highly shiny appearance that have intrigued researchers since the 1930s. In this work, we analyze specimens from five sites, including the recently excavated Solutrean site of Landry, to establish whether their presence in archaeological layers and peculiar aspect are due to natural processes or human agency. We study the spatial distribution of gravels at Landry and submit archaeological gravels from the five sites, natural formations, Landry sediment sieving, and polishing experiments with a rotary tumbling machine to morphometric, colorimetric and textural analyses. Our results suggest that the lustrous gravels found at the five sites result from deliberate selection and their shiny appearance is the probable consequence of prolonged contact with a soft material such as animal skin. Ethnographic accounts indicate that these gravels may have been used for magico-religious ritual purposes (charms, sorcery, divination etc.), in games, as elements of musical instruments, and as items serving other social and personal purposes. We argue that these objects reflect a cultural innovation emerged during the Gravettian and continued into the Solutrean.

Published
2022

21. The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy)

Author

Marie‑Hélène Moncel, Carmen Santagata, Alison Pereira, Sébastien Nomade, Pierre Voinchet, Jean‑Jacques Bahain, Camille Daujeard, Antonio Curci, Cristina Lemorini, Bruce Hardy, Giacomo Eramo, Claudio Berto, Jean‑Paul Raynal, Marta Arzarello, Beniamino Mecozzi, Alessio Iannucci, Raffaele Sardella, Ignazio Allegretta, Emanuela Delluniversità, Roberto Terzano, Pauline Dugas, Gwenolé Jouanic, Alain Queffelec, Andrea d’Andrea, Rosario Valentini, Eleonora Minucci, Laura Carpentiero, Marcello Piperno, and Marie‑Hélène Moncel, Carmen Santagata, Alison Pereira, Sébastien Nomade, Pierre Voinchet, Jean‑Jacques Bahain, Camille Daujeard, Antonio Curci, Cristina Lemorini, Bruce Hardy, Giacomo Eramo, Claudio Berto, Jean‑Paul Raynal, Marta Arzarello, Beniamino Mecozzi, Alessio Iannucci, Raffaele Sardella, Ignazio Allegretta, Emanuela Delluniversità, Roberto Terzano, Pauline Dugas, Gwenolé Jouanic, Alain Queffelec, Andrea d’Andrea, Rosario Valentini, Eleonora Minucci, Laura Carpentiero, Marcello Piperno

Subjects
Paleolitico inferiore, Acheuleano, Industria litica, Fauna, Tafonomia
Abstract

Notarchirico (Southern Italy) has yielded the earliest evidence of Acheulean settlement in Italy and four older occupation levels have recently been unearthed, including one with bifaces, extending the roots of the Acheulean in Italy even further back in time. New 40Ar/39Ar on tephras and ESR dates on bleached quartz securely and accurately place these occupations between 695 and 670 ka (MIS 17), penecontemporaneous with the Moulin-Quignon and la Noira sites (France). These new data demonstrate a very rapid expansion of shared traditions over Western Europe during a period of highly variable climatic conditions, including interglacial and glacial episodes, between 670 and 650 (i.e., MIS17/MIS16 transition). The diversity of tools and activities observed in these three sites shows that Western Europe was populated by adaptable hominins during this time. These conclusions question the existence of refuge areas during intense glacial stages and raise questions concerning understudied migration pathways, such as the Sicilian route.

Published
2020

22. Correction: A Database of Lapidary Artifacts in the Caribbean for the Ceramic Age

Author

Pierrirck Fouéré, Jean-Baptiste Caverne, Alain Queffelec, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, media_common.quotation_subject, computer.software_genre, 01 natural sciences, pendants, Lapidary, 0601 history and archaeology, Ceramic, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, media_common, lapidary artifacts, Caribbean, Lapidary artifacts, Ceramic Age, Beads, Pendants, Raw materials, 060102 archaeology, Database, beads, 06 humanities and the arts, Art, ceramic age, Archaeology, visual_art, caribbean, raw materials, visual_art.visual_art_medium, computer, CC1-960
Abstract

This article details a correction to: Queffelec, A., Fouéré, P. and Caverne, J.-B., 2021. A Database of Lapidary Artifacts in the Caribbean for the Ceramic Age. Journal of Open Archaeology Data, 9, p.2. DOI: 'http://doi.org/10.5334/joad.74'

Published
2021

23. Peer Community In Archaeology: community-based open peer-reviewing of preprints

Author

Alain Queffelec, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Queffelec, Alain

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS
Abstract

International audience

Published
2021

24. IsoArcH: Open Science in Archaeology event

Author

Ben Marwick, Trudy Turner, Connie Mulligan, Emma Ganley, Alain Queffelec, Kevin Salesse, Laura Fortunato, and Esther Plomp

Subjects
Data Sharing, UKRN, Open Methods, PCI in Archaeology, IsoArcH, Open Research, preprint, Open Access, Peer Community, Open Science, Isotopes, Archaeology, Open Data, protocols.io, Bioarchaeology, database
Abstract

The IsoArcH Open Science in Archaeology event took place on the 20th of May. This overview presents a brief overview of the main takeaways of the event (1-IsoArcH-Event_Summary), the programme (2-IsoArcH-Event_Programme), as well as the slides used by the speakers (3-7).

Published
2021
Full Text
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25. Earliest known human burial in Africa

Author

François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, Emmanuel Ndiema, Belén Notario, Ian Simpson, Africa Pitarch Martí, Will Archer, David Larreina, Nikos Kourampas, Michael D. Petraglia, Patrick Roberts, Stéphan Dubernet, Nicole Boivin, Francesco d'Errico, Mary E. Prendergast, Mohammad Javad Shoaee, José María Bermúdez de Castro, Patrick Faulkner, Laura Martín-Francés, Jennifer M. Miller, Elena Santos, María Martinón-Torres, Katerina Douka, Ana Álvaro Gallo, Ceri Shipton, Pilar Fernández-Colón, James Blinkhorn, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Solange Rigaud, Simon J. Armitage, Noel Amano, Julio Mercader, Alain Queffelec, Diyendo Massilani, Alison Crowther, Jorge González García, George W MacLeod, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Department of Anthropology [University College of London], University College of London [London] (UCL), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolucion y Comportamiento Humanos, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá - University of Alcalá (UAH), Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, 07745, Germany, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, Royal Holloway [University of London] (RHUL), SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen (UiB), Departamento de Paleontología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany, School of Social Science, University of Queensland, University of Queensland [Brisbane], The Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology, The University of Sydney, Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences,University of Stirling, 3D Applications Engineer and Heritage Specialist Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections, University of South Florida, Tampa, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [Leipzig], Max-Planck-Gesellschaft-Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, University of Calgary, Department of Earth Sciences [Nairobi], National Museums of Kenya, Seminari d’Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP), Facultat de Geografia i Història, Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Department of Anthropology, Rice University, Houston, Rice University [Houston], Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK, School of Natural Sciences and ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia, University of Edinburgh, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Institution, University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Human origins program, and Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Burial, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, media_common.quotation_subject, [SHS.ANTHRO-BIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Biological anthropology, Art history, 01 natural sciences, Paleontología, Bone and Bones, 03 medical and health sciences, Cultural Evolution, Animals, Dentition, Humans, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, History, Ancient, Skeleton, 030304 developmental biology, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, media_common, 0303 health sciences, Multidisciplinary, biology, Fossils, Garcia, Biological anthropology, Miller, Hominidae, Art, biology.organism_classification, Kenya, Child, Preschool
Abstract

The origin and evolution of hominin mortuary practices are topics of intense interest and debate1–3. Human burials dated to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) are exceedingly rare in Africa and unknown in East Africa1–6. Here we describe the partial skeleton of a roughly 2.5- to 3.0-year-old child dating to 78.3 ± 4.1 thousand years ago, which was recovered in the MSA layers of Panga ya Saidi (PYS), a cave site in the tropical upland coast of Kenya7,8. Recent excavations have revealed a pit feature containing a child in a flexed position. Geochemical, granulometric and micromorphological analyses of the burial pit content and encasing archaeological layers indicate that the pit was deliberately excavated. Taphonomical evidence, such as the strict articulation or good anatomical association of the skeletal elements and histological evidence of putrefaction, support the in-place decomposition of the fresh body. The presence of little or no displacement of the unstable joints during decomposition points to an interment in a filled space (grave earth), making the PYS finding the oldest known human burial in Africa. The morphological assessment of the partial skeleton is consistent with its assignment to Homo sapiens, although the preservation of some primitive features in the dentition supports increasing evidence for non-gradual assembly of modern traits during the emergence of our species. The PYS burial sheds light on how MSA populations interacted with the dead. Primary and intentional deposit Burial versus funerary caching Taxonomic assessment Implications for human cultural evolution Online content

Published
2021

26. Regards croisés sur les pandémies

Author

Patricia Gilbert, Estelle Baehrel, David Biron, Chloé Bourmaud, Vincent Dubreuil, David Giron, Sylvie Guillerme, Jean Nicolas Haas, Evelyne Heyer, Philippe Jarne, Didier Jouffre, Bruno Maureille, Laurent Memery, Frédéric Mery, Pierre Moret, Thomas Perrin, Soizic Prado, Geneviève Prevost, Alain Queffelec, Virginie Rougeron, Sabine Sauvage, Marc-André Selosse, Margareta Tengberg, Frédérique Viard, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Littoral, Environnement, Télédétection, Géomatique (LETG - Rennes), Littoral, Environnement, Télédétection, Géomatique UMR 6554 (LETG), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université d'Angers (UA)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement Régional de l'Université de Nantes (IGARUN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN), Institut de recherche sur la biologie de l'insecte UMR7261 (IRBI), Université de Tours (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géographie de l'environnement (GEODE), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck - University of Innsbruck, Éco-Anthropologie (EA), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Évolution, génomes, comportement et écologie (EGCE), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-IRD-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Territoires, Villes, Environnement & Société - ULR 4477 (TVES), Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille, Molécules de Communication et Adaptation des Micro-organismes (MCAM), Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés - UMR CNRS 7058 (EDYSAN), Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Patricia Gibert, Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université d'Angers (UA)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement Régional de l'Université de Nantes (IGARUN), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Innsbruck, Éco-Anthropologie (EAE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IRD-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226, Patricia GIBERT, Université de Tours-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Lille-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE], [SDE]Environmental Sciences, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
Abstract

International audience; La grave crise pandémique que nous vivons n’est pas seulement sanitaire, elle est aussi écologique et sociale. Si elle remet en cause le dualisme nature/culture, elle appelle également à renouveler les rapports qu’entretiennent science et société. Changement d’usage des terres, déforestation et fragmentation, élevage intensif, exploitation minière ou forestière, chasse, urbanisation, diminution de la biodiversité : autant d’éléments qui perturbent la faune sauvage, et favorisent les transferts de pathogènes entre espèces. La mondialisation des échanges rend ensuite possible la diffusion de virus à l’échelle planétaire.Mais les sociétés humaines ne sont pas toutes égales face au risque infectieux. Il y a à cela des causes génétiques, parce que les populations humaines ne sont pas génétiquement uniformes et que les pathogènes ont une grande capacité d’adaptation, mais aussi des causes culturelles et sociales, en raison du rôle majeur des comportements. Si les épidémies d’ampleur sont relativement fréquentes dans l’histoire humaine, celles du passé, et leur gestion par les sociétés d’alors, ne sont que depuis peu étudiées en profondeur. Or cette étude est un élément indispensable pour modéliser, et donc prévoir, l’évolution de la pandémie actuelle comme des prochaines, et l’impact qu’elles auront sur nos sociétés.L’Institut Écologie et Environnement du CNRS, dont l’objectif est de répondre aux enjeux planétaires posés par le changement global aux interfaces entre les sciences de la Terre, de la vie, de l’Homme et de la société, réunit toutes les compétences nécessaires pour étudier cet ensemble.

Published
2021

28. First identification of sudoite in Caribbean Ceramic-Age lapidary craftsmanship

Author

Alain Queffelec, Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet, Eddy Foy, Yannick Lefrais, Emmanuel Fritsch, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), De la Molécule aux Nanos-objets : Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies (MONARIS), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Nanosciences et Innovation pour les Matériaux, la Biomédecine et l'Energie (ex SIS2M) (NIMBE UMR 3685), Institut Rayonnement Matière de Saclay (IRAMIS), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC), IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Nantes (EPUN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Archéomatériaux et Prévision de l'Altération (LAPA - UMR 3685), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Rayonnement Matière de Saclay (IRAMIS), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Nantes (EPUN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Institut Rayonnement Matière de Saclay (IRAMIS), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Nantes (EPUN), and Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Geochemistry and Petrology, XRD, [CHIM.ANAL]Chemical Sciences/Analytical chemistry, Raman spectroscopy, Sudoite, Mineralogy, [SDU.STU.MI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Mineralogy
Abstract

International audience; Lapidary craftsmanship was an important part of the material culture of Amerindians in the Antilles during the Early Ceramic period (400 BCE to 400 CE). Exhaustive analysis of archaeological beads and pendants from the French islands of the Lesser Antilles has revealed a green lapidary material used for the production of nine artifacts from five archaeological sites: sudoite. This di-trioctahedral member of the chlorite group has the relatively simple chemical formula of Mg2Al3Si3AlO10(OH)8. Previously unknown in sizes suitable for carving, it has never before been identified in any lapidary production and therefore warranted a multi-analytical nondestructive approach to confirm this identification. The analysis was conducted through Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The texture and the chemical composition were assessed through SEM-EDS. Color, UV luminescence, and other gemological parameters were studied through standard gemological methods, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, and fluorimetry. Finally, the provenance of the material is considered following a geological approach. The recovery of sudoite artifacts in several archaeological Amerindian sites of the Lesser Antilles supports the already established theory of a pan-Caribbean trade network as old as the first several centuries Before the Common Era.

Published
2021

29. Chronostratigraphy of two Late Pleistocene loess-palaeosol sequences in the Rhône Valley (southeast France)

Author

Alain Queffelec, Olivier Moine, Pauline Dugas, Philippe Lanos, Sebastian Kreutzer, Annette Kadereit, Pascal Bertran, Jean-Philippe Degeai, Daniela Sauer, Mathieu Bosq, Nora Pfaffner, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Geography & Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom, Aberystwyth University, Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Universität Heidelberg [Heidelberg], Géosciences Rennes (GR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), Georg-August-University [Göttingen], ANR-10-LABX-52, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR-10-LABX-0052,LaScArBx,Using the world in ancient societies : processes and forms of appropriation of space in Long Time(2010), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG DEU, Partenaires IRSTEA, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), Georg-August-University = Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Universität Heidelberg [Heidelberg] = Heidelberg University, Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), University of Göttingen (University of Göttingen), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), and Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, Rhône Valley, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Pleistocene, [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences, 01 natural sciences, law.invention, Paleontology, law, Loess, Stadial, Glacial period, Radiocarbon dating, loess-palaeosol sequences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, geochemistry, Global and Planetary Change, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, Chronostratigraphy, Thermoluminescence dating, Last Glacial, Geology, chronology, loess, southeast France, Interglacial, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Ice sheet, grain-size distribution
Abstract

International audience; 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.

Published
2020

30. A Paleolithic bird figurine from the Lingjing site, Henan, China

Author

Luc Doyon, Hui Fang, Alain Queffelec, Francesco d'Errico, Zhanyang Li, Ronan Ledevin, Emeline Raguin, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Shandong University, Weizmann Institute of Science [Rehovot, Israël], and University of Bergen (UiB)

Subjects
Culture, Stone Age, Social Sciences, 01 natural sciences, law.invention, [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences, Geographical Locations, Sociology, law, Portable art, 0601 history and archaeology, Paleolithic Period, Radiocarbon dating, History, Ancient, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Multidisciplinary, geography.geographical_feature_category, 060102 archaeology, Fossils, Eukaryota, Geology, 06 humanities and the arts, Radioactive Carbon Dating, Europe, Caves, Geography, Archaeology, Vertebrates, Medicine, Passerines, Physical Anthropology, Art, Research Article, 010506 paleontology, China, Pleistocene, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Science, Context (language use), Research and Analysis Methods, Bone and Bones, Birds, Cave painting, Cave, Paleoanthropology, Animals, Humans, Chemical Characterization, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Isotope Analysis, Carving, Organisms, Biology and Life Sciences, Paleontology, Geologic Time, Archaeological Dating, Anthropology, Amniotes, People and Places, Earth Sciences
Abstract

International audience; The recent identification of cave paintings dated to 42-40 ka BP in Borneo and Sulawesi highlights the antiquity of painted representations in this region. However, no instances of three-dimensional portable art, well attested in Europe since at least 40 ka BP, were documented thus far in East Asia prior to the Neolithic. Here, we report the discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved miniature carving of a standing bird from the site of Lingjing, Henan, China. Microscopic and microtomographic analyses of the figurine and the study of bone fragments from the same context reveal the object was made of bone blackened by heating and carefully carved with four techniques that left diagnostic traces on the entire surface of the object. Critical analysis of the site's research history and stratigraphy, the cultural remains associated with the figurine and those recovered from the other archeological layers , as well as twenty-eight radiometric ages obtained on associated archeological items, including one provided by a bone fragment worked with the same technique recorded on the object, suggest a Late Paleolithic origin for the carving, with a probable age estimated to 13,500 years old. The carving, which predates previously known comparable instances from this region by 8,500 years, demonstrates that three-dimensional avian representations were part of East Asian Late Pleistocene cultural repertoires and identifies technological and stylistic peculiarities distinguishing this newly discovered art tradition from previous and contemporary examples found in Western Europe and Siberia.

Published
2020

31. Methodological implications of intra-and inter-facet microwear texture variation for human childhood paleo-dietary reconstruction: Insights from the deciduous molars of extant and medieval children from France

Author

Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, John C. Willman, Marlon Bas, Alain Queffelec, Priscilla Bayle, Mona Le Luyer, Fabian Kanz, Antoine Souron, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
2. Zero hunger, Orthodontics, Molar, Archeology, Facet (geometry), 060101 anthropology, 060102 archaeology, [SHS.ANTHRO-BIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Biological anthropology, Small sample, 06 humanities and the arts, Texture (geology), Mandibular second molar, Variation (linguistics), Deciduous, Geography, Extant taxon, GN, 0601 history and archaeology
Abstract

International audience; The present study concerns occlusal dental microwear texture variation on the deciduous molars of children. A description and evaluation of microwear texture variation within facet 9 and a comparison of microwear textures between grinding facets 9 and 11 are presented. The relationship between wear facet surface area and intra-facet microwear texture variability is evaluated. The sample is composed of naturally-exfoliated, taphonomy-free deciduous second molars from twelve extant children and four archaeologically-derived medieval children (for a total of 51 surface measurements). Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) was performed using a confocal microscope and scale-sensitive fractal analysis (SSFA) at three standardized locations on facet 9, and one location on facet 11. Facet shape was visually assessed and scored using a headset magnifier (3×) and composite images (20× confocal microscopy). Individuals were assigned to two groups based on a qualitative assessment of facet surface area. Microwear texture variability within facet 9 was high relative to the variability of mi-crowear textures between individuals. No significant inter-facet variation between facets 9 and 11 was detected. No clear differences in microwear and variabilities within facet 9 were found between individuals assigned to small and large facet groups. Our study shows the existence of important intra-facet microwear variation in a sample of children. Intra-facet microwear variation can affect the ability of DMTA to distinguish between diets in contexts with small sample sizes and subtle differences in diet-such as those characterizing dietary transitions in children. Results also suggest non-dietary factors may influence microwear formation during dental exfolia-tion. A better understanding of intra-facet microwear variation, and when and how to account for it, can improve the application of occlusal DMTA in similar contexts.

Published
2020

32. Earliest African evidence of carcass processing and consumption in cave at 700 ka, Casablanca, Morocco

Author

Vincent Delvigne, David Lefevre, Abderrahim Mohib, R. Gallotti, Christophe Falguères, Qingfeng Shao, Jean-Paul Raynal, Eslem Ben Arous, Alain Queffelec, Camille Daujeard, Denis Geraads, Mohssine El Graoui, Olivier Tombret, Mathieu Rué, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Nanjing Normal University (NNU), Centre de recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Human Evolution [Leipzig], Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft-Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UM3)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), SARL Paléotime, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [Leipzig], Paléotime, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), and Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UM3)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Meat, Pleistocene, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Evolution, lcsh:Medicine, Context (language use), Rhinoceros, 01 natural sciences, Article, Cave, Animals, 0601 history and archaeology, lcsh:Science, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Herbivore, 060101 anthropology, Multidisciplinary, geography.geographical_feature_category, Knapping, lcsh:R, Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy, Paleontology, Hominidae, 06 humanities and the arts, Archaeology, Carnivory, Caves, Morocco, Geography, Homo sapiens, lcsh:Q, Tooth, Acheulean
Abstract

To date, in Africa, evidence for animal processing and consumption in caves routinely used as living spaces is only documented in the late Middle Pleistocene of the North and South of the continent and postdates the Middle Pleistocene in East Africa. Here we report the earliest evidence in a North-African cave (Grotte des Rhinocéros at Casablanca, Morocco) of cut, percussion and human gnawing marks on faunal remains directly associated with lithic knapping activities in the same space and in a well-documented stratified context. Ages for this Acheulean site are provided by the dating of herbivorous teeth to 690–720 ka and 520–550 ka (lower and upper sets) by combined Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and U-series techniques. Traces of butchery on gazelle, alcelaphin, and zebra bones demonstrate that hominins had primary access to herbivore carcasses. Hominins brought and consumed meat in the cave, as documented by herbivore bones bearing human tooth marks concentrated in a circumscribed area of the excavation. In Africa, this site provides the earliest evidence for in situ carcass processing and meat-eating in cave, directly associated with lithic production and demonstrates the recurrent use by early Middle Pleistocene hominins of a North African cave site 400 000 years before that by Homo sapiens at Jebel Irhoud (Morocco).

Published
2020

33. Geochemical signature of sources, recycling and weathering in the Last Glacial loess from the Rhône Valley (southeast France) and comparison with other European regions

Author

Pascal Bertran, Alain Queffelec, Olivier Moine, Jean-Philippe Degeai, Mathieu Bosq, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UM3)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)

Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Pleistocene, Weathering, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Europium anomaly, Geochemistry, Loess, ICP analysis, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, 01 natural sciences, Southeast France, [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry, Glacial period, [SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth-Surface Processes, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, Last Glacial, Sediment, Geology, Aeolian processes, Ice sheet
Abstract

International audience; Pleistocene loess of the Rhône Valley and Provence region, disconnected from the two main European aeolian systems (North European Loess Belt and Danube basin), are of interest to test the impact of source variability, grain size sorting, weathering and sediment recycling on the geochemical composition. The concentration of major, trace and rare earth elements in loess and potential sources was analysed through Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and ICP-Mass Spectometry (ICP-MS). Analyses show a genetic relationship between loess and the Ca-rich river sediments from the Alpine Ice Sheet (AIS). The loess of Provence show distinctive properties with a higher CaO and MgO content and a higher Europium anomaly (Eu/Eu*), suggesting sources richer in dolomite together with a contribution from mafic rocks (Alpine ophiolite complex). The homogeneous loess composition, compared to alluvial sources, reflects particle mixing during transport in the atmosphere. At the European scale, the geochemical composition of loess changes according to regions, but remains consistent within each region. Such variability is mostly related to the composition of rocks outcropping in respective catchments and especially in areas covered by ice sheets. The Chemical Proxy of Alteration (CPA) and Rb/K ratio suggest a weak chemical weathering linked to the cold and dry conditions typical of the Last Glacial. Recycling of older aeolian formations possibly caused loess enrichment in resistant minerals and quartz, especially for loess derived mostly from the abrasion of aeolian sand (Aquitaine).

Published
2020

34. When did this happen? Late volcanic activity in Eastern Velay and Vivarais (France) revisited

Author

Emmanuelle Defive, Didier Miallier, Thierry Pilleyre, Sébastien Nomade, Herve Guillou, Piotr Moska, Tudyka, K., Emmanuel Chapron, Yannick Miras, Clement Virmoux, Alain Queffelec, Gwenolé Jouannic, Casimir Cortial, Tomasz Goslar, Jean-Paul Raynal, Paléoenvironnement et Géoarchéologie (GEOLAB-PG), Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale (GEOLAB), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IR SHS UNILIM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA)-Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IR SHS UNILIM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [Leipzig], Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, DEFIVE, Emmanuelle, Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA)-Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IR SHS UNILIM), Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA)-Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IR SHS UNILIM), and Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Université de Limoges (UNILIM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
[SDE.MCG] Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, [SHS.ARCHEO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, [SDU.STU.GM] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, [SDU.STU.VO] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Volcanology, [SDU.STU.VO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Volcanology, [SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology, [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment, [SDU.ENVI] Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS
Abstract

International audience

Published
2020

35. Last Glacial aeolian landforms and deposits in the Rhône Valley (SE France): Spatial distribution and grain-size characterization

Author

Sebastian Kreutzer, Eymeric Morin, Mathieu Bosq, Pascal Bertran, Alain Queffelec, Olivier Moine, Jean-Philippe Degeai, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), PPP, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés (CITERES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours, Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours (UT)

Subjects
Cartography, 010506 paleontology, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Pleistocene, Last Glacial, Outcrop, Grain-size distribution, 15. Life on land, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, 01 natural sciences, Yardangs, Loess, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, Aeolian deposits, Aeolian processes, Aeolian landform, Alluvium, Physical geography, Glacial period, LUCAS topsoil database, Yardang, Geology, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth-Surface Processes
Abstract

International audience; In the Rhône Valley, a north-south oriented Cenozoic rift in southeast France, thick Pleistocene loess deposits have been recognized since the beginning of the last century. These loess records, which are disconnected from the North European Loess Belt (NELB), are of significant interest to document the evolution of perimediterranean landscapes and environments during the Last Glacial. To overcome the poor precision of available aeolian distribution maps, aeolian deposits were mapped using the topsoil textural database provided by the Land Use and Cover Area frame Statistical Survey project (LUCAS). The grain-size distribution of aeolian sand and loess was first determined using 116 samples taken from surveyed outcrops. Then, the areas showing a similar grain-size composition were extracted from the LUCAS rasters. The resulting map reproduces the conventional maps correctly but suggests a more significant extension of loess, in better agreement with the known distribution of outcrops. The map shows that the distinctive morphology of the valley dominantly controls the distribution of aeolian deposits. The deflation-related landforms, i.e., yardangs, closed depressions (pans), and desert pavements, are widespread south of narrowings of the Rhône Valley between latitudes 44°N and 45°N. They indicate palaeowinds blowing from the north/northwest. Aeolian sand, loessic sand, sandy loess, and loess deposits successively spread on both sides of the Rhône River. The loess is characterized by a coarse texture (main mode around 60 μm), strong local thickness (N5 m), limited extension, and abundant bioturbation. This preservation results from the persistence of a shrub vegetal cover during the coldest and driest phases of the Last Glacial that allowed for trapping the saltating and suspended particles close to the alluvial sources.

Published
2018

36. Mineralogical and organic study of bat and chough guano: implications for guano identification in ancient context

Author

Alain Queffelec, Pascal Bertran, Teddy Bos, Laurent Lemée, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Service archéologique de Toulouse Métropole, Toulouse Métropole, Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers (IC2MP), and Université de Poitiers-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification, 010506 paleontology, Chough, geography, Mineralization (geology), geography.geographical_feature_category, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, biology, Geochemistry, 15. Life on land, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, biology.organism_classification, 01 natural sciences, chemistry, Cave, Guano, Phosphate minerals, Sulfate minerals, Brushite, Organic matter, Geology, [SDU.STU.MI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Mineralogy, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth-Surface Processes
Abstract

International audience; The mineralogical and geochemical evolution of cave guano deposits in France has been investigated in detail. Two test pits were excavated in guano mounds from insectivorous bats and one in a guano mound from omnivorous choughs. Both bats and choughs are thought to be among the main accumulators of guano during the Pleistocene in southwest France. Thin section analysis, mineralogical identification and quantification, geochemical analysis, organic matter characterization through pyrolysis and thermochemolysis coupled to gas-chromatography, were conducted to better understand the evolution of guano in caves and to identify the underlying factors. Bat guano undergoes mineralization through loss of organic matter and precipitation of phosphate and sulfate minerals. The neoformed minerals include gypsum, ardealite, brushite, francoanellite, hydroxylapatite, monetite, newberyite, and taranakite, and vary according to the local availability of chemical elements released by the alteration of detrital minerals due to acidic solutions. Chough guano, located at higher altitude in a periglacial environment, does not show similar mineral formation. Organic geo-chemical analysis indicates strong differences between guano. Abundant hydrocarbons derived from insect cuticles were the dominant feature in bat guano, whereas a mostly vegetal origin typifies chough guano. Geochemical analysis points to an especially high content of copper and zinc in bat guanos, a few hundreds of µg/g and thousands of µg/g, respectively. Both organic matter analysis and geochemistry may help identification of bat guano in archeological contexts , where phosphate minerals can originate from multiple sources.

Published
2018

37. A high-resolution temporal record of environmental changes in the Eastern Caribbean (Guadeloupe) from 40 to 10 ka BP

Author

Aurélien Royer, Alain Queffelec, Karine Charlier, Thibaut Caley, Arnaud Lenoble, Bruno Malaizé, Christophe Lécuyer, Biogéosciences [UMR 6282] [Dijon] (BGS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), PaleoEnvironnements et PaleobioSphere (PEPS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Pleistocene, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Climate change, 01 natural sciences, Cave, Nitrogen isotope, Deglaciation, 14. Life underwater, Glacial period, Southern Hemisphere, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Global and Planetary Change, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, Last Glacial, Carbon isotope, Guano, Geology, Last Glacial Maximum, 15. Life on land, Oceanography, 13. Climate action, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, Caribbean Basin
Abstract

In neotropical regions, fossil bat guano accumulated over time as laminated layers in caves, hence providing a high-resolution temporal record of terrestrial environmental changes. Additionally, cave settings have the property to preserve such organic sediments from processes triggered by winds (deflation, abrasion and sandblasting) and intense rainfall (leaching away). This study reports both stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of frugivorous bat guano deposited in a well-preserved stratigraphic succession of Blanchard Cave on Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe. These isotopic data are discussed with regard to climate changes and its specific impact on Eastern Caribbean vegetation during the Late Pleistocene from 40 to 10 ka cal. BP. Guano delta C-13 values are higher than modern ones, suggesting noticeable vegetation changes. This provides also evidence for overall drier environmental conditions during the Pleistocene compared to today. Meanwhile, within this generally drier climate, shifts between wetter and drier conditions can be observed. Large temporal amplitudes in both delta C-13 and delta N-15 variations reaching up to 5.9 parts per thousand and 16.8 parts per thousand), respectively, also indicate these oceanic tropical environments have been highly sensitive to regional or global climatic forcing. Stable isotope compositions of bat guano deposited from 40 to 35 ka BP, the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger-Dryas reveal relatively wet environmental conditions whereas, at least from the end of the Heinrich event 1 and the Bolling period the region experienced drier environmental conditions. Nevertheless, when considering uncertainties in the model age, the isotopic record of Blanchard Cave show relatively similar variations with known proxy records from the northern South America and Central America, suggesting thus that the Blanchard Cave record is a robust proxy of past ITCZ migration. Teleconnections through global atmospheric pattern suggest that islands of the eastern Caribbean Basin could be also under the influence of a bipolar temperature gradients that impact the mean location of the ITCZ, with a Southern Hemisphere imprint during the glacial period and a more significant role of Northern Hemisphere during the last deglaciation.

Published
2017

40. Characterization of bone surface modifications on an Early to Middle Pleistocene bird assemblage from Mata Menge (Flores, Indonesia) using multifocus and confocal microscopy

Author

Adam Brumm, Indra Sutisna, Francesco d'Errico, Alain Queffelec, Hanneke J. M. Meijer, Iwan Kurniawan, Erick Setiabudi, Gerrit D. van den Bergh, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Taphonomy, Pleistocene, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Structural basin, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, Oceanography, Southeast asian, 01 natural sciences, Quaternary, biology.animal, Assemblage (archaeology), Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth-Surface Processes, biology, Ecology, Paleontology, Vertebrate, Hominin, 15. Life on land, Human evolution, Insular Southeast Asia, Aves, Geology
Abstract

Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) is a key region for the study of human evolution. New fossil and archaeological evidence, from several islands, suggests an Early to Middle Pleistocene colonisation date by hominins. A taphonomic framework, however, such as that exists for Africa, is currently lacking, and taphonomical studies of ISEA vertebrate assemblages are very limited. In this paper, we apply multifocus and confocal microscopy to surface modifications on an Early to Middle Pleistocene avian assemblage from Mata Menge, in the So'a Basin of central Flores, Indonesia, with the aim of characterizing material and testing the relevance of 3D reconstructions to study the taphonomy of ISEA bone assemblages. Our observations document a number of bone surface modifications, including individual parallel grooves, overlapping spindle-like striations, elongated impacts, short composite grooves, and rows of pits. These features suggest that several taphonomic agents were at play during and after the accumulation of the Mata Menge small vertebrate assemblage. We find no unambiguous evidence for the exploitation of birds by the So'a Basin hominins, or for hominins being a significant accumulating agent of avian remains at Mata Menge. However, our work should be seen as preliminary, as direct comparative data on relevant biological agents are lacking. The markedly distinct faunal composition and climatic regimes of many Southeast Asian islands, and the potential use of different tools by hominins, warrants the development of a comprehensive taphonomical framework that is specifically relevant for ISEA. publishedVersion

Published
2019

41. Lapidary artwork during the Early Ceramic period in the Antilles, a renewed and updated analysis

Author

Alain Queffelec, Pierrick Fouéré, Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet, Benoît Bérard, Jean-Baptiste Caverne, Christian Stouvenot, Loup Bernard, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), De la Molécule aux Nanos-objets : Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies (MONARIS), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Archéologie Industrielle, Histoire, Patrimoine- Géographie, Développement, Environnement de la Caraïbe [EA 929] (AIHP-GEODE), Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG), APRAGE, Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Etude des Civilisations de l'Antiquité (UMR 7044), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Marc Bloch - Strasbourg II-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA)), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, [SDU.STU.MI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Mineralogy
Abstract

International audience

Published
2019

42. Manganese and iron oxide use at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France): A proxy for cultural change in Neanderthal communities

Author

Nadia Cantin, Alain Turq, Émilie Claud, Brad Gravina, Alain Queffelec, Emmanuel Discamps, Laure Dayet, Francesco d'Errico, Jean-Philippe Faivre, François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, Aurélien Royer, Elise Tartar, Christelle Lahaye, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biogéosciences [UMR 6282] [Dijon] (BGS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Musée National de Préhistoire, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen (UiB), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biogéosciences [UMR 6282] (BGS), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO), and Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, Provenance, Neanderthal, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Iron oxide, chemistry.chemical_element, Manganese, 01 natural sciences, chemistry.chemical_compound, Lithic technology, [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry, biology.animal, 0601 history and archaeology, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, 060102 archaeology, biology, Flake, Cultural group selection, 06 humanities and the arts, Manganese oxide, Archaeology, Geography, chemistry, sense organs, [SDU.STU.MI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Mineralogy
Abstract

International audience; Neanderthal material culture patterning in Western Europe has been primarily approached from retouched stone tools and associated flake production methods. While considerable effort has been devoted over the past decade to better characterize Middle Palaeolithic lithic techno-complexes (LTCs) in this region, the extent to which they reflect cultural groups still remains unclear. In this respect, integrating other forms of archaeological evidence could provide valuable insights on the cultural significance of late Middle Palaeolithic industrial variability. The site of Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) has yielded consistent evidence of mineral pigment use throughout the upper part of the sequence. Here we explore whether mineral pigments might be embedded with an indexical meaning and if changes in pigment exploitation potentially reflect cultural changes. We combined a microscopic use-wear approach with SEM-EDS, pXRF, and XRD analyses of 73 pigment fragments from layers 26 to 11 in order to reconstruct the different stages of their acquisition and use (provenance, selection, processing, function). Our results show manganese oxides to have been used in the lower layers of the Quina LTC, while red and/or yellow iron oxide pieces were employed during the Discoid and Discoid/Levallois LTCs. This decrease in manganese oxide use correlates with a change in lithic technology and may represent some form of cultural change.

Published
2019

43. A perched, high-elevation wetland complex in the Atacama Desert (northern Chile) and its implications for past human settlement

Author

Luca Sitzia, Juan S. González, Lucía M Ibáñez, Marcela Sepúlveda, Alain Queffelec, Ricardo De Pol-Holz, Eugenia M. Gayo, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires] (CONICET), Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Universitat Pompeu Fabra [Barcelona] (UPF)-Catalunya ministerio de salud, Departamento de Oceanografía [Concepción], and Universidad de Concepción [Chile]

Subjects
010506 paleontology, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Water table, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Wetland, Central Andes, Late Intermediate period, 01 natural sciences, Desert wetlands, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous), Tuff, Water cycle, Holocene, Sea level, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth-Surface Processes, Atacama Desert, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, Perched wetlands, Vegetation, 15. Life on land, Paleosol, Period (geology), General Earth and Planetary Sciences, Physical geography, Volcanic ash, Geology
Abstract

A previously undocumented type of wetland is described from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile (3000 m above sea level), sustained exclusively by direct precipitation and perched above the regional water table. Geomorphological mapping, pedostratigraphy, geochemistry, and analysis of contemporary vegetation is used to understand wetland formation and dynamics during historical and present time periods. The paleowetland deposits overlie a Miocene tuff that acts as an impermeable barrier to water transfer and creates conditions for local shallow ground water. These deposits include several paleosols that were formed during periods when precipitation increased regionally at 7755–7300, 1270, 545, and 400–300 cal yr BP. The similarity in timing with other palaeohydrological records for the Atacama implies that paleosols from this wetland are proxies for reconstructing past changes in local and regional hydrological cycle. Archaeological investigations have revealed the presence of two small farms from the Late Intermediate period, i.e., during the earliest wetter phase represented by the paleosols. Both farms are located near the paleowetland deposits, which suggests that local inhabitants exploited these water sources during late pre-Hispanic times. Results of this study improve knowledge of settlement patterns during this and earlier cultural periods.

Published
2019

44. Réseau de lithothèques en Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes

Author

Paul Fernandes, Vincent Delvigne, Erwan Vaissié, Michel Piboule, Christophe Tuffery, Alain Beeching, Céline Bressy-Leandri, Didier Binder, François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, Alain Queffelec, Stéphan Dubernet, Patrick Schmidt, Jean-Pierre Platel, Médard Thiry, Solène Caux, André Morala, Alain Turq, Guirec Querré, Pierre Bintz, Vanessa Lea, Mathieu Langlais, Alix Gibaud, Bernard Gély, Lethrosne Harold, Thomas Perrin, Jérémie Liagre, Philippe Dessaint, Stéphane Gaillot, Antonin Tomasso, Pierre-Antoine Beauvais, René Liabeuf, Alexandre Morin, Eymeric Morin, Pascal Tallet, Jocelyn Robbe, Audrey Lafarge, Sylvie Cousseran-Néré, Lorène Chesnaux, Luc Moreau, Patricia Guillermin, Jean Paul Raynal, Xavier Deparnay, Arnaud Kherdouche, Pierre Guibert, Paléotime, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée - Jean Pouilloux (MOM), Université Lumière - Lyon 2 (UL2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA), IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Abteilung für ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), Centre de Géosciences (GEOSCIENCES), MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Musée National de Préhistoire, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (CReAAH), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Ministère de la Culture (MC), Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe-Afrique (LAMPEA), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Service d'Archéologie Préventive du Département de l'Allier, Service régional de l'Archéologie Rhône-Alpes, Service archéologique de la ville de Lyon, Mairie de Lyon, Service Régional de l'Archéologie Lyon, Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Rhône-Alpes, DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Service régional de l'archéologie Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes, Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), Nantes Université (NU)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Le Mans Université (UM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Nantes (UN)-Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), and Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, [SDU.STU.PE]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Petrography
Abstract

Le programme collectif de recherche réseau de lithothèques en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpesexiste depuis 12 ans. Il est à l’initiative d’une synergie désormais reconnue sur l’origine des matièrespremières. Sa fonction est essentielle dans la consolidation d’une structure coopérative de rechercheaux échelles régionale et nationale. Démarche nécessaire, qui ouvre des perspectives nouvelles etirremplaçables dans le domaine des comportements techno-économiques, des circulations et desrapports intersites.Le présent rapport expose un état de l’art des actions mis en place afin de poursuivre de façon efficace lebut principal du programme : proposer aux préhistoriens un mode d’action pluridisciplinaire et évolutifqui une fois couplé à la technologie lithique permet une meilleure connaissance de la provenance etde la circulation des silex.Cette année le PCR a été financé par la DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, les conseils généraux de l’Ain,de l’Isère, de la Savoie et la SARL Paléotime dans le cadre des opérations programmées. Grâce à cesfinancements et les contributions des membres de l’équipe, nous pouvons présenter un bilan qui vaservir de tremplin à une structure de plus en plus interconnectée. Au démarrage de cette nouvelletriennale le pôle recherche constitué au sein du PCR offre un cadre qui a toutes les qualités poursoutenir un travail de fonds, sur une conception unitaire et dynamiques des problématiques telles que: les lithothèques d’un territoire et la manière de les améliorer, l’inventaire des formations à silex, lacaractérisation des matériaux, la représentation des géoressources, la diffusion et la conservation desrésultats. Les axes désormais privilégiés ont été impulsés par deux actions majeures qui ont eu lieu auP.C.R. Réseau de lithothèques en Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes : rapport d’activité 20184cours de la précédente triennale. L’organisation en 2016 d’une école thématique à Nice par D. Binder(CNRS, CEPAM) et P. Fernandes (SARL Paléotime) et la réalisation d’une enquête nationale sur leslithothèques sous l’égide du CNRS, du Ministère de la Culture, de l’Inrap et de Paléotime (organisée parC. Bressy-Leandri). Ces deux initiatives ont permis d’identifier les attentes de la part de la communautédes préhistoriens. C’est à ces attentes que nous avons décidé de répondre : formation à la caractérisationdes silex - développement de l’outil lithothèque - normalisation des critères descriptifs - mutualisationde bases de données harmonisées sans oublier de garder le contact avec le territoire les acteursrégionaux.Pour cette triennale les membres du bureau ont donc choisi les axes suivants :• Axe 1 : formation à la caractérisation des silex, utilisation des nouvelles fiches ;• Axe 2 : développement de l’outil lithothèque, travail sur les lithothèques régionales ;• Axe 3 : maintenir un niveau d’activité en équilibre dans chacun des douze départements de lagrande région ;• Axe 4 : normalisation des critères descriptifs, élaboration d’une terminologie à l’échelle nationale ;• Axe 5 : applications au mobilier archéologique ;• Axe 6 : vers une mutualisation des bases de données et une valorisation des résultats, afin d’enrichirun pôle de compétences pluridisciplinaire régional intégrable au projet national.Les différents axes ainsi sélectionnés sont à la fois didactiques, patrimoniaux, recherche-développement,valorisation-diffusion. Ils témoignent du dynamisme d’une équipe soudée et de plus en plus interactiveau fil des ans. Ces axes sont complémentaires et doivent permettre à la fin de cette triennale de poserles bases d’une structure offrant la possibilité à toutes les personnes qui avaient exprimé ces attentesde bénéficier de méthodes et d’outils qui correspondent aux besoins de l’archéologie moderne.Ce programme réuni chaque année un groupe de participants convaincus de l’importance d’une telledémarche collective. Il est à l’origine d’une structure mêlant partage et harmonisation des bases dedonnées. Il est déjà partie prenante d’un projet national, le GDR SILEX coordonné par C. Bressy-Léandri.Il fait progresser les connaissances sur la question des comportements des Hommes préhistoriques parrapport aux géoressources. En parallèle, il a permis de créer de nouveaux liens au sein de la communautédes préhistoriens. Cette synergie facilite aujourd’hui les contacts et les échanges d’informations surune grande partie du territoire français (Auvergne-Rhône-alpes, PACA, Nouvelle aquitaine, Centre Valde-Loire, Ile de France). Elle est sans doute la meilleure solution pour tordre le cou aux problèmesrégulièrement posés par certains silex d’origine lointaine. La formation aux nouvelles méthodesd’inventaires ou de caractérisation doit permettre à toutes les personnes concernées d’utiliser unbagage commun et en cela participer au développement de la pétroarchéologie, de la tracéologie, dela taphonomie et de la géoarchéologie en améliorant le dialogue entre les acteurs de ces différentesdisciplines.

Published
2019

45. Quantifying lithic surface alterations using confocal microscopy and its relevance for exploring the Châtelperronian at La Roche-à-Pierrot (Saint-Césaire, France)

Author

Alain Queffelec, Jean-Guillaume Bordes, Aline Galland, Solène Caux, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, Châtelperronian Flint, Neanderthal, Taphonomy, 060102 archaeology, biology, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Roughness measurement, Context (language use), Surface alteration, 06 humanities and the arts, Saint-Césaire, 01 natural sciences, Archaeology, Geography, biology.animal, Western europe, Châtelperronian, Confocal microscopy Lithic analysis, 0601 history and archaeology, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract

International audience; Post-depositional modifications or alterations of the surface of lithics artefacts have been characterised at both macroscopic and microscopic scales by means of qualitative criteria. Here we introduce a new methodology for the study of surface alterations based on roughness measurements using confocal microscopy. This new approach allows for a quantified and reproducible distinction between various states of alteration among geological samples and archaeological material from a level attributed to the Châtelperronian at La Roche-à-Pierrot (Saint-Césaire, France). This site, perhaps best known for discovery of Neanderthal remains in a level attributed to the Châtelperronian, plays a critical role in questions concerning the emergence of the Upper Palaeolithic and its relation to the appearance of anatomically modern humans in Western Europe. In this context, the question of the chrono-cultural integrity of the Châtelperronian at Saint-Césaire is crucial. Our results demonstrate considerable variability in surface alterations among a sample of specific artefacts, Châtelperronian points, and those collected in the immediate vicinity of the Neanderthal remains and thus reinforces previous arguments concerning the unreliability of the Neanderthal-Châtelperronian association at Saint-Césaire. This pilot study equally confirms the potential of roughness analysis for both taphonomic and use-wear studies of lithic industries.

Published
2019

46. Projet Collectif de Recherche Rapport d’activité 2018. Réseau de lithothèques en Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Author

André Morala, Paul Fernandes, Alain Turq, Vincent Delvigne, Solène Caux, Equipe Scientifique : Didier Binder, Laurence Bourguignon, Céline Bressy-Leandri, Guilhem Constans, Christophe Delage, Jean-Jacques Cleyet-Merle, Anne Delagnes, Stéphan Dubernet, Sylvain Ducasse, Pauline Dugas, Jean-Philippe Faivre, François Fröhlich, Aline Galland, Pierre Guibert, Jérémie Jacquier, Stéphane Konik, Audrey Lafarge, Mathieu Langlais, François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, Théo Minet, Luc Moreau, Iluminada Ortega, Michel Piboule, Geneviève Pinçon, Jean-Pierre Platel, Alain Queffelec, Jean-Paul Raynal, Patrick Schmidt, Pascal Tallet, Alexis Taylor, Médard Thiry, Christophe Tuffery, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paléotime, Université de Liège, Anthropologie des techniques, des espaces et des territoires au Pliocène et au Pléistocène (AnTET), Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Corse (Drac Corse), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Musée National de Préhistoire, Era 28 du CRA, CNRS, Meudon, IRAMAT-Centre de recherche en physique appliquée à l’archéologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (CReAAH), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Centre national de Préhistoire, CNP, Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Institut de Recherche en Energie Electrique de Nantes Atlantique EA4642 (IREENA), Institut Universitaire de Technologie Saint-Nazaire (IUT Saint-Nazaire), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Nantes (EPUN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut Universitaire de Technologie - La Roche-sur-Yon (IUT La Roche-sur-Yon), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN), Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), Centre de Géosciences (GEOSCIENCES), Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Sra Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM), Université de Nantes (UN)-Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Institut de Recherche en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Nantes Atlantique EA4642 (IREENA), MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Université Bordeaux Montaigne (UBM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Le Mans Université (UM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), and Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Nantes Université (NU)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory
Published
2019

47. Recent Laborian of the Peyrazet cave-rock shelter (Creysse, Lot, France). New data for the end of Lateglacial in Quercy

Author

Sandrine Costamagno, Jérémie Jacquier, Alain Queffelec, Pierre Chalard, Aurélien Royer, François Lacrampe-Cuyaubère, Laure Dayet, Jean-Marc Pétillon, Célia Fat Cheung, Jean-Baptiste Mallye, Olivier Le Gall, Luca Sitzia, Véronique Laroulandie, Solange Rigaud, and David Cochard

Subjects
Quercy, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, analyse fonctionnelle, Functional analysis, media_common.quotation_subject, General Engineering, Game, Art, Hunting weaponry, Epilaborian, typotechnologie, gibier, Technotypology, Cave, Laborien, Preboreal, Épilaborien, Préboréal, Laborian, Humanities, Rock shelter, armement de chasse, media_common
Abstract

Découverte en 1990, la grotte-abri de Peyrazet (Creysse, Lot, France) se situe dans le Haut-Quercy en bordure du causse de Martel, à quelques centaines de mètres du cours actuel de la Dordogne. Les fouilles menées depuis 2008 livrent une archéoséquence du Tardiglaciaire qui permet de combler certaines lacunes documentaires régionales et plus largement du Sud-Ouest de la France. Au Magdalénien supérieur succède un niveau ayant donné des indices d’un Azilien sensu lato stratigraphiquement séparé du Laborien, ensemble supérieur qui fait l’objet de cet article. Jusqu’alors ce technocomplexe de la fin du Pléistocène et des débuts de l’Holocène demeurait mal connu dans la région. En effet, seuls des travaux anciens menés dans deux gisements permettaient de noter sa présence en Quercy. La découverte d’un ensemble laborien récent (ou Épilaborien) à Peyrazet est l’occasion de conduire une étude collective des divers vestiges dans un cadre archéostratigraphique mieux maîtrisé. L’analyse géoarchéologique met en évidence l’action conjointe du ruissellement et de l’éboulisation comme principaux responsables de la mise en place des dépôts. Dans la partie S-O du site, un lithofaciès de remaniement indique une bioturbation importante en lien avec le creusement de terriers. Bien que leur origine ne soit pas liée aux activités humaines, les rongeurs, les oiseaux, les poissons et les mésomammifères (excepté le lièvre) apportent des données concernant l’environnement des chasseurs-cueilleurs. La grande faune est dominée par le cerf dont les carcasses pourraient avoir été introduites incomplètes sur le site puis traitées pour en extraire la viande et la moelle. Nous avons bénéficié d’une analyse fonctionnelle croisée à l’étude typo-technologique des vestiges lithiques composés pour l’essentiel de silex locaux et régionaux. Ce double regard a permis de mettre en évidence une diversité d’activités mise en œuvre dans la cavité. Une pièce d’ocre rouge, quelques vestiges d’industrie osseuse et des éléments de parure participent également à la description d’une large gamme de tâches effectuées lors d’un séjour prolongé ou de plusieurs occupations successives. La comparaison des pointes de chasse microlithiques avec d’autres gisements sur une vaste échelle géographique conduit à discuter l’attribution de cet ensemble supérieur à différentes phases du Laborien. L’hypothèse d’un Laborien récent (ou Épilaborien) conduit à réfléchir à une perduration de morphotypes ancestraux parallèlement à de nouveaux types d’armatures, observation déjà réalisée notamment à La Borie del Rey dans le Haut-Agenais mais qui demande encore des précisions et de nouvelles découvertes. Discovered in 1990, Peyrazet cave-rock shelter (Creysse, Lot) lies in the Haut-Quercy region at the limits of the Martel limestone plateau, several hundred meters from the current Dordogne River valley. Excavations begun in 2008 produced a Late Glacial archaeo-sequence that sheds new light on several still poorly understood aspects of the archeological record in both the Haut-Quercy region and southwestern France in general. The level overlying the Late Magdalenian occupation produced limited evidence for the Azilian and is stratigraphically separated from the Laborian. This latter techno-complex, dated to the end of the Pleistocene and early Holocene, remains poorly documented in the region, having only been previously identified from two sites in the Quercy. The discovery of a recent Laborian (Epilaborian) occupation at Peyrazet presented the ideal occasion for a collaborative study of the diverse archaeological material recovered from this well-understood archaeo-stratigraphic context. A geoarchaeological analysis produced evidence for both surface runoff and the accumulation of coarse deposits (éboulis) as the principal site formation processes. In the southwest area of the site, a reworked lithofacies demonstrates substantial bioturbation in connection with animal burrowing. Although the presence of rodent, bird, fish, and medium-sized mammals (except hare) cannot be definitively connected to human activity, they nevertheless provide important information concerning the environments exploited by hunter-gatherer groups. Larger species are dominated by red deer whose carcasses were partially processed before being introduced to the site, where meat was subsequently removed and marrow consumed. A functional analysis combined with a typo-technological study of the primarily locally- and regionally-procured lithic material revealed evidence for diverse activities having taken place on-site. An ochre fragment, several bone tools and ornaments equally indicate a large variety of tasks to have been carried out during a single, long occupation or several successive visits. A typo-technological comparison of hunting weaponry (microliths) from sites across a substantial area suggests the assemblage to represent either a Laborian/Epilaborian mix or a unique Epilaborian occupation. This latter case would indicate the persistence of older morphotypes alongside the development of new tools forms, a situation already identified at Borie del Rey in the Haut-Agenais but which requires more detailed study supported by new discoveries.

Published
2015

48. Seasonal changes in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of bat guano (Guadeloupe)

Author

Aurélien Royer, Elysandre Puech, Bruno Malaizé, Arnaud Lenoble, Karine Charlier, Alain Queffelec, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5805 Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Project: 2/2.4/-33456,BIVAAG, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), and Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Isotope, Stable isotope ratio, Ecology, Climate, Guano, Paleontology, Climatic variables, Nitrogen isotope compositions, Seasonal variations, Biology, Oceanography, Isotopes of nitrogen, préhistoire, Isotopes of carbon, Carbon isotope compositions, [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Earth-Surface Processes
Abstract

International audience; Stable isotope compositions of fossil bat guano have recently been developed as a proxy for reconstructing terrestrial paleoenvironments. However, our understanding of exactly how accurately these isotope compositions reflect seasonal variations remains limited. Here, we present a study of modern guano of phytophagous bats collected monthly over a one-year period at two roosting sites in Guadeloupe. The aim is to assess the degree to which seasonal climate and environmental variations are reflected in carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions from bat guano, as well as to evaluate the potential use of guano from phytophagous bats as a paleoenvironmental record. Our results show that stable isotope compositions vary locally, suggesting that guano of phytophagous bats accurately records local environmental conditions. Additionally, stable isotope compositions reflect seasonal variations influencing bat diet that lead to modifications of up to 2‰ of the carbon isotope compositions from feces. However, these variations are not correlated solely with climate variables as there is no straightforward relationship between climate, vegetation and bat diet over a one-year period. Moreover, these seasonal variations drive one of the bat colonies to occasionally consume insects, which can be traced as a seasonal shift in %N (up to 4.5%) and carbon isotope compositions (up to 5.6‰). Seasonal changes in isotope compositions are still lower than expected variations from fossil feces, confirming the potential use of feces from phytophagous bats as a reliable paleoenvironmental proxy.

Published
2015

49. Local production and long-distance procurement of beads and pendants with high mineralogical diversity in an early Saladoid settlement of Guadeloupe (French West Indies)

Author

Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet, Alain Queffelec, Pierrick Fouéré, Christian Stouvenot, Céline Paris, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), De la Molécule aux Nanos-objets : Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies (MONARIS), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), DAC Guadeloupe, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
Archeology, Provenance, Lapidary art, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Chaîne opératoire, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, 01 natural sciences, Lapidary, [CHIM.ANAL]Chemical Sciences/Analytical chemistry, Turquoise, 0601 history and archaeology, Gemstone, Stone beads, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, 060102 archaeology, Excavation, 06 humanities and the arts, Archaeology, Beads technology, Midden, visual_art, Archipelago, Raman spectroscopy, visual_art.visual_art_medium, Raw materials, Geology, Caribbean archaeology
Abstract

International audience; The preventive excavation of an archaeological site located at the Gare Maritime of Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe, French West Indies) revealed a series of stone artifacts including finished beads and pendants, as well as pieces representing several stages of the chaîne opératoire. This work is an integrated study of the mineralogy and typo-technology of these objects. The artifacts have been recovered from layers interpreted as midden deposits of an early Saladoid coastal settlement dated to 250–400 cal. A.D. Non-invasive analyses by Raman spectroscopy have shown that the 50 artifacts belong to 13 different gemstones which are, in decreasing order of frequency: serpentine, amethyst, turquoise, sudoite, rock crystal, calcite, feldspar, diorite, jasper, aventurine, chlorite, paragonite and nephrite. All these materials’ mineralogy, and in particular the great diversity of the so called “green rocks”, could only be reliably determined through an analytical characterization. The diversity of lithic materials used and abandoned in the Gare Maritime site dump is the largest known to date in the Caribbean archipelago. The presence of seven objects in turquoise is particularly noteworthy in view of its rarity in the other known sites in the region. The chaîne opératoire for each of these raw materials could be approached for the first time in the Caribbean area by emancipating ourselves from the “greenstone” category, which has been too often used in the past because of the lack of reliable mineralogical identification. These results make it possible to integrate the Gare Maritime site into the group of Saladoid sites which have delivered a large set of ornamental elements. On the one hand, the various shapes of artifacts fit the regional cultural pattern, both for beads and pendants shapes, the latter being mainly stylized frogs. On the other hand, the use of 13 semi-precious stones in the lapidary production is exceptional for the region and confirms the use at this period of many exotic raw materials. The provenance of these materials, although difficult to pinpoint properly due to the incomplete mapping of regional resources, documents a mixture of regional and even distant (continental) origins, thus strengthening the idea of a pan-Caribbean network for the exchange of raw materials for lapidary art.

Published
2018

50. The Middle Pleistocene infilling of the Grotte des Rhinocéros (Casablanca, Morocco): geological and archaeological processes

Author

Mathieu Rue, David LEFEVRE, Mohssine El Graoui, Alain Queffelec, Camille Daujeard, Geraads, D., Gallotti, R., Delvigne, V., Abderrahim Mohib, P Raynal, J., Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine [INSAP] - Rabat, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UM3)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), and Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract

International audience

Published
2018

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