A comparison of the lithic industries
from two Azilian sites in Aquitaine:
how to Interpret Different Degrees
of Technical Simplification?
Célia FAT CHEUNG
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Abstract
The Azilian is generally characterized by a simplification of lithic industries, associated with a regional exploitation of raw materials. The variability of these manifestations is studied here through an analysis of the lithic assemblages of two regions where this culture appears to have evolved differently. Two sites are compared, the Pagès rockshelter (Lot, France) and Troubat cave-rockshelter (Hautes-Pyrénées, France), both located in the Aquitaine region, but in very different environmental contexts. Through this comparison, it is possible to address questions concerning adaptations to the environment (reductions sequences that are simple, but applied to two specific environmental contexts) and distinct cultural practices. These differences can be seen in the reduction techniques, even if they remain simple in both cases. At the Pyrenean site, they reveal practices linked to environmental constraints, which are also integrated with regional cultural practices, and reflected in the techno-economic organization.
To cite this article
Fat Cheung C., 2014 – A Comparison of the Lithic Industries from Two Azilian Sites in Aquitaine: How to Interpret Different Degrees of Technical Simplification?, P@lethnology, Varia, 28 p.
In the Kingdom of Ibex:
Continuities and Discontinuities in Late Glacial
Hunter-gatherer Lifeways at Guilanyà (South-Eastern Pyrenees)
Jorge MARTÍNEZ-MORENO, Rafael MORA TORCAL
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Abstract
Hunting camps play an essential role for investigating changing hunter-gatherer behavior during the Late Glacial. In the south-eastern Pyrenees, sites located in mountainous contexts, often interpreted as hunting camps, represent adaptations to demanding environments.
These sites form part of emergent strategies associated with specialized systems and are characterized by the presence of a hunting toolkit, monospecific faunal assemblages and the seasonal exploitation of mountain ecosystems. Taken together, these various aspects suggest profound transformations in subsistence practices and social organization.
Here we test the validity of such a scenario for the site of Balma Guilanyà in the western Catalonian Pyrenees. Comparisons of techno-typological trends and faunal assemblages are placed within their chrono-environmental context allowing the question of possible changes in systems developed by the Late Glacial hunter-gatherers who occupied the southern slopes of the Pyrenees to be addressed.
To cite this article
Martínez-Moreno J., Mora Torcal R., 2011 – In the Kingdom of Ibex: Continuities and Discontinuities in Late Glacial Hunter-gatherer Lifeways at Guilanyà (South-Eastern Pyrenees), in Bon F., Costamagno S., Valdeyron N. (eds.), Hunting Camps in Prehistory. Current Archaeological Approaches, Proceedings of the International Symposium, May 13-15 2009, University Toulouse II – Le Mirail, P@lethnology, 3, 211-227.
Where are the Hunting Camps?
A Discussion based on Lateglacial Sites in the Paris Basin
Pierre BODU, Monique OLIVE, Boris VALENTIN,
Olivier BIGNON, Grégory DEBOUT
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Abstract
With its numerous, well preserved Lateglacial sites, the Paris Basin contributes useful elements to discussions of the notion of “hunting camps” in Prehistory. Several extensively excavated, and sometimes well preserved, stratified sites allow us to address questions concerning the settlement durations and site functions in greater depth than is possible in other contexts. Drawing on examples of Magdalenian and Azilian sites, we discuss the evolution and limits of interpretations of prehistoric occupations. It appears that regardless of the definition retained or its degree of strictness, the functional category of a “hunting camp” does not apply to the Lateglacial sites currently known in the Paris Basin. A broader interrogation, incorporating the Belloisian sites of the very end of the Lateglacial period and beginning of the Holocene, further demonstrates the difficulty of identifying this type of site.
To cite this article
Bodu P., Olive M., Valentin B., Bignon-Lau O., Debout G., 2011 – Where are the Hunting Camps? A Discussion based on Lateglacial Sites in the Paris Basin, in Bon F., Costamagno S., Valdeyron N. (eds.), Hunting Camps in Prehistory. Current Archaeological Approaches, Proceedings of the International Symposium, May 13-15 2009, University Toulouse II – Le Mirail, P@lethnology, 3, 229-250.
Hunting for Camps
at an Azilian Site in Western
Grégor MARCHAND, Nicolas NAUDINOT,
Sylvie PHILIBERT, Sandra SICARD
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Abstract
A preventive excavation conducted in the Chaloignes Valley (Mozé-sur-Louet, Maine-et-Loire, France) in 1999, over a surface of approximately 9200 m2, revealed ten homogeneous loci and a group of lithic scatters disturbed by post-depositional processes. Due to the absence of organic materials and the inclusion of all the loci within the same stratigraphic unit, we are forced to base nearly all hypotheses on the lithic remains alone. The challenge is to understand the economic organization and mobility strategies of human groups in the west at the end of the glacial period, obviously in association with their hunting practices. Several lines of evidence indicate frequent occupations by small groups, rather than base camps with complementary zones. An analysis of the usewear and fractures of weapon armatures show that these objects were used for hunting or war activities in all of the loci. Meanwhile, a techno-functional analysis of locus 1, where weapon elements were repaired, shows that other objects of material culture were also manufactured there. It appears that the notion of a hunting camp is inappropriate to describe Azilian activities that are apparently highly influenced by the mobility of the groups.
To cite this article
Marchand G., Naudinot N., Philibert S., Sicard S., 2011 – Hunting for Camps at an Azilian Site in Western, in Bon F., Costamagno S., Valdeyron N. (eds.), Hunting Camps in Prehistory. Current Archaeological Approaches, Proceedings of the International Symposium, May 13-15 2009, University Toulouse II – Le Mirail, P@lethnology, 3, 267-290.
Lithic weapon elements in Western France
(Brittany and Pays de la Loire)
during the late glacial period:
a Proposed Chrono-cultural Organization and Reduction Sequence
Nicolas NAUDINOT
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Abstract
In recent years, new data on the Late Glacial period in western France have allowed us to develop a model of chronocultural evolution based on comparative lithic technology and lithic hunting weapon elements. This period can be divided in to four main phases: Early Azilian, Late Azilian, Final Azilian and Auvours-type industries. Though it presents some particularities, the western Late Glacial appears very similar to that which is well documented neighbouring regions. After a succinct presentation of these cultures, this article will focus on the lithic reduction sequences for the fabrication of weapon elements in order to identify and explain possible variations in the treatment of projectile points between the groups studied. This heterogeneity appears to be linked to a difference in approaches to raw materials and volumetric conceptions between the Late Azilian and Auvours-type industries rather than to a change in the status of weapon elements, which remain central to the production objectives.
To cite this article
Naudinot N., 2009 – Lithic Weapon Elements in Western France (Brittany and Pays de la Loire) during the Late Glacial Period: a Proposed Chrono-cultural Organization and Reduction Sequence, in Pétillon J.-M., Dias-Meirinho M.-H., Cattelain P., Honegger M., Normand C., Valdeyron N., Projectile Weapon Elements from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, Proceedings of session C83, XVth UISPP World Congress, Lisbon, September 4-9, 2006, P@lethnology, 1, 241-268.
Archéologie et Sciences humaines
