02-2022, tome 119, 1, p. 37-47 - Nicole Pigeot - L'objet « lame » : un épiphénomène technique, économique, culturel et cognitif

Escola M (2022) - La chirurgie crânienne du Néolithique alsacien : état de la question

Résumé : Les connaissances acquises sur le mode de vie des premières populations néolithiques alsaciennes sont dues à une conjoncture favorable : l'expansion du courant néolithique danubien, la forte implantation humaine dans les plaines de loess, la bonne conservation de milliers de tombes et l'exploitation récente des terres à des fins de constructions immobilières. Ces conditions optimales ont conduit à la découverte et à l'étude de quatre cas alsaciens attribués à des actes chirurgicaux.
Celui d'Hoenheim-Souffelweyersheim (Bas-Rhin), l'un des plus anciennement identifiés, provient d'un contexte rubané récent. Ce sujet, âgé, porte une vaste dépression frontale droite perforée en son centre pour laquelle on peut avancer l'hypothèse d'une extraction d'esquilles osseuses après un traumatisme. L'ouverture de l'os crânien, d'abord conséquence de l'abrasion de la table externe et du diploé, a été reprise et agrandie. L'intervention a pu faire suite à une phase d'observation selon un protocole que l'on peut qualifier de médical.
L'intérêt de deux autres lésions crâniennes réside dans la complexité du diagnostic posé ou à débattre puisque le pathologique se mêle ou doit se démêler" du chirurgical.
Dans le cimetière danubien d'Ensisheim « les Octrois » (Haut-Rhin), la sépulture 44 conservait les restes d'un sujet dont la voûte crânienne portait deux vastes dépressions, TR-1 (65 mm × 63 mm) et TR-2 (95 mm × 91 mm) dans la région médiane, interprétées, à leur découverte, comme des craniectomies cicatrisées. L'étude de ces deux altérations de la voûte nous fait entrevoir la complexité du diagnostic différentiel. Elle met en lumière la diversité des pathologies envisageables et le manque d'études récentes sur les processus de cicatrisation de tels défauts crâniens.
La nécropole de Lingolsheim (Bas-Rhin), de contexte néolithique moyen Grossgartach, a livré une sépulture riche en mobilier d???accompagnement : la tombe XLIV. Le jeune adulte qui l'occupait était porteur d'une lacune crânienne qualifiée de double trépanation. L'étude des phases d'altération et de cicatrisation des berges de l'orifice permet d'identifier une suite de trois événements qui ont conduit à la perforation de l'os crânien et dont l'origine pathologique, taphonomique ou anthropique mérite d'être discutée.
Le diagnostic de trépanation pour le sujet de Riedisheim (Haut-Rhin), dont l'attribution chronologique reste vague (Néolithique final-Bronze ancien), est étayé par la présence de quelques stries instrumentales encore visibles sur l'os crânien, malgré une cicatrisation notable des berges de l'orifice.

Mots-clés : trépanation, Danubien, Grossgartach, Rubané, chirurgie crânienne, traumatisme crânien, paléopathologie, survie postopératoire, diagnostic différentiel.

Abstract: TThe expansion of the Danubian Neolithic, the dense settlement in the loess plains, the preservation of thousands of graves and the recent development of preventive archaeology have greatly increased our knowledge of the first Neolithic peoples??? way of life in Alsace. If we consider the Mesolithic people of North Africa (Taforalt, Maroc) and Ukraine (Vasiliyevka II and III. ; Vovnigi II) as precursors of cranial surgery, the first Danubian (Vedrovice, Moravie) and Mediterranean Neolithic people (abri Pendimoun, Castellar, Var) show early use of trepanation to treat trauma or other pathologies. Four cases of this surgical procedure found in archaeological contexts in Alsace have been published.
One of the oldest identified cases comes from a recent Rubane cemetery at Hoenheim-Souffelweyersheim (Bas-Rhin). One of the graves housed an old man with a large right frontal depression with a perforation in the centre. Bone splinters seem to have been extracted after the trauma occurred.
The operative choice was that of an abrasion of the external table and the diploe. However, it is difficult to comment on the origin of the perforation, choice or consequence of the bone thinning. Another skull from the same site bears the marks of an impact framed by two incisions.
For these two cases, an observation phase preceded the choice of the medical protocol.
Other cranial lesions observed on Early and Middle Neolithic subjects from Alsace show the difficulty of the diagnosis with the pathological aspects having to be disentangled from the surgical aspects.
In the Danubian cemetery of Ensisheim "Les Octrois" in the Haut-Rhin, tomb 44 yielded the remains of a subject whose cranial vault shows two large depressions TR-1 (6.5 mm x 63 m) and TR-2 (95 mm x 91 mm), located on the central axis and interpreted upon discovery as scarred craniectomies. The diagnosis for TR-1 was mainly based on the newly formed bony laminae that would have covered the entire bony surface of the opening. Observation of this arch defect identifies a raised centre around which radiate five depressions. The diagnosis proposed by K. W. Alt and collaborators (1997) involved the perforation being made by successive circular scrapings and the said perforation would have been filled with scarred bone. Similar frontal alterations, published in the anthropological literature, have been the subject of different diagnoses. Significant healed frontal trepanations are known for the periods ranging from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age (at the Trou de Goujout in Teyjat, in the Dordogne, for example). Healed, they show no filling ofthe gap. The differential diagnosis for  this TR-1 defect could point to osteolytic erosion of the cranial vault followed
by scarring. The TR-2 alteration was interpreted by the authors as a partially healed trepanation with a procedure consisting of an act of scraping after the development of four linear incisions defining a surface of the external table.
Other pathologies, initiating osteolysis of the cranial vault, cannot be excluded, including that of a traumatic episode leading to hematoma and that of osteitis, which subsequently healed, due or not to human intervention. Whatever the possible diagnosis, that of the bone growth was effective enough to fill such a large area has, to our knowledge, never been mentioned in neurosurgery or paleoanthropology papers (Nerlich et al., 2003 ; Partiot et al., 2020). It is therefore necessary, in the future, to look at the healing and regrowth processes of cranial bone in the light of a well-supported differential diagnosis.
The necropolis of Lingolsheim (Bas-Rhin) dating to the Middle Neolithic Grossgartach yielded the burial of a young adult with rich grace goods. The individual had a cranial lacuna described as a double trepanation (Forrer, 1938). The loss of bone affects the bregma, the left parietal and slightly the right parietal. The phases of alteration and healing of the edges of the orifice make it possible to identify a series of events that led to the perforation of the cranial bone and
its pathological, taphonomic or anthropogenic origin provides subject for discussion. Chronologically, three episodes probably shaped this cranial opening. Firstly, a localized osteolytic lesion of exocranial development, well circumscribed, led to a bregmatic perforation of the two tables and of the diploe. The only observation of the edge, abrupt, without
bevel, with a slightly sinuous, jagged outline and an apparent diploe and a blunt ridge, could suggest the pathological and osteolytic origin of this perforation. The use of an interactive tool has made it possible to support this differential diagnosis (Partiot et al., 2017). Menigocele, gliocele cyst and isolated eosinophilic granuloma (Langerhansian histiocytosis) are pathologies that may have generated this orifice; but due to the lack of a possible histological analysis, this
remains hypothetical. A surgical opening made in two phases by grooving-chiseling widened the gap, which was of pathological origin. The first opening, according to the healing of its bevel was cut on the left parietal. The only trace of this surgical act, a 12 mm length fragment of a slightly inclined external bevel, is completely healed. A second intervention
enlarged the scarred opening. The hypothesis of post-mortem cutting or trepanation followed by immediate death can be rejected as the blunt edges of the two bone tables attest to an engaged healing process. We cannot exclude the possible link between these two interventions and the pathological orifice. Coalescence and the development of tumours from an eosinophilic granuloma may have warranted the second intervention, following external manifestations of soft tissue swelling. The surgical opening therefore includes two operations and not just one as was initially mentioned. The first individual survived the intervention by several years whereas the second only for a few months.
The trepanned individual from Riedisheim (Haut-Rhin) is the most recent from Alsace. The archaeological context remains vague, Final Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, for this burial discovered during quarry work around 1888. A roughly triangular parietal gap occupies the centre of a large abraded cranial surface that evokes an act of the thinning of the vault followed by an action of cutting a shutter or enlarging the orifice. The cut marks that are still visible despite notable scarring of the edges indicate trepanation.With this overview, we note that these surgical acts remain rare in Alsace in relation to the total number of burials dating
from the Early Neolithic to the Bronze Age. There is no local extension of the practice. Most of the individuals survived the interventions that would have been the treatment for trauma or pathology. The case from Ensisheim may have been a surgical act, but in this specific case, the marks do not seem to be due to healed trepanations and an additional study is needed.
 

Keywords: Trepanation, Danubian cultures, Grossgartach culture, Linear pottery culture, cranial surgery, head injury, paleopathology, post-surgical survival, differential diagnosis.

Biographie d'un monument mégalithique du Néolithique moyen sur la côte sauvage de Quiberon dans le Morbihan

Sandra Sicard, Delphine Barbier-Pain, Vérane Brisotto,Marie-France Dietsch-Sellami, Gwenaëlle Hamon, Carole Vissac

Résumé : Plusieurs opérations d'archéologie préventive réalisées entre 2016 et 2019, dans le village du Manémeur sur la côte Sauvage de Quiberon, ont conduit à la (re)découverte des derniers vestiges d'un ensemble mégalithique néolithique dont l'état de dégradation très avancé a fait disparaître la quasi-totalité de l'élévation. Malgré cela, la fouille a constitué une opportunité unique sur le littoral morbihannais d'étudier les structures de base et les fondations d'un monument de ce type, mettant en évidence des cloisonnements internes au cairn et des niveaux de préparation destinés à recevoir les dallages des espaces internes.

Il s'agit d'un cairn incluant deux dolmens à chambres quadrangulaires et à couloirs assez longs, parallèles et s'ouvrant au sud-est. Les plans partiels des espaces sépulcraux ont pu être restitués et les niveaux de circulation identifiés grâce aux dallages des sols, mégalithique pour celui de la chambre du dolmen 1. La chambre du dolmen 2 prend appui contre le parement de la chambre du dolmen 1, impliquant l'antériorité de ce dernier.

Le substrat sous-jacent au monument mis à nu en fin de fouille a révélé des traces d'extraction de grandes dalles préalablement à l'érection de ce dernier. L'étude micromorphologique a montré que les terres qui recouvraient le substrat avaient été en grande partie remaniées, très probablement raclées pour permettre l'extraction puis réétalées avant la construction.

Le mobilier archéologique associé, assez abondant, a permis d'attribuer le dolmen 1 à la fin du Néolithique moyen II, ce que confirment les datations radiocarbone. Le dolmen 2, moins riche, a livré un mobilier plus mélangé, dont l'essentiel oriente vers une attribution au début du Néolithique récent. Exclusivement découverts sous les niveaux de sol du monument, ces mobiliers céramique et lithique ont une répartition spatiale très inégale qui ne semble pas fortuite et résulte très probablement d'une mise en scène. De la même façon, les études environnementales ont révélé la présence de plantain, Plantago lanceolata pour la carpologie et Plantago coronopus pour la palynologie, dont les très fortes concentrations plaident pour un épandage anthropique. Ces vestiges et leur disposition dans et en dehors de l'espace funéraire témoignent de dépôts associés à la fondation du monument.

Mots-clés : Néolithique moyen, mégalithisme, techniques de construction, dépôts funéraires.

Abstract:  Several preventive archaeology operations carried out between 2016 and 2019, in the village of Manémeur on the wild coast of Quiberon, have brought to light the last remains of a Neolithic megalithic complex whose advanced state of degradation has caused the disappearance of almost the entire elevation. This monument was originally described as consisting of three dolmens included in a single cairn, arranged on the same line running from north to south. Before our intervention, it had already been the subject of several investigations at the end of the 19th century and in the 1930s.

In spite of this, the exhaustive excavation has revealed the modes and phases of construction of this complex monument, built in several stages.

It is a cairn including two dolmens with quadrangular chambers and fairly long passages. They are parallel and open to the southeast. The partial plans of the sepulchral spaces could be reconstructed thanks to the presence of either the remains of broken granite standing stones, or the pits where the torn off elements were wedged in place, or, in dolmen 2, the intact orthostats. The circulation levels in these spaces were identified thanks to the paving of the floors, megalithic for that of the chamber of dolmen 1. The excavation revealed the relative chronology of the main construction phases of dolmen 1. The two parts of the corridor have sufficiently different characteristics to suppose that they were built in two phases, with a first northern portion extended by a southern portion, and are part of successive architectural projects. The chamber of dolmen 2 rests against the facing of the chamber of dolmen 1, implying that the latter was built earlier. The excavation was a unique opportunity on the Morbihan coast to study the basic structures and foundations of a monument of this type, revealing the internal partitions of the cairn and the preparation levels intended to receive the paving of the internal spaces.

The cairn, as well as the facings and orthostats of the monument, is made up almost exclusively of granitic elements, even if a few blocks of quartz or pegmatite are occasionally present. If most of them have less sharp edges that indicate an extraction, the construction of the external facing is clearly distinguished from the rest by the placement of blunt blocks with rounded shapes attesting to a collection on the foreshore.

The substratum underneath the monument, exposed at the end of the excavation, revealed traces of extraction of large slabs prior to the erection of the monument. The extraction was facilitated by the flaky texture of the granite and a network of diaclases that cut the massif into parallelepipedic blocks.

At the same time, it has allowed a regularization of the terrain, inscribed on an eminence linked to a granitic rise. The micromorphological study showed that the soil covering the substratum had largely been reworked, most likely scraped to allow extraction and then respread before construction. Some large quartz impactors as well as several bevelled pieces are likely to have participated in the removal of the granite slabs.

The associated archaeological material, which is quite abundant, has made it possible to attribute dolmen 1 to the end of the Middle Neolithic II, which is confirmed by radiocarbon dating. Dolmen 2, less rich, yielded more mixed material, most of which points to an attribution to the beginning of the Late Neolithic. Exclusively discovered under the floor levels of the monument, these ceramic and lithic materials have a very uneven spatial distribution that does not seem fortuitous and is probably the result of staging. Similarly, environmental studies have indeed revealed the presence of plantain, Plantago lanceolata for carpology and Plantago coronopus for palynology, whose very high concentrations argue for an anthropic spreading. These remains and their arrangement inside and outside the funerary space thus testify to deposits associated with the foundation of the monument, which constitute practices that are rarely discussed because they are too rarely brought to light.

The Manémeur site is part of a vast group of monuments of the same type (passage graves enclosed in a terminal cairn) identified in the vicinity and more widely on the Morbihan coast. Many of them belong to the Middle Neolithic or the late Neolithic. Although some of them group up to four passage dolmens in the same cairn, the relative chronologies are not always clearly established and the internal structures of the cairns have not been explored much.

The excavation carried out here has brought new light and new knowledge to this ensemble, showing at the same time all the informative potential of the exhaustive study of such monuments, even when they have been largely destroyed.

Keywords: Middle Neolithic, megalithism, building technique, grave offering.

Allard P., Cayol N. (2022) - Industrie lithique et activités domestiques
au Néolithique ancien : le Rubané de la vallée de l???Aisne, Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 119, 2, p. 223-257.

Résumé : Cet article présente la synthèse des études du mobilier lithique issu des fosses latérales qui bordent les parois des unités d'habitation du Néolithique ancien Rubané dans la vallée de l'Aisne. La séquence chronologique correspond à l'étape récente du Rubané de la Seine (5100-4950 cal. BP) et le corpus pris en compte rassemble 17 500 objets répartis dans 12 sites et environ 90 maisons. La problématique vise à décrypter la nature des assemblages lithiques des maisons rubanées et à documenter les activités représentées par les outils en silex. L'approche technologique permet de dresser les principales caractéristiques de l'industrie lithique rubanée. Le mobilier des fosses latérales correspond à un assemblage qui mixe différentes chaînes opératoires de fabrication et de consommation. Différents matériaux sont présents dans toutes les maisons, mais on observe une utilisation préférentielle pour les matériaux régionaux (20 à 50 km) pour le débitage des lames. L'échelle de la vallée de l'Aisne, il existe une tripartition d'est en ouest avec des différences importantes dans la sélection et le traitement des matières premières. L'échelle du site, il est possible que certaines maisons, notamment à Cuiry-lès-Chaudardes, aient pu être alimentées en produits laminaires par d'autres maisons. Néanmoins, la composition des assemblages lithiques des fosses montre des absences récurrentes de certaines étapes de la chaîne opératoire du débitage des lames et qu'il ne s'agit pas de rejets primaires, mais plutôt que les fosses sont le réceptacle d'objets progressivement rejetés. Afin de caractériser les activités dont témoignent les outils en silex présents dans les fosses latérales, 366 pièces en silex issues de 7 fosses latérales ont fait l'objet d'une analyse tracéologique. Le principal résultat est qu'une partie du système technique n'est pas retrouvée d'après les outils et les traces d'utilisation recensés. Des pans techniques entiers demeurent absents ou très peu présents alors qu'ils sont documentés du point de vue des productions. La prépondérance du débitage laminaire dans l'industrie lithique rubanée pourrait être la réponse technique à un outillage composite, c'est-à-dire emmanché. Les lacunes observées dans les différentes chaînes opératoires des activités recensées par les outils peuvent s'interpréter en postulant que la plupart de ces activités ont lieu en fait en marge ou au-delà de l'espace domestique au sens large et que l'unité domestique, stricto sensu, soit en fait le lieu d'entretien et de réparation des outils.

Mots-clés : Rubané, céramique linéaire, industrie lithique, technologie, tracéologie, unité domestique.

Abstract: This article presents an overview of lithic material from lateral pits of Early Neolithic dwelling units (Linear Pottery Culture or Rubane) in the Aisne Valley. The corpus of 17500 objects comes from 12 sites and about 90 houses dating to the later phase of the Rubane of the Seine (5100 - 4950 BCE). These sites have been excavated by a team of researchers from the UMR Trajectoires (CNRS-Paris I) from 1970 to the present day. The sites are hamlets typical for the period, with house plans made up of five parallel rows of posts with the internal space divided up by tierces. The Rubane period lasts only for a short period in the region and dates of very few houses overlap, making it easy to attribute the artefacts found in the lateral pits to specific domestic units. Our aim is to decipher the composition of the lithic assemblages of the LPC houses and to document the activities using the flint tools. We have been able to draw up the main characteristics of the LPC lithic industry from the technological study of the lithic material. The assemblages show a mix of several manufacturing and consumption chains. Different varieties of flint are present in all the houses, but regional materials are preferred for blade debitage (Campanian and Bartonian flint between 20 and 50 km south of the area). The Aisne valley is divided into three from east to west in terms of different materials are selected and used. In the easternmost sector, communities were mainly supplied with Turonian flint from the Ardennes to the east. This type of flint is hardly used in the central part of the valley, whereas it is massively used for expedient production in the western sector. Turonian flint blocks from the alluvium were knapped to provide the blanks for the splintered pieces. Blade debitage is predominant at all sites, and all houses show evidence of the blade debitage process. It is possible, however, that some houses, notably at Cuiry-lès-Chaudardes, may have been supplied with Campanian flint laminar products by other houses. The lithic assemblages from the pits show recurrent lack of evidence of certain steps in the blade debitage process as only some artefacts that were progressively discarded in the pits. In order to characterize the activities evidenced by the flint tools found in the lateral pits, 366 artefacts from 7 LPC houses were analysed for microwear.
This study showed that part of the technical system is not found according to the tools and traces of use recorded and entire technical sections remain absent or are very little present, although they are documented from the point of view of production. The tools within each of the pits clearly show that they were grouped together according to very different activities such as subsistence and crafts even if most activities are documented in most houses. Hunting, harvesting, crafting of hides and plants, and working with hard and soft materials are activities shared by all of the houses analyzed.
The composition of the tool assemblages is stable for this period in this region and we can therefore assume that this assemblage and the recurrence of dominant tools are typical of the activities that take place in and around the domestic
unit. We have pinpointed two main locations. Tool finds indicate that the activities took place inside or near to the house, for example, hide processing (especially finishing activities). The same is true for drills, burins, splintered pieces or retouched blades and flakes, which indicate a whole range of activities in or near the house. Other tools refer to activities that cannot take place in or near the housing unit such as arrows and sickle blades used for hunting and harvesting.
The remains of wild fauna found in the lateral pits pits: deer and wild boar and more rarely aurochs show that hunting did not take place in the hamlet and even in its immediate vicinity.
The preponderance of blade debitage in the LPC lithic industry could be the technical response to the fact that most tools were hafted. The lack of tools that show evidence of different processing activities indicates that most of these activities actually took place near or beyond the domestic space and that the domestic unit, stricto sensu, was in fact the
place where tools were maintained and repaired.

Keywords: Linear Pottery Culture, Early Neolithic, lithic industry, lithic technology, microwear analysis, housing unit.

Connet N., Bertran P., Claud E., Larmignat B., Boitard E. (2022) - Dynamique d'occupation au Paléolithique moyen, apport de l'analyse croisée géo-archéologique et techno-économique du site « les pièces de Monsieur Jarnac » à Bourg-Charente (Charente), Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 119, 2, p. 179-221.

Résumé : Le site Paléolithique de Bourg-Charente (Charente, France) est un site stratifié inédit, en rive droite de la Charente, fouillé en 2012 dans le cadre de l'archéologie préventive. La séquence du Paléolithique moyen récent, objet du présent article, contient les vestiges, essentiellement lithiques, de plusieurs occupations successives scellées par des dépôts de versant.
La partie la mieux conservée du site représente une surface de 400 m² où les vestiges sont disposés selon des concentrations de nature et d'ampleur différentes. Au centre, une grande nappe de vestiges contient notamment des outils (pièces aménagées et/ou présentant des traces d'utilisation) et les vestiges de chaînes de production partielles d'éclats. Aux abords extérieurs de cette nappe sont concentrés sur de petites surfaces les vestiges issus de l'exploitation d'un ou deux blocs de matière siliceuse. Les remontages, nombreux au sein de ces concentrations, permettent de proposer pour chacune d'elles une unité d'action, voire de temps. Les données technologiques et typologiques de cette partie du site inscrivent l'ensemble de la série dans le Moustérien Denticulé de débitage Discoïde.
Appliquée à chaque concentration et nappe de vestiges, l'analyse taphonomique a permis de dissocier dans le temps les concentrations de vestiges les unes des autres comme de la nappe de vestiges centrale. L'analyse morpho-fonctionnelle comparée de ces différents ensembles fait apparaître des différences et convergences d'un ensemble à l'autre qu'il est difficile d'interpréter en l'état des données.
La réflexion palethnologique menée sur ce site permet d'interroger les comportements de groupes moustériens de la fin du Paléolithique moyen. Elle montre, dans le cas présent, la réoccupation de mêmes lieux, semble-t-il pour des activités comparables. Par effet miroir, elle engage également à s'interroger sur les risques de la lecture directe d'une structuration par trop évidente d'un site.

Mots-clés : Paléolithique moyen, géologie, taphonomie, industrie lithique, analyse fonctionnelle, analyse spatiale.

Abstract: The Palaeolithic site of Bourg-Charente (Charente, France) is a multi-level site excavated in 2012 as part of preventive archaeology. The site is located on the right bank of the Charente River in colluvial deposits overlying an alluvial terrace. Two main archaeological levels are distinguished. A Middle Palaeolithic assemblage TL-dated to 47.8 ± 3.7 ka and 45.9 ± 4.1 ka is preserved in a MIS3 interstadial palaeosol (Saint Acheul-Villiers-Adam Soil Complex). The overlying colluvium has yielded an Upper Palaeolithic assemblage TL-dated to 38.5 ± 3.0 ka. The main subject addressed in this paper is whether the activity areas found in the best-preserved part of the Middle Paleolithic level were synchronous in part or in their totality, and what this implies for the occupation pattern of the site. We will discuss this question in light of an integrated approach based on geological, taphonomical and archaeological analyses.
The best-preserved area extends over 400 m² and yields mainly lithic artefacts of various types and sizes concentrated in groups. An extended area of artefacts in the middle is made up of tools (defined by typology or functional aspects, mostly denticulates and notches), flakes and debris derived from the production of flakes with an abrupt natural back. Functional analysis points to butchery activities and the processing of animal skins. Artefacts from the knapping of one or two blocks of siliceous material are found in limited groups covering one to four square meters on the edge of the area. The numerous refits and small number of blocks suggest that each concentration is a short knapping event to produce flakes. The lithic assemblage belongs to the "Discoid debitage with denticulates" technocomplex. Comparative morpho-functional analysis of the lithic concentrations indicates both variations and similarities between assemblages, the meaning of which remains difficult to assess. All the lithic artefacts, which show only slight vertical scattering in the upper part of the palaeosol, could come from a single occupation comprising a spatially circumscribed debitage near a larger, more diversified activity zone including animal processing activities.
However, the taphonomic analysis shows a contrasting preservation of lithic concentrations, which is not characteristic of a single occupation. Detailed stratigraphic analyses reveal superimposed concentrations that have retained their integrity or, conversely, have been affected by downhill creep and hydraulic sorting in a periglacial context. This could reflect the succession of relatively temperate and cold periods typical of MIS3. If this interpretation is correct, it implies that repeated Middle Palaeolithic occupations occurred over several millennia.
Since the best-preserved concentrations (each probably corresponding to a distinct occupation phase), contain only a small number of tools, we assume that human groups were small and/or that activities were limited in space (processing a carcass or part of a carcass) and time. The small groups belonged to the same technological universe, but had specific techno-functional traits. The paleoethnological study carried out on this site leds us to question the behaviour of Mousterian groups at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic. Here it shows that groups occupied the same place several times, seemingly for similar activities, leading to the constitution of a single, techno-economically coherent level. The case of the Middle Palaeolithic site of Bourg-Charente may be representative of many other sites and suggests that caution is needed in the analysis of large lithic accumulations even if they appear as coherent occupation units.

Keywords: Middle Palaeolithic, geology, taphonomy, lithic industry, functional analysis, spatial analysis.

Discussions sur la complémentarité de la méthode géomagnétique et de l'imagerie aérienne pour l'étude des enceintes néolithiques du Centre-Ouest de la France

Guillaume Bruniaux, Victor Legrand, Éric Bouchet, François Lévêque, Catherine Louboutin, Vivien Mathé, Vincent Ard

Résumé : Le Centre-Ouest de la France, entre les fleuves Loire et Dordogne, est un secteur géographique riche en enceintes fossoyées du Néolithique, avec 311 sites référencés en 2020. Ces enceintes ont été en grande majorité découvertes par des prospecteurs aériens, ou à l'aide des photographies aériennes des services de l'État tel l'IGN, à partir d'indices phytologiques des fossés de l'enceinte. Depuis les années 2010, les prospections géomagnétiques sont de plus en plus utilisées, en complément de la prospection aérienne, pour cartographier ces sites ceinturés. Ce type de prospection géophysique offre une approche complémentaire qui s'exprime, par exemple, par la détection des petites structures d'aménagement des entrées, des palissades et des trous de poteau qui sont rarement visibles en indices phytologiques sur les clichés aériens. Le nombre de prospections géomagnétiques sur des enceintes néolithiques a été considérablement augmenté grâce à l'ANR MONUMEN qui a permis la prospection de dix-huit sites entre fin 2018 et début 2020. Cet ensemble d'enceintes permet de qualifier et de quantifier l'apport de la prospection géomagnétique par rapport à la prospection aérienne sur plusieurs points : 1) l'influence de la géologie locale sur la qualité des clichés aériens et sur leur déficit d'information par rapport à la prospection géomagnétique ; 2) une comparaison de l'architecture des enceintes vue sur les clichés aériens par rapport à celle observée sur les cartes des anomalies magnétiques ; 3) la qualité et la quantité des détails visibles sur les cartes des anomalies magnétiques en comparaison des images aériennes ; 4) la dynamique du signal des fossés en relation avec l'hétérogénéité et la nature des matériaux dans le comblement qui sont rarement visibles sur les photographies aériennes.

Mots-clés : Néolithique, enceinte fossoyée, prospection géomagnétique, photographie aérienne, indice phytologique, Centre-Ouest de la France.

Abstract: A total of 312 Neolithic causewayed enclosures were referenced in 2020 between the rivers Loire and Dordogne in Central-Western France. Most of these enclosures were discovered using aerial photography, which highlight the cropmarks of the enclosure ditches, taken by prospectors or by State services such as the IGN. Since the 2010s, in addition to aerial survey, geomagnetic surveys are increasingly used to map these enclosed sites. Geomagnetic surveying offers a complementary approach, which enables the detection of small entrance features, palisades and postholes rarely visible in the cropmarks seen on aerial photos. The number of geomagnetic surveys of Neolithic enclosures has considerably increased thanks to the ANR MONUMEN with the survey of more than eighteen sites between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2020. These new surveys have led us to qualify and quantify how geomagnetic survey has contributed to the study of these enclosures and to determine its complementarity in relation to aerial survey.

The local geology influences the quality of aerial photos, as the appearance of cropmarks is conditioned by water stress. The latter is more or less important depending on the water retention capacity of the soil and thus depends on the nature of the soil and the bedrock. Cropmark visibility varies depending on the local bedrock and the restitution of the architecture of the enclosure is more or less reliable. It was possible to quantify the loss of information by comparing aerial photos to the geomagnetic survey. Aerial images of enclosures located on a limestone substrate have an information loss of less than 33% compared to magnetic anomaly maps. On this type of bedrock, aerial photography is relevant and the cropmarks of the ditches can be superimposed on the geomagnetic survey. On the other hand, aerial photographs of enclosures located on a marly bedrock lose about 66 % of information compared to the magnetic anomaly maps. On this type of substratum, aerial photography is less relevant and part of the enclosure is not visible on the pictures.

A comparison of the enclosure architecture seen on the aerial photographs with that seen on the magnetic anomaly maps is also relevant. The enclosure of the Coteaux de Coursac at Balzac (Charente) is a site where the cropmarks of the ditches are visible only under certain conditions (hydric stress). The quality of the aerial images is excellent and highlights numerous causewayed structures (discontinuous ditches, fences, postholes). However, the aerial imagery does not match the magnetic anomaly map, which is more precise in its mapping of smaller causewayed features (palisades, postholes). Moreover, the variations of magnetization contrasts within the ditches are an indication of the variations of their fill. Aerial imagery is certainly relevant for mapping the architecture of an enclosure but is not has detailed as the geomagnetic survey.

When comparing the quality and quantity of the detail visible between the magnetic anomaly maps and the aerial images, magnetic anomaly maps are able to detect small causewayed features such as entrances, palisades and postholes. Several examples are presented here including the sites of le Pontet at Saint-Nazaire-sur-Charente (Charente-Maritime), la Vieille Garenne at Courcôme (Charente), le Peu at Charmé (Charente) and le Perradet at Saint-Groux (Charente). These small features are rarely visible on aerial photos. Some features have thermo-remanent magnetization from fire action, which can be detected by geomagnetic survey. This is the case at the site of le Peu at Charmé (Charente), where the postholes inside the enclosure mark to several burnt buildings. The fills of the postholes are thermo-remanent magnetized and are visible on the magnetic anomaly map. These postholes are however not visible on the aerial photographs.

The dynamics of the magnetic signal or the magnetization contrast of the ditches of the Neolithic enclosures is not homogeneous and these variations reflect material heterogeneities in the ditch fill. These variations and their link to the magnetic signal were studied in the paper by Ard et al (2015) on the Bellevue enclosure at Chenommet (Charente). They are not generally visible on aerial photographs, but can in rare cases be detected on aerial photographs, notably at the site of Bellevue at Chenommet (Charente).

To conclude, aerial and geomagnetic survey are complementary methods for the study of the architecture of Neolithic causewayed enclosures. Most sites are discovered by aerial survey, which is the primary source of information for mapping the ditches. These plans are based on the survey of ditch cropmarks, the appearance of which is governed by numerous factors making them difficult to predict from one year to another. Moreover, depending on the geological bedrock, the cropmarks are not always clearly identifiable and do not allow the entire architecture of the enclosure to be perceived. Finally, aerial photos are mostly shot at an oblique angle, which distorts distances and lengths. Orthorectification can alleviate this problem but is rarely used by volunteer prospectors. Magnetic prospecting allows the causewayed structures of these sites to be mapped with better resolution and accuracy.

Keywords: Neolithic, causewayed enclosure, geomagnetic prospection, aerial photography, cropmark, Centre-West of France.

Présentation de l'expérimentation d'agriculture de type néolithique menée à l'archéosite du parc de la Haute-Île (Neuilly-sur-Marne, France) : mise en oeuvre et résultats des cultures céréalières

Aurélie Salavert, Françoise Toulemonde, Rémy Auray, Caroline Hoerni, Guillaume Huitorel, Ivan Lafarge

Résumé : L'expérimentation agricole menée dans le parc de la Haute-Île (Département de la Seine-Saint-Denis) pendant trois années agricoles (2017-2020) a pour objectif de tester un système agricole de type néolithique (5500-4900 avant notre ère) impliquant un travail du sol minimal et un taux de fertilisation faible. Cet article présente la mise en oeuvre de l'expérimentation et une analyse préliminaire des résultats concernant les rendements céréaliers et les relevés des cortèges d'adventices. L'amidonnier et l'engrain se sont montrés généralement compétitifs face aux plantes adventices herbacées. Les parcelles semées à l'automne avec la technique du sillon ont permis de récolter en moyenne 1350 kg/ha (ratio 1:15) d'engrain et 900 kg/ha (ratio 1:8,5) d'amidonnier. Cette moyenne est à nuancer en raison de la variabilité interannuelle des rendements pour les deux céréales. Néanmoins, le rendement est toujours supérieur à 1:10 pour l'engrain et en général inférieur à 1:10 pour l'amidonnier. Ainsi, contrairement aux données agronomiques qui indiquent que l'engrain est moins productif que l'amidonnier, l'expérimentation indique que certaines variétés d'engrain peuvent être plus performantes que celles d'amidonnier en culture d'hiver, plusieurs années consécutives, sous un système agraire engageant un très faible apport organique et un faible investissement humain. La flore adventice relevée sur les parcelles est dominée par les plantes vivaces probablement en raison de la faible intensité du travail du sol et de la courte durée de l'expérimentation. La majorité des taxons trouvés dans le lot de stock d'engrain (récolte traitée par battage puis vannage) provient de la prairie environnante. Les adventices résiduelles y représentent seulement un quart de la diversité enregistrée sur les parcelles et sont majoritairement des annuelles d'hiver ce qui ne correspond pas au ratio vivace/annuelle enregistré sur les parcelles.

Mots-clés : Néolithique, Europe tempérée, expérimentation, blé vêtu, système agricole, adventice, rendement céréalier.

Abstract:  This article presents implementation choices and initial results on crop yields and weed assemblages from a 3-year Neolithic-type agricultural experiment (2017-2020) at the "parc de la Haute-Île" (Department of Seine-Saint-Denis), about 20 km east of Paris (France). The project aimed to experiment the currently accepted farming system for the Early Neolithic in central Temperate Europe (ca. 5500-4900 cal BC), i.e. a system of winter or spring cereal cultivation, conducted on small permanent plots, whose fertility is maintained by a low input of organic amendment.

At the "parc de la Haute-Île", work on the plots was minimal (no weeding, no irrigation, low fertiliser input) due to constraints related to labour and time availabilities of the experimental team. The plots were mainly cultivated with the two emblematic hulled wheats of the Linearbandkeramik period (LBK): emmer (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccon) and einkorn (Triticum monococcum). The initial state of the experimental site was a meadow surrounded by a wooded hedgerow and the initial soil had an inherent high fertility. The total area given over to the farming experiment was 180 m² (31.5 m² per plot). Each year, three plots were cultivated, either in monoculture or in maslin, i.e. cultivation of several cereal types on the same plot and subsequently harvested together. The annual cropping plans included one plot of cereals that had never been fertilized, another amended with animal manure (equivalent of 2 t/ha of animal manure), and another following the cultivation of a pulse crop (rotation). The aim was to evaluate the cereal yields following the different methods that were used (fertilization, seasonality), as well as the qualitative diversity of weed assemblages in the plots and in one processed einkorn subsample, sown in autumn and gathered low on the stem. The main questions underlying the experimental project are:

- Does low organic input cultivation without weed control benefit one or the other of the two-hulled wheats in the monoculture and maslin plots?

- Does soil fertilisation have a short-term effect on the yields of the hulled cereals?

- What is the composition of the wild flora present in the cultivated plots, what is its origin, is it representative of the cultivation methods?

- Does the weed flora found in the harvested lots after their treatment reflect the results from the agricultural plots? 

At the "parc de la Haute-Île", emmer and einkorn competed with herbaceous weeds in the farming experiment with low labour input and low fertilization intensity. The yields for the two cereals show inter-annual but also intra-annual variabilities. Einkorn was the best performing cereal in both the monoculture and maslin plots. The average yield for einkorn is 1350 kg/ha (ratio 1:15) and 900 kg/ha (ratio 1:8,5) for emmer. The yield is always higher than 1:10 for einkorn regardless of when sowing took place and the fertilization methods. For emmer, the ratio is generally less than 1:10. Regarding sowing seasonality, the spring crop tested in year 1 (2018-2019) performed less well than the winter crop for both taxa, with emmer even stopping its development during the agricultural season. On the unfertilized plot, there is a discontinuous evolution of yields between the test year (2017-2018) and year 2 (2019-2020) with the two cereals showing contrasting behaviours. For einkorn in the test year, the unfertilised plot delivered the highest yield (1:23) of the three years. On the five plots fertilized in monoculture, yields were not systematically higher than on the unfertilised plots. For emmer, in year 2, the two fertilized plots (1:12 and 1:17) yielded more than the unfertilized plot (1:7) and even more than the reference value of the test year (1:10). Emmer seems thus to respond somewhat better to short-term fertilisation. These results contradict the current agronomic data that indicate a better productivity of emmer. This experiment leads us to assume that the better performance of einkorn during episodes of heavy rainfall could explain its preponderance on most of the LBK archaeological sites in Central European despite its supposed lower yield. Indeed, the experiment shows that currently, some varieties of einkorn can outperform emmer, several years in a row, under a low input winter cropping system with a soil with high inherent fertility.

36 herbaceous species were observed in the cereal plots. Most (n=25) were species identified in the meadow. At least 5 taxa may have originated in the meadow and/or initial seedlings and 2 taxa originated exclusively in the initial seedlings of the test year. The distribution by biological type shows 50% annuals (mostly winter annuals) and 50% perennials (without vegetative reproductive organs in majority). The high presence of perennials can be explained by the short duration of the experiment that did not favour annuals, and the low intensity of weeding. After threshing and winnowing, 10 taxa were identified to the species level in the einkorn stock. The distribution by biological type indicates 80% annuals, which are mostly winter annuals. Among the perennials, those without vegetative reproduction dominate. The ratio of annuals/perennials observed in the einkorn stock is thus not representative of what was observed on the plot. There is less diversity in the assemblage compared to what was recorded in the plots. Furthermore, winter annual weeds are over-represented compared to the ratio recorded in the plots, where perennials dominate. This could be explained by the fact that annuals, such as poppy (Papaver rhoeas) or brome (Bromus sp.), produce more seeds than perennials and are therefore more likely to be present in the samples. This result will have to be verified and explained when the entire harvest subsamples of the three experimental years are processed.

Keywords: Neolithic, temperate Europe, experimentation, hulled wheat, farming system, weed, cereal yield.

L'outillage sur galet au Paléolithique ancien en Europe de l'Ouest

Étude technicofonctionnelle de l'UA G de la Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel, France)

Justin Guibert

Résumé : L'étude de la production et de l'utilisation de l'outillage sur galet contribue à une meilleure compréhension de la diversité des systèmes techniques du Paléolithique ancien européen. Le site acheuléen mondialement connu de la Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel, France) a livré une importante quantité de pièces classées comme « galets aménagés » en comparaison avec des assemblages similaires de cette période. L'unité archéostratigraphique G (UA G) datée du SIM 12 et communément appelée « sol G » a livré à elle seule, bon nombre des « galets aménagés » de ce site. Ce terme de « galet aménagé » englobe et masque une diversité technique, puisqu'il recouvre autant des matrices fonctionnelles (outils) que des matrices productionnelles (nucléus). En partant de ce constat, l'objectif de cette étude est de mener une analyse technicofonctionnelle de ces objets afin d'illustrer la variabilité technique, morphologique et fonctionnelle de ces pièces. L'analyse de 402 galets aménagés permet de constituer différents technotypes d'outils par niveaux d'occupations (Gs1, Gm2, Gm3 et Gi4) au sein de l'UA G. Dès lors, ces résultats questionnent la place de ces outils sur galet au sein de l'outillage de la Caune de l'Arago, mais aussi des technocomplexes du Paléolithique ancien en Europe de l'Ouest. Enfin, ce phénomène technique permet également de discuter de l'essence et de ce que l'on attribue bien souvent à l'Acheuléen.

Mots-clés : Galet aménagé, Pléistocène moyen, Acheuléen, analyse technicofonctionnelle, système technique.

Abstract:  The world-renowned Paleolithic site of Caune de l'Arago Cave (Tautavel, France) has yielded large quantities of archaeological and paleontological material in over more than 50 years of excavations that were first undertaken by Professor Henry de Lumley and his team. The sedimentary accumulation, some 15 meters thick (Perrenoud et al., 2016), covers the entire Middle Pleistocene, between 690,000 years BP and 95,000 years BP (de Lumley et al., 1984, 2015; Falguères et al., 2004, 2015). 

This unique stratigraphic sequence provides information not only on the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental history of the Tautavel-Vingrau valley but also about the prehistoric populations of the European Lower Paleolithic through its 55 occupation levels. The sedimentary fill is divided into four phases (lower, middle, upper and summit) and excavations are focused on the middle phase which constitutes most of the sequence (9 meters thick). This phase is divided into three sub-phases correlated from bottom to top to marine isotopic stages 15 to 12.

Archaeostratigraphic Unit G (AU G), dated by radiometric methods to about 438 ± 31 kyr (Falguères et al., 2015) and connected to MIS 12, is the spatio-temporal framework of our study. The research aim is to understand the place and technicofunctional variability of lithic industries classified as "galets aménagés" from the archaeological levels of AU G (Gs1, Gm2, Gm3 and Gi4). This macro-tools made from pebbles had been the subject of typo-analytical (Laplace, 1968) and morpho-statistical (de Lumley, 1978; Geleijnse, 1981; Kalli, 1984; Lebel, 1984; Millogo-Kallo, 1984; Gezgin, 1986; Beyene, 1991; Voinchet-Zulli, 1991) studies which concluded that there was little standardisation of the tools and a great variability of chopper "types".

This review is in line with the historical continuity of these works, but since an epistemological and methodological revision, we have apprehended these prehistoric objects using a standardised protocol. This new study has led us to question the originality of these "galets aménagés" while discussing what is hidden behind this appellation.

Firstly, we characterised the raw materials used by the prehistoric knappers by petrographic and morphometric analyses, which indicate that massive ovoid limestone pebbles (> 1000 g) and "light" quadrangular milky quartz pebbles (<500 g) were preferred. This dichotomy is probably due to economic and technical choices as the volumetric criterion is the presence of peripheral convexities adjacent to the natural flat surfaces (cortical). In addition, we evaluated the taphonomic aspect of the objects by qualifying their surface condition in order ascertain the importance of this factor on our technological reading.

We subsequently carried out a techno-typological seriation with the aim of discriminating the potentially functional pieces, i.e. those with a well-identified active cutting part. Four types were proposed as follows:

1/ Pieces discriminated as "core" (N=100; 24.9%) corresponding to artefacts with a production vocation, some of which may have a functional potential.

2/ Other elements were classified as "pebbles" (N=62; 15.4%), which are equivalent to pieces that do not have any production use or functional potential, the majority of which may be fractured/diaclassed pebbles that are very close to geofact/gelifact.

3/ A few pieces have been classified as "manuports" (N=5; 1.2%), because these pebbles have significant percussion marks located on the proximal and distal parts.

4/ Finally, the industries referred to as "shaped objects" (N=235; 58.5%) make up the majority of this lithic series and present a functional potential.

Secondly, the shaped pebbles (N=235) were analysed according to relevant technico-functional criteria.

The methodological protocol we adopted comes from scientific research initiated by É.  Boëda in the early 1990s and formalised by M. Lepot in 1993 using the term "théorie artisanale de l'outil" (Boëda, 1992; Lepot, 1993). This systemic approach to the prehistoric tool breaks it down into at least three sub-systems or Techno-Functional Units (TFU). A Receptive Contact of energy (RC); a Prehensive Contact of the tool (PC); a Transformative Contact with the material to be transformed (TC).

In line with this approach, our observations focused on the position of the cutting edges on the supports and the associations of the different TFUs, particularly with regards to the Prehensive Contact (PC) / Transformative Contact (TC) or cutting part.

The 235 pebbles resulting from a shaping operation and presenting a functional potential were also the subject of a technical biography following the creation of diacritical diagrams (Dauvois, 1976).

Following the application of the technicofunctional criteria, the results are as follows:

1/ The archaeological level Gs1 showed a technical and structural variability of six pebble tool technotypes illustrated by diversified TFU pairs (table 2).

2/ The Gm2 level presents a diverse six technotypes of tool, some of which are similar to Gs1 and the so-called "light" matrices (< 500 g) dominate these two units.

3/ Within the Gm3 level, we have also constituted five technotypes of pebble tool, which illustrate a strong technical, morphological and structural variability. Nevertheless, this unit has matrices with a consequent volumetric excess compared to the industries of the previous levels. The technotypes with massive pebbles (> 1000 g) are more frequent and probably indicate singular functional activities.

4/ Finally, the lower level of AU G offers many similarities with Gm3 both in terms of the morphometric and volumetric criteria of the matrices, as well as in terms of the variety of similar technotypes.

In view of the results obtained for the "galets aménagés" of AU G of Caune de l'Arago Cave, this technicofunctional rereading (TMS) has made it possible to go beyond the simple hylemorphic scheme of previous studies and to reveal the technical, morphological, structural and functional variability of these pebble tool matrices. These variabilities express the sociological, technical and symbolic behaviour of the Lower Palaeolithic populations associated with what is known as the "Acheulean technocomplexe".

Keywords: Pebble tools, Middle Pleistocene, Acheulean, technicofunctional analysis, technical system.