Three archaeological cases from different areas of the Andes are employed to study the rise of social and cultural complexity in varying social and economic contexts, with the intention of distinguishing certain environmental and cultural factors in each case. The purpose also is to search not only for differences but for commonalities to be used for cross-cultural comparisons and to learn more about the developmental cultural history of the societies representing these cases. / En el presente trabajo se analizan tres casos de diferentes áreas de los Andes para estudiar el incremento de la complejidad cultural en contextos sociales y económicos variados con el fin de distinguir factores definidos de carácter ambiental y cultural en cada caso. El propósito final es el de la búsqueda de diferencias, así como de las características en común que se utilizan para hacer comparaciones culturales y para aprender más acerca de la historia del desarrollo cultural de las sociedades que representan estos ejemplos.

In this paper, several lines of evidence (geology, paleoenvironment, lithic and faunal analysis, among others) from the Calera site (Sierras Bayas, pampean region, Argentina) are summarized and discussed. The cultural deposit seems to be a ritual site, formed by the occurrence of several ceremonies during the late Holocene. In the Calera site, four cubetas (pits) were intentionally excavated, between ca. 3400 and 1750 years BP, and filled with a great amount and variety of archaeological materials as well as alochtonous sediments. Among the recovered materials, there were more than 6000 of lithic artefacts, 310 pottery sherds (some of them with antropomorphic motifs), 1760 pieces of mineral pigments, 4 marine molluscs, a shell bead, a granite axe, several instrument made of bone and deer antler, and a phallic statuette. A yet undetermined number (several thousands) of faunal remains were from 16 different mammal species (guanaco, pampean deer, carnivores, mesomammals, micromammals, among others), 6 avian species, 3 fishes and probably reptiles. The exceptional features of the site allow the study of social and ideational aspects of the pampean hunter-gatherers and discussion of the archaeological signatures of the site in terms of non-hierarchical societies. / En este trabajo se discuten y resumen las evidencias obtenidas como resultado de estudios multidisciplinarios —geológicos, paleoambientales, líticos, arqueofaunísticos y tafonómicos, entre otros— del sitio Calera, ubicado en las Sierras Bayas, región pampeana, Argentina. Este sitio se presenta como un depósito excepcional de origen ritual producido probablemente como consecuencia de varias ceremonias realizadas en las inmediaciones. En este lugar se registraron cuatro cubetas excavadas intencionalmente, fechadas entre c. 3400 y 1750 a.p., que fueron rellenadas con materiales arqueológicos y sedimentos alóctonos. Entre los materiales se destacan más de 6000 artefactos líticos de diferentes materias primas locales y no locales, aproximadamente 400 instrumentos líticos, 310 tiestos de alfarería (algunos con motivos figurativos antropomorfos), 1760 restos de pigmentos minerales, cuatro moluscos marinos, una hacha de granito, una cuenta de valva, una estatuilla cilíndrica decorada de forma fálica y varios instrumentos sobre hueso y astas. También se registró un número aún indeterminado (varios miles) de restos óseos de 16 especies de mamíferos —entre ellos guanaco, venado, carnívoros, mesomamíferos y micromamíferos—, seis aves, tres peces y, posiblemente, reptiles. Las características excepcionales del sitio permiten abordar aspectos ideacionales y sociales de los cazadores recolectores pampeanos y discutir la visibilidad arqueológica de los sitios de encuentro.

Le Gravettien est une grande tradition culturelle du début du Paléolithique supérieur présente à travers toute l’Europe à partir de 33 000 cal BP. Sa durée et sa vaste répartition géographique en font une entité complexe à définir tant du point de vue de sa culture matérielle que des dynamiques socio-culturelles ayant contribué à son maintien sur près de 10 000 ans. Cette période de temps a vu se succéder plusieurs grands changements climatiques dont les impacts sur les communautés animales et humaines restent difficiles à appréhender. Malgré la présence de traits unifiants (pointes à dos rectilignes, statuettes féminines), une forte régionalisation du Gravettien est perceptible. En France, l’étude des industries lithiques et osseuses se renouvelle, ouvrant de nouvelles pistes de recherches. Les données concernant l’exploitation des ressources cynégétiques, pourtant centrales dans l’économie des chasseurs-cueilleurs, restaient quant à elle encore parcellaires et peu souvent intégrées dans les discussions. Dans ce travail, l’étude archéozoologique de quatre gisements clés du Gravettien français a été entreprise (les Bossats, Le Flageolet, La grotte du Renne et Roc de Combe). Les résultats ont été confrontés à l’ensemble des données sur la faune disponibles en France pour cette période. La confrontation des spectres de faunes avec les autres données paléo-environnementales a permis de mieux évaluer l’impact d’événements climatiques importants et leur succession. Des stratégies de chasse variées, aux dépens d’une diversité de taxons (renne, cheval, bison) et anticipant les déplacements saisonniers des herbivores, ont été mises en évidence tout au long du Gravettien. Le traitement des carcasses, observable à partir du matériel osseux, atteste d’une exploitation intensive. L’ensemble de ces données, mises en perspective avec leurs contextes archéologiques respectifs (industrie, habitat) nous permet de discuter de la fonction des sites et de la mobilité humaine lors de cette période. / The Gravettian is a great cultural tradition of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, present throughout Europe starting from 33 000 cal BP. Its duration and its vast geographic distribution make it a complex entity to define, both in terms of the material culture and the dynamics that contributed to its preservation for almost 10 000 years. During this period, several successive climatic changes had an impact on the human and animal communities which are still difficult to apprehend. Despite unifying features (Gravette points, feminine statuettes), a strong regionalization is perceptible. In France, the renewal of studies on lithic and bone industries opens new perspectives of research. However, data on the archeozoological records are still fragmented and are seldom integrated into discussions. In this work, the archaeozoological study of four Gravettian sites was undertaken (les Bossats, Le Flageolet, La grotte du Renne and Roc de Combe). The results were compared with the existing data on Gravettian fauna coming from French deposits. The comparison of the faunal spectrum with other paleo-environemental data allows providing with a better assessment of the impact of some important climatic events, as well as their succession. Hunting strategies used for several taxa (reindeer, horse, bison) are diversified and take into account the seasonal movements of the preys. Carcasses treatment shows an intense exploitation of the animal resources. Together, this data gives perspective to their associated archaeological contexts (industry, habitat structure) and allows us to discuss the functions of the sites and the human mobility during this period.

O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo das camadas estratigráficas de três sambaquis situados nos municípios de Jaguaruna e Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Partimos do princípio de que eles são estruturas erigidas intencionalmente por uma população que habitou a região por aproximadamente 6000 anos, e que para a construção de seus cemitérios se apropriavam do material malacológico disponível na região. O desmembramento dos componentes de cada camada nos forneceu informações a respeito do material construtivo dos sítios, e a partir destes resultados foi possível testar algumas hipóteses sobre a mudança da matriz construtiva verificada nos sambaquis. / This work presents the study of stratigraphical layers of three sambaquis located on Jaguaruna and Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brazil. We assume that such structures were intentionally built by a population that inhabited the region for over 6000 years, and that for the pilling up of their burial grounds they gathered malacological material available within the area. The breakdown of the elements of each layer provided us information regarding the construction material of the sites, and based on these results it was possible to test some hypothesis regarding a change on the constructive matrix recorded on the sambaquis.

O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo das camadas estratigráficas de três sambaquis situados nos municípios de Jaguaruna e Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Partimos do princípio de que eles são estruturas erigidas intencionalmente por uma população que habitou a região por aproximadamente 6000 anos, e que para a construção de seus cemitérios se apropriavam do material malacológico disponível na região. O desmembramento dos componentes de cada camada nos forneceu informações a respeito do material construtivo dos sítios, e a partir destes resultados foi possível testar algumas hipóteses sobre a mudança da matriz construtiva verificada nos sambaquis. / This work presents the study of stratigraphical layers of three sambaquis located on Jaguaruna and Treze de Maio, Santa Catarina, Brazil. We assume that such structures were intentionally built by a population that inhabited the region for over 6000 years, and that for the pilling up of their burial grounds they gathered malacological material available within the area. The breakdown of the elements of each layer provided us information regarding the construction material of the sites, and based on these results it was possible to test some hypothesis regarding a change on the constructive matrix recorded on the sambaquis.

À l’holocène, le développement de l'agriculture par les populations humaines a modifié la morphologique du squelette humain. Dans ce cadre, plusieurs recherches se sont intéressées à la biomécanique des populations passées et modernes. Elles supposent qu’une activité physique répétée affecte la structure de l’os. Cette réponse osseuse est analysée par les propriétés géométriques de l’os qui permettent de reconstruire le comportement passé et présent des individus. La distribution osseuse en coupe a donc été étudiée sur les membres supérieurs et inférieurs de populations centrafricaines (du Cameroun et de la République Démocratique du Congo). La première hypothèse de ce mémoire est la suivante, les agriculteurs centrafricains, au mode de vie sédentaire, auraient les membres supérieurs plus robustes, tandis que les chasseurs-cueilleurs, plus mobiles, auraient les membres inférieurs plus robustes. La deuxième hypothèse suppose que les populations d’un milieu/terrain plus accidenté auraient les membres, supérieurs et/ou inférieurs, plus robustes. Nos résultats indiquent plutôt que les chasseurs-cueilleurs et les agriculteurs ont la même robustesse générale, bien que les peuples non sédentarisés soient plus robustes à la mi-diaphyse des radius droits. Contrairement à ce qui était attendu, les fémurs sont plus résistants (CSA) chez les agriculteurs, quand ils sont standardisés par la masse corporelle. En revanche, la moitié supérieure des tibias semblent être plus robuste chez les chasseurs-cueilleurs, quand les propriétés sont standardisées par la longueur de l’os. Les radius et les ulnas des chasseurs-cueilleurs vivant en forêt et en montagne ont la même robustesse. Enfin, seule la section distale des fibulas est plus résistante (CSA) chez les chasseurs-cueilleurs de la montagne que chez les chasseurs-cueilleurs de la forêt. En conclusion, ce mémoire ne nous permet pas d’affirmer que la transition vers l’agriculture s’accompagne d’une réduction de la mobilité et de la robustesse en Afrique centrale. En revanche, il montre que ces individus sont quand même influencés par leur stratégie de subsistance. Un plus grand échantillon est nécessaire pour mieux documenter la transition agricole et l’influence du milieu sur la structure osseuse en Afrique centrale. / The emergence of farming in the Holocene had major impacts on human populations. Many biomechanical studies have explored past and recent populations and have suggested that physical activity affects bone structure. Cross-sectional geometric properties of bones are measured to reconstruct past and recent human behavior. The present study analyses bone cross-sectional geometry of upper and lower limbs long bones of Central African populations (from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo). This study is based on the premise that agriculturalists, a sedentary group using their upper limbs for farming activities, have more robust upper limbs, while hunter-gatherers, that have an extremely mobile lifestyle, have more robust lower limbs. In addition, it is assumed that populations in more rugged environments/terrains would have more robust upper and/or lower limbs. Against expectation, the upper limbs of non-sedentary and sedentary populations have the same robusticity, although the right radius midshafts of hunter-gatherers are more robust. The femora are more robust in agriculturalists when the significant properties are normalized by body mass. In contrast, the upper part of the tibiae is more robust in hunter-gatherers when the properties are standardised by bone length. Against expectation, it was found that the upper limbs (radii and ulnae) of hunter-gatherers living in the lowland forests and in the mountains have the same robustness. Meanwhile, for the lower limbs, the fibula is more robust in people living in the mountains than those in the forest. In conclusion, these findings do not allow us to assert that the transition to agriculture is accompanied by a reduction in mobility and robusticity in the lower limbs or an increase in robusticity of the upper limb. Nonetheless, this study suggests that individuals are influenced by their economic strategy. However, a larger sample will be needed to better evaluate the role of the transition to agriculture on bone structure in Central Africa.