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Most Upper Palaeolithic sites show a tendency for tools to correspond to a single function. In this case, successive resharpening leads to a reduction in tool size, changes in morphology, and changes to the angle of the active edges. In contrast, tools are sometimes resharpened, reshaped, and/or recycled after use for domestic activities, and are then employed for highly specialized tasks. In this paper, we will show how tool management can be different through examples from the European Magdalenian: Champréveyres and Monruz, two open-air sites with seasonal occupations, and Roc-aux-Sorciers, a rock shelter site with a long occupation and remarkable artistic activities. The status of these sites involves different visions, conceptions, and managements of the tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birch bark tar, the oldest adhesive known in Europe, was widely used during Prehistory. This material, produced by the dry distillation of birch bark, has been identified in various spheres of activities and provides valuable information on the know-how and technical and territorial systems of past societies. This biomaterial can also provide evidence on socio-economic networks and mobility. However, very little is known about the production systems of birch bark tar during Prehistory, including the Neolithic period. The lack of findings in the archaeological record necessitates the development of an approach that combines experimental archaeology and biomolecular chemistry. We present here (1) the results of experiments in which different birch bark tar production systems were tested and (2) the molecular signatures of the birch bark tars produced according to different processes based on the use of ceramic vessels. The key role of bark quality is highlighted for the first time. This study also details direct archaeological inference of the experimental results obtained: a total of 23 samples from the site of Nice-Giribaldi (France, second part of the fifth century BCE) was investigated. Different categories of birch bark tars were identified during Neolithic in the south of France, providing evidence for the existence of complex manufacturing systems and procurement networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hunting technical sphere has a particularly important socioeconomic role among hunter-gatherers as it provides vital nutritive goods and serves numerous technical spheres. Approaching Upper Palaeolithic hunting techniques therefore offers a valuable insight into past cultural dynamics. Microliths are often the only conserved evidence of Magdalenian hunting equipment, occasionally accompanied by osseous projectile points to which they were exceptionally found hafted. Backed bladelets are the most common Magdalenian microliths. In this paper, we investigate their function as projectile insert, and address the question of projectiles designs through the analysis of impact damages. In this perspective, we implemented three experimentations including manufacturing, trampling and use of backed bladelets as projectile inserts. Results show distinctive combinations of damages between each three experimentations, allowing to reinforce the damaging pattern of lateral flint inserts and to discriminate lateral scars specific to the impact. The functional analysis of backed bladelets from two Early Middle Magdalenian sites located in west-central France (La Marche and the Blanchard cave) shows that these tools were specifically used as projectile inserts. The bladelets impact damage patterns are different between the two sites and match differences of morphologies of antler projectile points. The systemic reasoning carried out allows evidencing variations of hunting technical behaviours that were not, until then, perceived through the comparison of production techniques and typology of microlith assemblages of west-central France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Understanding hunting technology is pivotal in the study of adaptive and innovative forces that influenced the evolution of prehistoric societies. The manufacture, design and use of hunting weapons involve technical processes such as those of tool miniaturization, blank standardization and projection modes, but also influence broader demographic structures such as human subsistence strategies, territorial organization and socio-economic structures. Here we present a unique discovery from a newly discovered site at Les Prés de Laure (Var, France). Excavations revealed a multi-stratified open-air site with archaeological units that were rapidly buried by the alluvium of the Jabron River. In a Gravettian layer dated between 25 and 23.5 ka cal BP, within an area apparently dedicated to horse carcasses processing and consumption, 11 backed points were discovered in direct association with altered bone remains. Wear and residue analysis of the lithic backed points in combination with complementary experimental data converge to indicate that the find represents a bone point armed with lithic barbs and used as hunting weapon. This discovery provides new evidence for the manufacture and use of hunting weaponry in a Gravettian context and stimulates discussion on Paleolithic weapon function and design, offering a unique window into the characterization of prehistoric hunting strategies. Highlights • A composite projectile point made of an osseous point and 11 lithic barbs was found at Les Prés de Laure in France. • This discovery dating to 23.5 ka cal. BP significantly pushes back the oldest evidence for the use of barbed osseous points. • A multidisciplinary study allows to propose a likely restitution of the design of the composite barbed point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the Azilian in Western Europe 14,000 years ago is considered a “revolution” in Upper Paleolithic Archaeology. One of the main elements of this rapid social restructuring is the abandonment of naturalistic figurative art on portable pieces or on cave walls in the Magdalenian in favor of abstract expression on small pebbles. Recent work shows that the transformation of human societies between the Magdalenian and the Azilian was more gradual. The discovery of a new Early Azilian site with decorated stones in France supports this hypothesis. While major changes in stone tool technology between the Magdalenian and Azilian clearly mark important adaptive changes, the discovery of 45 engraved schist tablets from archaeological layers at Le Rocher de l’Impératrice attests to iconographic continuity together with special valorization of aurochs as shown by a “shining” bull depiction. This evidence suggests that some cultural features such as iconography may lag far behind technological changes. We also argue that eventual change in symbolic expression, which includes the later disappearance of figurative art, provides new insight into the probable restructuring of the societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the Neolithic way of life in the western Mediterranean during the sixth millennium cal. BC is the consequence of the spread of populations from the Near East after successive stages of cultural remodelling. Despite the clear contribution of the Near Eastern and Aegean Neolithic to the economic and technical changes that happened to the west, little is known here about their symbolic legacies, because of the scarcity of representations and ritual evidences associated to the earliest western Neolithic contexts. Excavations at the rock shelter of Pendimoun (southeastern France) yielded the first anthropomorphic stone sculpture from the western Mediterranean Neolithic (early sixth millennium cal. BC). Using both carving and painting techniques, it represents a realistic-looking human face and is a unique example within the western Mediterranean and European frameworks. After describing the shaping and colouring details of the mask, the authors here deal with its possible social significances and cultural connections. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]