18-2014, tome 111, 3, 2014, p. 469-488 - D. GUILBEAU - Les relations entre les débitages néolithiques spécialisés en obsidienne du Monte Arci (Sardaigne) et en silex blond bédoulien chauffé du Vaucluse à la lumière des données du Monte Grosso (Haute-Corse

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18-2014, tome 111, 3, 2014, p. 469-488 - D. GUILBEAU - Les relations entre les débitages néolithiques spécialisés en obsidienne du Monte Arci (Sardaigne) et en silex blond bédoulien chauffé du Vaucluse à la lumière des données du Monte Grosso (Haute-Corse

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A la fin du Ve et au début du IVe millénaire dans les régions centrales et septentrionales de la Méditerranée, plusieurs productions lithiques spécialisées se développent. Dans le Sud de la France, les nombreux travaux sur les débitages de lamelles par pression en silex bédoulien chauffé en contexte chasséen montrent la complexité de l'organisation de ces activités. En Corse, les travaux de L. J. Costa ont mis en lumière la présence de productions qui ne sont pas sans évoquer celles du Chasséen, à la différence qu'elles sont réalisées ici sur l'obsidienne provenant du Monte Arci en Sardaigne. L'analyse détaillée de l'industrie lithique en obsidienne du Monte Grosso (Haute-Corse) permet de préciser les analogies et les différences entre les deux débitages et de préciser leur organisation. Dans cette occupation, on montre que les lamelles d'obsidienne ont probablement été réalisées par des tailleurs spécialisés itinérants au cours de leurs passages réguliers dans le site. En élargissant notre point de vue, on constate qu'un tel schéma a pu se répéter également dans d'autres sites corses, comme Basi. Au-delà de cette île, l'obsidienne ne parvient qu'en faibles quantités sur le continent, à l'exception notable de quelques sites comme Terres Longues dans les Bouches-du-Rhône. Dans ce site, des lamelles en obsidienne ont été produites et ont probablement été distribuées sous forme de supports bruts vers d'autres occupations du Sud de la France. En Italie du Nord, aucun site n'atteste d'un débitage important de telles lamelles, bien que la présence de quelques nucléus indique un débitage sur place au moins dans quelques sites. En considérant ces éléments, il est envisageable que les tailleurs itinérants supposés en Corse aient pu rejoindre les rivages de l'Italie et de la France pour y débiter des lamelles qui ont ensuite été distribuées sous forme de supports bruts vers les régions éloignées des côtes. Un tel modèle n'avait pas été envisagé jusqu'à présent car les similitudes entre les modalités de débitage de l'obsidienne et du silex bédoulien chauffé sur le continent suggéraient qu'ils étaient l'oeuvre des mêmes tailleurs. Or l'analyse du site du Monte Grosso montre la présence de débitages très proches de ceux en silex bédoulien chauffé mais sur obsidienne et dans une région relativement éloignée du Sud de la France. Ces ressemblances concernent non seulement la matière première, puisque le silex chauffé et l'obsidienne ont des propriétés équivalentes, mais aussi la morphologie et les dimensions des supports, ainsi que leur mode de production. L'implication de petits groupes de spécialistes itinérants, qui est probable pour les productions sur obsidienne, est envisageable au moins sur une partie des productions en silex bédoulien chauffé.

L'analyse des modalités de distribution des deux matières premières montre au contraire des différences profondes. Les éléments en silex sont distribués exclusivement dans les régions continentales et ne parviennent jamais en Corse ou en Sardaigne. Il n'apparaît aucune différence claire dans les modalités et l'ampleur de leur diffusion sur toutes les zones considérées, en dehors de la Catalogne où cette matière se trouve dans des dépôts funéraires. La distribution des lamelles en obsidienne, qui est essentiellement maritime, présente au contraire des contrastes majeurs entre les régions. Paradoxalement, ces lamelles ne sont pas documentées en Sardaigne. Elles sont par contre abondantes en Corse où elles semblent tenir le même rôle que celui des lamelles en silex bédoulien chauffé dans les sites chasséens du Sud de la France. Elles sont très rares sur le continent et semblent y avoir été valorisées de manière particulière. Ces deux productions spécialisées présentent donc des aspects contradictoires. Elles sont équivalentes par leurs caractéristiques physiques et morphologiques et sont issues de productions dont l'organisation présente de très fortes analogies. Dans le même temps, leur modalité de distribution et leur valorisation dans les sites récepteurs varient profondément. De nombreux points permettant d'éclairer la nature des relations entre ces deux débitages spécialisés doivent cependant encore être étudiés précisément.

 

Pressure knapping of obsidian at Monte Grosso (Corsica) in the 4th millennium BC Mediterranean context

 

In the late fifth and early fourth millennium in the central and northern regions of the Mediterranean, several specialized chipped stone productions have been documented. Following Perlès, specialization is here defined as an activity carried out by a limited number of groups or individuals in order to redistribute the products within a wider community.

In southern France, numerous studies have shown the complexity of the production of pressure-knapped bladelets in heated Bedoulian blond flint in Chasséen contexts. The preforms were prepared and heated near the flint outcrops. Some bladelets were made in that area and were distributed as blanks. Some preforms were also distributed, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away from the outcrops, and were knapped there.

In Corsica, the work of L. J. Costa highlighted the presence of types of production that are reminiscent of those of the Chasséen culture. The main difference is that, here, the pressure-knapped bladelets were made from obsidian from the Monte Arci outcrops in Sardinia.

Detailed analysis of the obsidian chipped stone industry from Monte Grosso in the northeastern part of the island clarifies the similarities and differences between the two types of production and permits their organization to be more precisely defined. This site was excavated during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The oldest occupation corresponds to the Basian culture, during the first half of the fourth millennium. The site was also occupied during the Bronze Age, at the end of the third millennium. We studied 1762 obsidian chipped stones from both levels. The near absence of obsidian in Corsican Bronze Age sites allows most, if not all, of the obsidian artefacts to be attributed to the Neolithic phase.

The technique, the morphology and the dimensions of the bladelets are very homogenous even if there are two different types of preparation for the platform (plain/linear/punctiform, dihedral/faceted). A small circular crack visible on the platform of a few of them indicates the possible use of a copper tip at the end of the pressure crutch used for the knapping of at least part of the bladelets. Flakes from the first phases of the chaîne opératoire are very scarce in comparison with the bladelets from the full operation. There are only 2 cores, both in an exhausted state, and we identified only 2 flakes made from former bladelet cores. The presence of rejuvenation flakes attests that knapping of the bladelets was carried out at least partly on the site. This suggests that, most of the time, the bladelet cores were introduced to the site already in an advanced phase of knapping, and left the site before the end of bladelet production. The regularity of the knapping, considered among other criteria through the analysis of the operative code, indicates that the knappers were very skilful.

Considering the quantity of bladelets found on the site, we suggest that their working by local knappers is very unlikely. We propose that the bladelets were made by itinerant knappers coming regularly to the site with bladelet cores, producing some bladelets, and taking any incompletely exploited bladelet cores away with them when they left.

Broadening our perspective, this model could also be applied to other Corsican sites like Basi. Beyond this island, only very small amounts of obsidian reached the continent, with the notable exception of a few sites, like Terres Longues (Bouches-du-Rhône) which has yielded 4548 obsidian artefacts. On this site, the obsidian from Monte Arci was probably introduced as preforms and/or as bladelet cores already partly processed. Obsidian bladelets were produced here and were then probably distributed as blanks to other sites in the south of France. In northern Italy, there is no evidence of such intensive obsidian bladelet production. However, the presence of a few cores indicates that at least part of the bladelets found there were made locally. Considering this, it is conceivable that the presumed itinerant knappers in Corsica were able to reach the shores of Italy and France to produce bladelets which were distributed as blanks to the inland regions.

Such a model has not been considered so far because the similarities between obsidian and Bedoulian heated flint knapping in southern France, especially at Terres Longues, were so strong that they were presumed to have been made by the same knappers. However, the analysis of Monte Grosso shows the presence of obsidian knapping very close to that used for Bedoulian heated flint but in an area relatively remote from southern France. These similarities include not only the raw material, since heated flint and obsidian have equivalent properties, but also the morphology and dimensions of the blanks and also the organization of their production.

The productivity of these types of knapping, as testified by experiments, is considerable and the frequency of such bladelets on archaeological sites is relatively moderate. The technical characteristics of such knapping also indicate that the knappers were very skilled and well trained. Consequently, the hypothesis of many knappers making only a few bladelets each year is not sustainable. They would not have been able to acquire, maintain and transmit the skills involved in this knapping activity. These heated Bedoulian flint bladelets and these obsidian bladelets were in both cases made by very small groups of specialists. These specialists were mobile, at least for the obsidian production.

However, analysis of the distribution of both raw materials shows marked differences. The flint bladelets are distributed mostly in inland regions and never reach Corsica or Sardinia. There is no clear geographical difference in their frequency and their management: some sites very remote from the outcrops have yielded as many bladelets as sites nearer to them. The only exception is Catalonia where this material was probably especially valued, as is shown by the presence of cores and bladelets in graves.

The obsidian bladelets are distributed mainly in coastal areas, even if several examples can be found far inland in Southern France and Northern Italy.

There are strong geographical differences in their distribution. Paradoxically, we have not so far found any obsidian pressure knapped bladelets in Sardinia. In contrast, they are abundant in Corsica. We suggest that they are here as important as the heated Bedoulian flint bladelets in Southern France. They are very rare on the continent. Considering their distribution and their presence even on sites very far from the coast, and considering the fact that their rarity cannot be explained by the difficulty in supplying obsidian to sites very far from the sources, we agree with the idea already proposed by some scholars, that obsidian was especially valued on the continent. We suggest that this value was probably linked to the raw material and not to the technique or morphology of the artefacts.