11-2015, tome 112, 3, 2015, p. 475-516 - Le Roc de Marcamps 2 (Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde) Nouvelles données sur la subsistance et les traditions techniques au début du Magdalénien moyen Delphine Kuntz, Anthony Sécher, Sandrine Costamagno, Jean-Baptiste

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11-2015, tome 112, 3, 2015, p. 475-516 - Le Roc de Marcamps 2 (Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde) Nouvelles données sur la subsistance et les traditions techniques au début du Magdalénien moyen Delphine Kuntz, Anthony Sécher, Sandrine Costamagno, Jean-Baptiste

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Le Roc de Marcamps (Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde) est un site du Magdalénien moyen connu notamment par la découverte de nombreuses navettes dans les fouilles anciennes du secteur 1. Les travaux menés par Michel Lenoir dans le secteur 2 durant les années 1980 n'ont pas livré ce type de marqueur osseux mais un ensemble de vestiges attribués également à cette période. Plusieurs dates radiocarbone raisonnées placent ce gisement autour de 18900-18600 cal. BP, soit lors des premiers temps du Magdalénien moyen. Cette phase de transition apparaît synchrone de l'événement climatique d'Heinrich 1 marquant une péjoration climatique avec des conditions froides et steppiques. Elle se caractérise en outre par d'importants changements techno-économiques ou symboliques. A l'interface des « faciès » à navettes, à pointes de Lussac-Angles ou à lamelles scalènes, le Roc de Marcamps 2, et plus largement la Gironde, occupe une place privilégiée pour la compréhension de la mosaïque géoculturelle structurant la genèse du Magdalénien moyen.

Dans le cadre d'une révision collective du gisement par des membres du projet « Magdatis », cet article présente une approche croisée, détaillant les analyses taphonomiques et archéozoologiques des restes de faune (ongulés, mésomammifères et avifaune) ainsi que les études typotechnologiques des industries lithique et osseuse et de la parure. La stratigraphie du Roc de Marcamps 2 comprend un ensemble supérieur mêlant dépôts récents, déblais de carrières, céramiques et vestiges paléolithiques brassés par des animaux fouisseurs. L'ensemble inférieur apparaît mieux conservé et renferme les vestiges magdaléniens. Les restes fauniques documentent une chasse principalement axée sur les bisons, les antilopes saïga, les chevaux et les rennes durant la mauvaise saison et au début de la bonne saison. L'exploitation de ces ressources animales est intensive et orientée vers la récupération de la moelle en complément de la viande. L'étude des matières premières siliceuses, préférentiellement d'origine locale, atteste toutefois un apport de silex de Saintonge (silex « grain-de-mil »). La production lithique est principalement composée de débitages lamellaires voués à la confection d'éléments d'armatures de chasse. Le débitage laminaire fournit des supports normalisés pour la fabrication d'outils. L'industrie en matières dures d'origine animale est assez pauvre et comprend un équipement en os (aiguilles, lissoirs, retouchoirs) et en bois de renne (essentiellement des armatures de projectile) ainsi que des éléments de parure sur coquillages (en majorité des dentales) et sur dents (en majorité des incisives de renne sciées).

L'étude typotechnologique des industries lithique et osseuse et de la parure suggère des rapprochements tant avec le « Magdalénien à navettes » qu'avec le « Magdalénien à pointes de Lussac-Angles », deux faciès dont le Roc de Marcamps 2 est contemporain. Ceci doit conduire à s'interroger sur la pertinence de l'utilisation de ces faciès pour définir des « cultures exclusives » qui finalement se recouvrent chronologiquement et géographiquement, notamment en Gironde.

 

Discovered in 1929 by P. David and G. Malvesin-Fabre, Roc de Marcamps (Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde) is known as a Middle Magdalenian site due, in particular, to the discovery of numerous antler shuttles in the old excavation of sector 1. The more recent work carried out in the 1980s by Michel Lenoir in sector 2, located a few meters below sector 1, did not yield this diagnostic osseous artefact-type specifically, but a set of other remains equally attributed to the same period. Six radiocarbon dates (of which four are new and until now unpublished) place the occupation of this site in the 18900-18600 cal. BP timeframe, i.e. at the very beginning of the Middle Magdalenian. This transition period seems to be synchronous with the Heinrich 1 climatic event, a period marked by climatic deterioration in which cold, steppe-like conditions existed. This period is characterized by major techno-economic and symbolic changes. Located at the crossroads of three ???facies??? of this period (the "shuttle","Lussac-Angles" and "scalene bladelets" facies), Roc de Marcamps 2 and, more generally, the Gironde region, occupies a privileged place for understanding the geocultural mosaic that influenced the formation of the Middle Magdalenian.

In the context of a site reassessment by members of the Magdatis project, this paper aims to examine multiple records, in particular taphonomic and archaeozoological analyses of faunal remains (ungulates, small mammals and birds), as well as techno-typological studies of lithic, osseous and ornament industries. The stratigraphy of Roc de Marcamps 2 includes an upper unit in which recent deposits, backdirt from former quarrying activities, ceramics, as well as Palaeolithic material are found, all mixed together as a result of the actions of burrowing animals. The lower unit seems to be better preserved and includes Magdalenian remains dispersed over a number of layers (2a, 2b, 2c and 3) identified during excavation in approximately 1 metre of deposits. Our work in digitizing the field notebooks as well as in creating projections of the artefacts in three dimensions did not reveal the reality of these subdivisions, however. In addition, the very similar 14C dates and the homogeneous lithic industry, all of which point to the beginning of the Middle Magdalenian, incited us to ignore these stratigraphic subdivisions for this overall site reevaluation and to consider instead layers 2 and 3 as one archaeological unit.

The faunal remains of RM2 are abundant and well preserved; they demonstrate that hunting was primarily aimed at bison, saiga antelope, horse and reindeer during the cold season and the beginning of the warm season. Carcass processing of these ungulates was intensive and oriented towards marrow extraction in addition to meat recovery, as demonstrated by numerous impact scars and cutmarks on the bones. By contrast, small mammals and birds were barely used by Magdalenian people on this site.

Lithic raw material was primarily obtained close to the site, within a 10 km radius (grey-black or blonde varieties of Senonian flint, Maastricht flint and Tertiary flint). Other varieties of flint attest to the use of more distant sources, such as ???grain-de-mil??? flint from Charente Maritime. A small number of artefacts demonstrate links with even more distant places such as Chalosse (Upper Maastricht flint with Lepidorbitoides sp. inclusions, from 200 km south of the site) and the Middle Cher Valley (Lower Thuronian formations, 250 km north of the site). Lithics are composed primarily of bladelet knapping intended as part of hunting tools, mainly simple backed bladelets, retouched bladelets and truncated bladelets. Blade knapping provided standardized blanks for the production of other tools, primarily burins and simple endscrapers, as well as some composite tools (burin-endscrapers).

The osseous industry is relatively poor. It includes bone tools comprised of needles, for which splinters were extracted using a groove and splinter technique. There are also smoothers obtained by bilateral longitudinal grooving; and retouchers whose shape and dimensions are quite standardized and whose impact scars are only minimally noticeable. The groove and splinter technique was also used to extract splinters from the main beam of large reindeer antlers. Most antler objects are projectile points, among which the only identified base is a single-bevelled type. Finally, ornaments are also present on this site. Shells, mainly Dentalium sp., were intentionally sectioned by the saw and snap technique. A good number of segments are clearly finished products, as seen by finishing traces on them (smoothing of edges by abrasion) and by usewear marks (partially blunt edges). The presence of complete unworked shells as well as segments probably come from manufacturing waste and suggest in situ production. Pierced teeth ornaments are less common; these are comprised of cut reindeer and hare incisors, one pierced fox canine as well as one horse incisor decorated with a grid pattern.

The techno-typological analysis of the lithic and osseous industries as well as of the personal ornaments point to affinities with both the "shuttle" facies (truncated-backed bladelets, shell and teeth personal ornaments) and the "Lussac-Angles" facies (truncated backed bladelets, smoothers, and decorated bone incisor), two Magdalenian facies with which Roc de Marcamps 2 is contemporaneous. This fact should cause us to reconsider the relevance of these facies in defining exclusive cultures which, in the end, overlap each other chronologically and geographically, notably in Gironde.