The Portuguese south-western coast was a pivotal point of social interactions between hunter-gatherers and Neolithic communities (~6500-4000 BC). Despite being located between two central areas on the debate of the neolithisation process in Portugal, the south-western coast and the Mira valley have occupied a peripheral place on the investigation. The present investigation research was developed under a master thesis study which aim was to analyse the territory of those communities, as well as searching for their settlement patterns. The identification of a new Mesolithic site on this region, Paço Velho 2, reveals some characteristic details of the lives of the last hunter-gathers communities of the southern Portugal.
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Reis H., 2014 – The Mesolithic – Neolithic Transition on the South-Western Portuguese Coast: Preliminary Data on the Shellmidden of Paço Velho 2, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 153-159.
During the first half of the Holocene, climatic conditions, anthropogenic conditions and sea levels underwent numerous and significant modifications. To qualify the response of the coastal alluvial vegetation to these changing conditions between the end of the 8th and the 5th millennia, a high-resolution pollen analysis of two sedimentary alluvial sequences (Le Loup and La Cagne basins) was realized. The results, obtained through a multidisciplinary approach, show the precise evolution of the coastal and alluvial ecosystems. The rise in sea level and climatic forcing played a fundamental role in this evolution. While anthropogenic forcing during the Mesolithic was not significant, the Neolithization of the region also contributed to shaping the coastal landscapes. From the first decades of the 6th millennium onwards, the recurrence of the Cerealia pollen type shows the importance of coastal alluvial plains in the production economy of the first Neolithic groups.
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Guillon S., 2014 – The Determining Factors of the Coastal Environments during the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in South-Eastern France: the Contribution of Pollen Data from the Le Loup and La Cagne Plains (Alpes-Maritimes, France), in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 146-152.
The end of the Mesolithic and the transition toward the Neolithic in Switzerland is currently being studied through the technical systems of lithic tool manufacturing at two important sites: Arconciel/La Souche (Fribourg, Switzerland) and Lutter / Abri Saint-Joseph (Alsace, France). The various innovations and/or continuities in the lithic industries of these two sites have been analyzed with the aim of determining the evolution and distribution of lithic manufacturing techniques at the end of the Mesolithic and understanding, within these assemblages, possible influences from the Neolithic sphere.
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Bassin L., 2014 – The End of the Mesolithic on the Swiss Plateau and the Northern Jurassian Massif, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 141-145.
The rock shelter art in the sandstone formations south of Île-de-France is mostly non-figurative. The blunted sandstone and flint objects interpreted as engravers and discovered in the stratigraphic levels of a few decorated caves enable use-wear analyses. A new study of ancient collections renews and refines chrono-cultural attributions in the Mesolithic.
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Bénard A., Guéret C., 2014 – The Decorated Mesolithic Rock Shelters South of Île-De-France: Revision of the Archaeological Data and Research Perspectives, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 137-140.
Amoreiras, a shell midden in the Sado valley (Southern Portugal), was during years considered one of the most recent sites of the Sado Mesolithic complex, and a place of interactions between the last hunter-gatherers and the Neolithic groups. Nevertheless, the data about the lithic industry was poorly known. The absolute chronology and the complexity of the stratigraphy were not analyzed in detail. In this paper, we present the results from a techno-typological analysis of a set of lithic materials recovered from the first excavations in Amoreiras during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
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Nukushina D., 2014 – Lithic Techno-Typology and Chronometry in the Late Mesolithic of the Sado Valley: the Case of Amoreiras Shell Midden (Alcácer do Sal, Portugal), in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 129-136.
Dating back to the ancient phase of the Sauveterrian the site of Collecchio represents the oldest known evidence of human occupation in the southern Po plain area after the LGM as confirmed by a radiocarbon date. Techno-economical analysis carried out on the lithic assemblage has focused on the reconstruction of raw materials provisioning systems and reduction sequences. Results highlight that the site was characterised by a complex and intense occupation mostly addressed to domestic activities. One of the most peculiar aspects of the lithic assemblage is represented by the high number of burins, which could imply a certain degree of economical specialisation of the site as it will be further investigated by ongoing analyses.
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Visentin D., Fontana F., Bertola S., 2014 – An Atypical Early Mesolithic Occupation in the Southern Po Plain: Evidence from the Site of Collecchio (Parma, Italy), in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 123-128.
In the Grands Causses region, south of the Massif Central, there are a few sites attributed to the original Early Neolithic, (6th millennium). Due to their position at the edge of the region in which the southern Cardial emerged, they play an important role in debates concerning the Neolithization of southern France. Were these autochthonous sites with a production economy invented without influence from the Cardial domain?
Or were they occupied by acculturated Mesolithic groups? Were their facies peripheral to the Cardial?
The site of Combe-Grèze, excavated in the 1970’s by Jean Maury and Georges Costantini, was used like the others to develop these different theoretical models. For this reason, it appeared useful to reexamine the lithic assemblage of this site with the aim of distinguishing the different techno-typological entities based on a reconstruction of their ‘chaînes opératoires’ (reduction sequences). This study can be considered as an additional element of response to questions concerning the borrowing and transmitting of technical know-how between the horizons of the Second Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic. It is also intended to explore the role of the Mesolithic substratum in the emergence of a production economy in this region that is peripheral to the Mediterranean zone considered to be fully Neolithic.
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Defranould E., 2014 – What Role Does the Mesolithic Substratum Play in the Neolithization of the Grands Causses? Study of the Lithic Industry of Combe-Grèze (Cresse Commune, Aveyron), in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 112-121.
How was the mobility of Mesolithic groups organized in the Quercy and Brive Basins? Were open-air sites and caves and rock shelter sites complementary? What is the contribution of these different site types to questions concerning mobility patterns? Though it is probably not feasible to apply a single model to these Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies, it is possible to address some questions through analysis of the material evidence, such as lithic industries, faunal remains, and even vegetal remains. In theory, the variable proportions of these elements reflect specialized site functions, seasonality strategies and the economic organization of these societies and their territories. However, is the variation of these elements linked to socio-cultural and environmental factors, or the function of a specific site-type (open-air, cave or rock shelter)? In the regions considered here, it is difficult to distinguish between these factors due to the variable nature of the bibliographic sources related to the sites, the taphonomic condition of the assemblages, and the great number of open-air sites known only through survey operations. This study has nonetheless enabled us to inventory the available documentation, as well as revealing differences and similarities in the economic strategies of these populations.
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Reversat M., 2014 – Reflections on the Mobility Patterns of Mesolithic Populations in South-Western France: the Example of the Brive and Quercy Regions, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 96-111.
Numerous absolute dates enable the construction of a detailed chronology of the Mesolithic in Picardie. Here, phases of typological stability are separated by clear breaks. A rapid analysis of diverse elements reveals changes that were more significant than simple modifications of projectile points.
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Ducrocq T., 2014 – The Complex Evolution of the Mesolithic in Picardie, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 89-95.
As an introduction, this short article raises the question of the role of vegetal resources in the dietary economy of the Mesolithic. For many years, this role was seen as a given even if there was no significant archaeological evidence to support it. Meanwhile, during the last decade, reliable observations have led to new discussions and the recording in Western Europe of intensive nuts (mostly hazelnuts) gathering, along with practices associated with storage and differential consumption.
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Valdeyron N., 2014 – The Mesolithic, a Green Revolution in the Heart of Forested Europe? First Reflections on this Question, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Techniques and Territories: New Insights into Mesolithic Cultures, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 84-88.
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