From the Ethnographic Modelling of Nomadic
Behaviours to Archaeological Site Functions:
Determining Attribution Critera
Félicie FOUGÈRE
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Abstract
Based on a study of the camp types of three populations of nomadic hunter-gatherers, we have defined three categories of habitation which are differentiated on an essentially sociological basis, but which may also reflect an economic organisation that changes throughout the year. The “hunting camp” is one of the occupation types that composes the division of the residential group, and has a specific economic role (base camp provisioning). Archaeology, which essentially attributes functions to sites on the basis of the remains of economic activities, may attempt to reconstruct the sociological composition of sites. However, the necessarily incomplete aspect of archaeological data requires us to compare information from several sites close in space and time in order to determine site function and mobility type. The modelling of camp types based on comparative ethnographic data allows us to clarify the relationships between site function and mobility type; when applied to the Magdalenian sites of the Paris Basin, it helps to support the interpretations made by researchers.
To cite this article
Fougère F., 2011 – From the Ethnographic Modelling of Nomadic Behaviours to Archaeological Site Functions: Determining Attribution Critera, 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, 41-60.
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.
Archéologie et Sciences humaines
