Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française 2024

Les Agals, Villarzel-Cabardès (Aude)  :

un nouveau jalon pour la connaissance

de l'artisanat textile au Néolithique en Languedoc

Jean Vaquer, Régis Aymé

Résumé  : Le site des Agals qui a été détruit par un labour profond a livré des vestiges typiques du Néolithique final vérazien datables du 3e millénaire avant notre ère. Le mobilier recueilli en surface comporte deux éléments assez rares relevant de problématiques distinctes qui nous ont paru justifier des analyses et d'établir des comparaisons dans une zone de compréhension plus étendue.

Le premier est un tesson de fond de récipient ayant conservé une croûte carbonisée qu'il a été possible d'analyser en chimie organique et qui a révélé un caramel de cuisson comportant des résidus de plusieurs sortes de préparations alimentaires (cf annexe de N. Garnier). Il s'agit de corps gras d'animaux, de viande, de produits laitiers, de traces d'huiles végétales ou de graines broyées, des traces de légumes feuilles et des boissons fermentées de fruits de Rosacées autres que la pomme. C'est un premier pas dans la connaissance des pratiques culinaires et de l'alimentation au Néolithique en zone nord occidentale de la Méditerranée.

Le second élément remarquable est un poids de métier à tisser en argile cuite qui appartient au type réniforme ou en croissant. Il dénote l'utilisation d'un type de poids tendant en même temps les deux nappes de fils de chaîne et ayant pu fonctionner par basculement. Ce dispositif se caractérise d'abord par une économie de moyen qui a pu être appréciable : le métier vertical à poids permet de se passer d'une barre de lisse par rapport au métier horizontal et le peson allongé à attache bipolaire divise par deux le nombre de modules à mettre en place au bas du métier. Un autre avantage par rapport aux pesons à mode de suspension unique et centré a pu concerner les productions. Les dispositifs à pesons compacts et à attache centrée ont pu servir à la fois pour des réalisations d'étoffes cordées et des tissus sur des métiers à deux rangs de poids. Les pesons à système d'attache bipolaire autorisaient l'enchevêtrement automatique des nappes pour des tissages en armures diverses (toile et sergé) d'après les expérimentations faites par A. W. Lassen. Cet avantage technique aurait permis l'adoption de ce type de peson à partir de la fin du 5e millénaire avant notre ère en Italie, puis sa généralisation sous des formes diverses au 4e millénaire au nord des Alpes et dans le Midi de la France et au 3e  millénaire dans la péninsule Ibérique.

Mots-clés  : Néolithique final, Vérazien, caramel alimentaire, étoffes cordées et tissus, poids de métier à tisser, peson réniforme ou en croissant, armure toile, armure sergé.

Abstract: The Agals site, that was destroyed by deep ploughing, yielded remains typical vestiges of the late Neolithic Verazien style dating from the 3rd millennium BC. The artefacts collected on the surface include two rather rare elements addressing  two separate issues that justify analyses and set comparisons in a wider area of understanding.

The first is a pot bottom potsherd that has retained a charred crust that has been analyzed in organic chemistry and reveals  residues of several kinds of food preparations (Annex by Nicolas Garnier). These include fats from animals, meat, dairy products, traces of vegetable oils or crushed seeds, traces of leafy vegetables and fermented beverages from Rosaceae fruits, other than apples. It is a first step in the knowledge of culinary practices and food in the Neolithic in the north-western area of the Mediterranean.

The second remarkable element is a cooked clay loom weight that belongs to the kidney-shaped or crescentic type. It denotes the adoption of a mode of operation by rocking of weights tending the two layers of the warp threads and authorizing the weaving of fabrics with plain weave, or even with more complex canvas according to the experiments made by A. W. Lassen or by K. Grömer. A survey was carried out to find out when and how this kind of crescentic weights appeared and developed in the north western Mediterranean. Generally speaking, cooked clay loom weights are attested to in the Neolithic but they are infrequent and come in various forms and weights. The oldest were found in peninsular Italy in cardial-epicardial context in the 6th millennium BCE and in context Diana, Ripoli, VBQ in the 5th millennium BCE. These are center suspension system weights that could be used in a single row for twining fabrics or in two rows for plain weave fabrics.  The first crescentic loom weights or increasing to two opposite suspension systems appeared in northern Italy towards the end of the 5th millennium and developed amply at the beginning of the 4th millennium in the Po valley in Lagozza culture contexts, but also in the Southern of France in the recent Chasséen and even north of the Alps during late Neolithic. They coexisted with other types of loom weights until the end of the late Neolithic, as the example of the Agals proves. In the Iberian Peninsula the loom weights of cooked clay are known in the south from the end of the 4th millennium first in the form of weights in centered suspension mode and then, in the 3rd millennium in the form of elongated weights with opposite double perforations (“cuernecillos”). Some crescent shapes are known, but most are rectangular or shaped horns very arched and very narrow, which gives them a certain originality. We can link them to some fabric finds that are linen and plain weave canvas.

The loom weight of Agals datable during the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE is part of the group of loom weights whose opposite apical perforations allowed to stretch the wires of the two layers (even and odd wires) of the warp on the same weights arranged in line at the base of the loom.

This system is characterized first of all by an economy of means which could have been appreciable : the vertical weight loom saves a bar of rails compared to the horizontal loom and the elongated bipolar load cell halves the number of modules to be installed at the base of the loom. Another advantage over the single-mode and centered load cells may have been the productions. The devices with compact scales and centred fasteners could be used both for making rope fabrics and fabrics on two-tier looms. The scales with bipolar fastening system allowed the automatic entanglement of the tablecloths for weaves in various armor (canvas and twill) according to the experiments made by A. W. Lassen.

These advantages can make it possible to better understand the adoption of this kind of loom weight not only in the late Neolithic in Italy but also in the South of France and their enormous success in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the late Neolithic and Chalcolithic. It is therefore possible to envisage that fabrics with twill weave canvas or chevron patterns and diamond points appeared long before protohistory as is generally envisaged.

Keywords: late Neolithic, Verazien, food caramel, twining fabrics and plain weave fabrics, loom weight, kidney shaped or crescentic loom weights, canvas weave, twining, twill weave.

La grotte Huchard (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche, Ardèche)

Approche chronologique intégrée d'une grotte ornée

paléolithique à la sortie des gorges de l'Ardèche

Julien Monney, Jacqueline Argant, Benjamin Audiard, Pierre-Antoine Beauvais,

Jean-Yves Bigot, Laurent Bruxelles, Stéphane Jaillet, Dominique Gasquet,

Nicolas Lateur, Magali Rossi, Aurélien Royer, Nadine Tisnerat-Laborde

Résumé  : Une approche intégrée de la grotte Huchard, ou grotte du Ranc pointu no1, a été menée en 2020 et 2021. Elle a eu pour objectif d'investiguer les éventuelles complémentarités d'usages fonctionnels et/ou symboliques ayant pu exister entre les différentes grottes ornées du «  complexe de sites  » du Ranc pointu, dont fait partie la grotte Huchard. Ceci a impliqué d'aborder au préalable la question de la contemporanéité d'une ou de plusieurs phase/s de fréquentation de ces cavités. Pour ce faire, plusieurs opérations ont été réalisées, à savoir  : un enregistrement numérique  3D de la cavité, une étude des lambeaux de remplissage laissés par les fouilles de 1957 et des vestiges qu'ils comprennent, ainsi qu'une approche de la géométrie des remplissages et de leur position vis-à-vis des gravures pariétales.

Les âges 14C obtenus sur charbons dans ces placages sédimentaires se placent entre 16330 et 13250  cal.  BP. Globalement cohérents avec le reste des études, ces résultats viennent confirmer les attributions chronoculturelles proposées antérieurement sur la base du matériel lithique (Magdalénien supérieur), tout en les étendant significativement à l'Épipaléolithique. La position altitudinale des gravures pariétales est, par ailleurs, compatible avec des sols de circulation dans la continuité des niveaux archéologiques de l'US  1.

Du point de vue des relations entre les différentes grottes ornées du méandre du Ranc pointu, la rareté des traces d'activité humaine attribuables au Paléolithique supérieur récent dans les zones d'obscurité des cavités du secteur ressort nettement. Ce constat rend difficile de soutenir l'hypothèse d'interactions intenses et/ou régulières au Magdalénien supérieur entre des espaces situés dans l'obscurité totale (Deux-Ouvertures, Tête-du-Lion) et des espaces de résidence dotés d'une ornementation en entrée de grotte (Huchard, Chabot, Figuier). Au contraire, ceci amène à s'interroger sur le caractère anté-magdalénien des gravures de la grotte Huchard et, par conséquent, sur une possible disjonction chronologique entre l'âge des vestiges retrouvés dans les dépôts sédimentaires et l'âge des gravures pariétales.

Mots-clés  : art pariétal, grotte ornée, Paléolithique supérieur, Magdalénien, stratigraphie, numérisation  3D, géomorphologie, chronologie, datation 14C, Sud-Est de la France.

Abstract: Research was carried out at Huchard Cave in 2020 and 2021 as part of the 'Cave Art Dating' project. The aim of this project, since 2008, is to investigate the chronology of human and animal activities in the Palaeolithic rock art caves of the Ardèche river gorge, and the ways prehistoric human groups made sense and symbolically inscribed subterranean landscapes, as well as the socio-cultural contexts in which Palaeolithic cave art was created.

In 2016, a visit to Huchard Cave highlighted its chronological potential and the interest in resuming research at the site.

Huchard Cave, also known as Grotte du Ranc Pointu no1 or Grotte du Squelette, is located in the last meander of the Ardèche river gorge (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche; Ardèche). In 1908, P.  Raymond reported deep engravings, attributed to the Upper Palaeolithic in its penumbra zone, between 2.5 and 3.5  m above the current ground.

The position of Huchard Cave among a series of seven rock art caves in the 'Ranc Pointu site complex' raises the question of the possible complementarity of their - functional and/or symbolic - uses. The proximity of Deux-Ouvertures and Huchard Caves, and the latter's position as a compulsory passageway to the former raise the question of whether they should be considered as a single site. Are there contemporaneous phases of use of these two caves, as well as the other rock art caves in the Ranc Pointu meander? And, if so, what reciprocal interactions could have existed between them at an anthropological and sociological level?

While the chronology established in the Deux-Ouvertures and most of the rock art caves of the Ranc Pointu meander provide an overview of human activity in the sector, Huchard Cave had not yet benefited from an in-depth study. Since the end of the 19th  century, various archaeological operations have been carried out at Huchard Cave. But the chronology of human activity in the cave during the Upper Palaeolithic remained imprecise.

In 2016, we identified against the walls some remains of the sedimentary levels excavated in 1957 by P.  Huchard. These observations prompted an archaeological operation in 2020 and 2021. The aim was to obtain an age for the archaeological remains contained in these deposits and to test the chronocultural attribution previously proposed on the basis of lithic material. It was also the opportunity to check whether other chronological phases were present and to discuss the morphology of the floor during the Upper Palaeolithic.

To achieve this, we focused on: (1)  a 3D digital recording of the cave, the engravings and the deposits remaining against the wall, (2.1)  a geoarchaeological study of the sedimentary deposits, (2.2)  an analysis of the archaeological palaeontological and paleoenvironmental material they contained, (3)  a study of the natural and anthropogenic traces on the walls, and (4)  an approach to the geometry of past sedimentary fillings of the cave and their chronological and spatial positioning in relation to the parietal engravings.

In the end, we identified 6  siliceous lithic pieces, 56  microcharcoal, 4  elements of red colouring matter, 3  pebbles and 3  remains of microfauna on the surface of the residual sedimentary deposits of the diverticulum. These remains were mainly concentrated in, on the upper 12 to 17  cm of the deposits (SU  1). Radiocarbon measurements yielded seven dates ranging from 16,330 to 13,250  cal.  BP. This chronological range is compatible with the Upper Magdalenian attribution previously proposed by J.  Combier on the basis of the lithic industry. However, the 14C ages obtained suggest that human presence also took place during the Epipaleolithic. The geoarchaeological observations and the results of the lithic and anthracological studies are also consistent with the cultural and paleoenvironmental data available for the Upper Palaeolithic in the region. Although not providing precise chronological information, the presence of colouring matter, pebbles and faunal remains is compatible as well with an Upper Palaeolithic age. The only divergent data comes from palynology. The long use of the cave as a sheepfold during the Holocene period, the circulation of water in the sediment of SU  1 and the exposition of the stratigraphy to the open air for more than 60  years, are all possible sources of pollution that could explain these discrepancies.

The altitude of the engravings is compatible with Palaeolithic circulation floors at the level of the archaeological layer (SU  1). The engraved wall would then be within the manual range of a medium-sized individual (1.70  m). However, we identified a discordance between SU  1 and SU  2. This gap covers a period from the Early Dryas to potentially the Middle Pleistocene. Although there is no archaeological evidence to substantiate it, we cannot dismiss the creation of the engravings during this pre-Magdalenian period.

Regarding the socio-cultural interplay between the various rock art caves of the Ranc Pointu meander, we identified archaeological and spatial similarities between Huchard Cave and the other engraved caves (Chabot, Figuier and, to a lesser extent, Sombre Caves). These four rock art caves are the manifestation of phenomena that seem chronologically related (pre-Magdalenian) and anthropologically similar (dwelling sites), albeit with possible complementarities. Apart from Figuier Cave, no evidence of recent Upper Palaeolithic and/or Epipalaeolithic occupation, contemporary with that of Huchard Cave, is known in these caves. It may be due to the early nature of the excavations carried out there, or it could indicate an older age for Huchard Cave engravings. In fact, both in Huchard and Figuier Caves, the presence of Magdalenian remains may simply reflect the relatively marked presence of this chronological period in the Ardèche river gorge.

As for potential connections with the three caves of the Ranc Pointu meander whose rock art is located in total darkness (Tête-du-Lion, Deux-Ouvertures, and possibly Saint-Marcel), there is a chronological dissimilarity between the periods of human activity in these caves and the dates of occupation of Huchard Cave. It is therefore difficult to support the hypothesis of regular and/or intensive Magdalenian interactions between interior spaces located in total darkness and residential spaces with rock engravings in the semi-dark zone of Huchard, Chabot and Figuier Caves. This observation calls into question the pre-Magdalenian nature of the engravings of Huchard Cave and, consequently, suggests a possible chronological disjunction between the age of the remains found in its sedimentary deposits and the age of its parietal engravings.

The Ranc Pointu meander thus emerges as an ensemble in its own that needs to be understood as a whole. The results obtained at Huchard Cave represent an important milestone opening up further prospects for research on the scale of this complex of sites.

Keywords: rock art, cave art, Upper Paleolithic, Magdalenian, stratigraphy, 3D  digitalization, geomorphology, chronology, 14C dating, South-East of France.

Pourquoi l’homme sans arc devrait-il chercher des flèches  ?

Discuter une hypothèse non parcimonieuse  :

le cas de l’arc à la Grotte Mandrin (Paléolithique supérieur initial)

Laurent Klaric, Sylvain Ducasse, Mathieu Langlais

Résumé  : En Préhistoire, au delà de trouvailles inattendues faites dans des contextes clairs, il arrive que les découvertes ou résultats d’étude «  extraordinaires  » soient sujet à controverses. Cela reflète en général la difficulté qu’ont les archéologues à s’accorder sur le degré de précision et la construction de leur argumentation. De manière concomitante, une certaine surmédiatisation vise parfois à informer et convaincre le public de l’importance d’une découverte jugée majeure par ses auteurs, sans que, pour autant, le résultat ne remporte une large adhésion de la communauté scientifique. Constituant un exemple de la dérive sensationnaliste évoquée, une étude récente (Metz et al., 2023) consacrée aux pointes et micro-pointes du niveau E de la Grotte Mandrin (Malataverne, Drôme) vient de conclure à l’usage de l’arc il y a 54  000 ans par un groupe Homo sapiens en vallée du Rhône. Ce résultat proclame ainsi le vieillissement de près de 40  000 ans de l’usage reconnu de l’arc en Europe. Une lecture attentive de cette étude ne nous a pas convaincu de la validité de ce résultat «  extraordinaire  » qui nous semble a priori incompatible avec le principe de parcimonie. C’est sur la base du raisonnement et de la logique argumentaire que nous proposons une réfutation du mode de propulsion inféré qui est en grande partie fondée sur un «  postulat d’efficacité  » au détriment d’autres données archéologiques pourtant disponibles sur le site. Nous exposons une réfutation basée sur  : 1) les données présentées dans l’étude ainsi qu’à l’occasion d’autres travaux antérieurs sur les armes préhistoriques, 2) des observations ethnographiques issues de trois continents et relatives à la chasse et son apprentissage par les enfants, 3) une régularité générale touchant à l’apprentissage dans les sociétés d’Homo sapiens. À l’issue de notre réflexion, nous proposons que les pointes microlithiques de Mandrin puissent correspondre à des parties d’armes miniatures potentiellement attribuables à l’activité des enfants.

Mots-clés  : Paléolithique supérieur, industrie lithique, armement, chasse, apprentissage, enfants, microlithisation, miniature, argumentation, ethnographie.

Abstract: In Prehistory, beyond unexpected finds made in clear contexts, “extraordinary” discoveries or study results are sometimes the subject of controversy. The latter generally reflect the difficulty archaeologists often have in agreeing on the degree of precision and construction of their arguments. From the age of humankind to the settlement patterns of the Americas, the “modernity” of Homo sapiens and the role of women in prehistory, bold hypotheses and startling conclusions follow one another in the wake of media fashions. At the same time, there may be a certain amount of media hype aimed at informing and convincing the public of the importance of a discovery deemed major by its authors, although the announced result may not be widely supported by the academic community. A recent study (Metz et al., 2023) devoted to the points and micro-points of level E of the Mandrin Cave (Malataverne, Drôme) is just one example of the sensationalist drift mentioned above. It concludes that the bow was used 54,000 years ago by a group of Homo sapiens in the Rhône Valley. The spectacular result proclaims that the recognized use of bow and arrow in Europe is circa 40,000 years older than previously known. However, a careful reading of this study did not convince us of the validity of this “extraordinary” result, which seems to us a priori incompatible with the principle of parsimony. Indeed, the article by Metz and colleagues would require further comment on the technical aspects of the study (e.g. criteria for morpho-typological and productional distinction of flint points, reality of the existence of a nano-point component, criteria about the functional analysis, details of the parameters of the Initiarc experiment). However, we have chosen to accept as valid the hypothesis that a large proportion of the points analysed correspond to axial tip of hunting projectiles. It is therefore on the basis of reasoning and argumentative logic that we propose a refutation of the use of bow and arrow 54,000 years ago on the Mandrin site. Indeed, the conclusion of the study by L. Metz and colleagues is essentially based on a “postulate of effectiveness” that ignores certain other archaeological data available on the site. We therefore first propose a rebuttal based on 1/ the data presented in the study and in other works about to prehistoric weapons, 2/  ethnographic data from three continents relating to traditional hunting and the place of children in this activity, and 3/ a general regularity concerning learning in present-day Homo sapiens societies.

Firstly, we analyse the arguments used by L. Metz and colleagues, presenting them from the point of view of argumentative logic, using the categories explained in C. Plantin's dictionary of argumentation (Plantin, 2021). This analyse leads us to distinguish between the main arguments in the Metz et al. demonstration (archaeological impact fractures similar to those used in the experiment, the “rule” that the diameter of the projectile shaft is necessarily less than the width of the point, the use of the bow for maximum penetration efficiency of a light projectile, calculation of the TCSA) and the premises on which the demonstration is based. We show not only the weakness or artificiality of some of the arguments/premises presented, but also the “argumentation by default” nature of the demonstration put forward by L.  Metz and colleagues, since no new decisive argument is proposed that would allow a direct and differential diagnosis of bow use (as opposed to spearthrower or bare-handed use).

The entire demonstration is based on the necessity of using the bow to ensure optimal penetration of projectiles armed with micro- and nano-points. This reasoning by default implies a condition of refutability: the demonstration is only valid if the small lithic points were necessarily intended to be effective from the point of view of the projectile penetrating into its target.

We then show that there are many examples among traditional hunters of the ethnographic register of miniature children's weapons, more or less faithful replicas of those used by adults, which constitute children's play or hunting training equipment. These children's weapons are not necessarily intended to be lethal or as effective as those used by adults (i.e. penetration of the tip into a living animal target is not a major requirement, since the main targets are often inanimate for beginners), but they are often functional enough for shooting, practising and playing. In fact, they can reasonably sustain damage during these uses. This simple explanation, which does not imply that the bow was used 40,000 years earlier than archaeologically attested, has not been considered or tested in Metz and colleagues study. At the end of our analysis, we propose that the Mandrin microlithic points of level E could correspond to tip of miniature weapons that could potentially be used by children. It would, of course, be necessary to ensure that such miniatures could break in the same way as adult weapons when used by children on inanimate target. However, it seems to us that, given the current state of knowledge, this hypothesis is undoubtedly more parsimonious than that of the use of bows and arrows 40,000 years earlier than currently documented in the archaeological record at Stellmoor in Germany. Through this example, we finally underline the excesses of a certain number of sensational studies and publications with a wide international audience, where a critical reading of the arguments would often prevent the promotion of non parsimonious hypotheses as solidly established scientific results.

Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic, lithic industry, weaponry, hunting, apprenticeship, children, microlithism, miniature, argumentation, ethnography.