Category Archives: 2014 # 6

2014 # 6

2014-04–HENRY-THERY

FUEL USE AND MANAGEMENT DURING THE MESOLITHIC:

Recent Approaches in Archaeobotany

Auréade HENRY, Isabelle THÉRY-PARISOT

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Abstract

In order to propose working models for the Mesolithic period, this paper presents recent developments in archaeobotany orientated towards the question of fuel management systems and how ethnographic studies and experimentation can enhance our understanding of past phenomena.
The importance of fire and its systematic use during the Mesolithic can be assessed through direct evidence, i.e. the recovery of burned materials with wood, stone, bone and plant remains being the most commonly encountered. The diversity of activities related to fire is also suggested by indirect testimonies, such as the presence of materials (or their processing traces on artefacts) for the production of which a thermic treatment is needed, such as birch tar, animal hides, etc.
 In accordance with these observations, fuel management practices of Mesolithic societies were undoubtedly complex and culturally significant. However, they remain difficult to approach archaeologically: What kind of fuel was collected and for which purposes? What is the relationship between environment, fuel selection, hearth and site functions?

To cite this article

Henry A., Théry-Parisot I., 2014 – Fuel Use and Management during the Mesolithic: Recent Approaches in Archaeobotany, 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, 65-83.
2014 # 6

2014-03–CHESNAUX

VARIABILITY IN THE MANUFACTURING
OF TRIANGULAR GEOMETRIC MICROLITHS
DURING THE EARLY MESOLITHIC:

Toward a Simplification of Barb Manufacturing?
A Comparative Techno-functional Analysis of Microlithic Assemblages
from Saint-Lizier at Creysse (24) and La Grande Rivoire at Sassenage (38)

Lorène CHESNAUX

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Abstract

The aim of this short article is to present the heuristic potential of a detailed analysis of microliths. The analysis of the manufacturing methods and of the use-wear traces of microliths from two Early Mesolithic assemblages show a certain variability which can be interpreted as a simplification of operating procedures.

To cite this article

Chesnaux L., 2014 – Variability in the Manufacturing of Triangular Geometric Microliths during the Early Mesolithic: Toward a Simplification of Barb Manufacturing? A Comparative Techno-functional Analysis of Microlithic Assemblages from Saint-Lizier at Creysse (24) and La Grande Rivoire at Sassenage (38), 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, 54-64.
2014 # 6

2014-02–SEARA

VARIABILITY OF LITHIC FLAKING STRATEGIES:

Factors and Meaning

Frédéric SÉARA

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Abstract

Lithic flaking strategies were defined based on the study of large lithic assemblages from well-preserved sites, sometimes with flaking concentrations. In these contexts with good potential for the realization of complex refittings, I was able to obtain very significant results. This analysis method, often ignored in analyses of Mesolithic assemblages, revealed previously unknown features in both the spatial organization and technology of the assemblages studied. These data are integrated into a chrono-cultural framework that constitutes a solid reference base. The determination of raw material types and their origins, a research axis that is well established in the region, contributed greatly to our interpretations. It is thus possible to address the question of the potential relationship between procurement distances and flaking strategies. The variability of the flaking strategies represented by the most significant refitting groups, composed of nearly one hundred pieces, does not appear to be very significant. Four broad, unequally represented, strategies were defined and raise the question of their justification based on criteria of a very different nature.

To cite this article

Séara F., 2014 – Variability of Lithic Flaking Strategies: Factors and Meaning, 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, 23-53.
2014 # 6

2014-01–MARCHAND

BEYOND THE TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN
THE EARLY AND LATE MESOLITHIC

Grégor MARCHAND

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Abstract

At the beginning of the 7th millennium BC, from Tunisia to Scandinavia and the Alps to the Atlantic, the technical baggage of Mesolithic societies underwent profound changes. Flaked artifact styles, tool types, weapon hafting techniques and the volumetric principles of stone flaking were modified by more than simple adjustments to the percussion techniques commonly used, with pressure flaking and indirect percussion replacing direct hard hammer percussion. This division of the Mesolithic in Western Europe has more to do with the technology used to transform lithic raw materials than with tool typology. This observation was in fact not lost to some archaeologists of the last century, such as E. Octobon and J.G.D. Clark, who accorded less importance to punctilious arrowhead classifications than to the general structure of flaked productions, or S.K. Kozlowski who described Mesolithic Europe as being split into two successive typological “trends” (the S and K components). In this article, I first present a summary of the changes observed in the early 7th millennium, as well as the enduring features of Mesolithic material culture. I then examine possible correlations with paleo-environmental and social phenomena to show that for the moment there are no clear links to these factors. While the ultimate goal is to clearly define this vast change in civilization, it is now necessary to work at more restricted spatial and temporal scales to enhance our understanding of this fundamental phenomenon in the history of techniques on the European continent.

To cite this article

Marchand G., 2014 – Titre, in Henry A., Marquebielle B., Chesnaux L., Michel S. (eds.), Beyond the Technological Distinction between the Early and Late Mesolithic, Proceedings of the Round table, November 22-23 2012, Maison de la recherche, Toulouse (France), P@lethnology, 6, 9-22.
2014 # 6

2014-REVIEW

Cover 2014

CONTENTS

Auréade HENRY, Benjamin MARQUEBIELLE,
Lorène CHESNAUX et Sylvène MICHEL

FOREWORD

“Techniques and territories” session

Grégor MARCHAND
BEYOND THE TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN
THE EARLY AND LATE MESOLITHIC

Frédéric SÉARA

VARIABILITY OF LITHIC FLAKING STRATEGIES:
Factors and Meaning

Lorène CHESNAUX

VARIABILITY IN THE MANUFACTURING OF TRIANGULAR GEOMETRIC MICROLITHS
DURING THE EARLY MESOLITHIC:
Toward a Simplification of Barb Manufacturing?
A Comparative Techno-functional Analysis of Microlithic Assemblages
from Saint-Lizier at Creysse (24) and La Grande Rivoire at Sassenage (38)

Auréade HENRY, Isabelle THÉRY-PARISOT

FUEL USE AND MANAGEMENT DURING THE MESOLITHIC:
Recent Approaches in Archaeobotany

Nicolas VALDEYRON

THE MESOLITHIC, A GREEN REVOLUTION IN THE HEART OF FORESTED EUROPE?
First Reflections on this Question

Thierry DUCROCQ

THE COMPLEX EVOLUTION OF THE MESOLITHIC IN PICARDIE

Magali REVERSAT

REFLECTIONS ON THE MOBILITY PATTERNS OF MESOLITHIC POPULATIONS
IN SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE:
the Example of the Brive and Quercy regions

Elsa DEFRANOULD

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)

“Research news” session

Davide VISENTIN, Federica FONTANA, Stefano BERTOLA

AN ATYPICAL EARLY MESOLITHIC OCCUPATION IN THE SOUTHERN PO PLAIN:
Evidence from the Site of Collecchio (Parma, Italy)

Diana NUKUSHINA

LITHIC TECHNO-TYPOLOGY AND CHRONOMETRY
IN THE LATE MESOLITHIC OF THE SADO VALLEY:
the Case of Amoreiras Shell Midden (Alcácer do Sal, Portugal)

Alain BÉNARD, Colas GUÉRET

THE DECORATED MESOLITHIC ROCK SHELTERS SOUTH OF ÎLE-DE-FRANCE:
Revision of the Archaeological Data and Research Perspectives

Laure BASSIN

THE END OF THE MESOLITHIC ON THE SWISS PLATEAU AND THE NORTHERN JURASSIAN MASSIF

Sébastien GUILLON

LATE MESOLITHIC AND EARLY NEOLITHIC COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS
IN SOUTH-EASTERN FRANCE:
the Contribution of Pollen Data from the Loup and Cagne Plains (Alpes-Maritimes)

Helena REIS

THE MESOLITHIC – NEOLITHIC TRANSITION ON THE SOUTH-WESTERN PORTUGUESE COAST:
Preliminary Data on the Shellmidden of Paço Velho 2