L’Azilien pyrénéen tient un rôle princeps dans la construction et la reconnaissance des sociétés de la fin du Paléolithique supérieur. Cette référence s’est peu à peu éloignée des définitions actuelles, enrichies par d’autres découvertes. Les vestiges lithiques sont étudiés dans cette thèse pour interroger la caractérisation régionale par rapport aux autres données chronoculturelles. Pour cela, l’étude est fondée sur les gisements de Rhodes II (Ariège), Troubat (Hautes-Pyrénées), La Tourasse (Haute-Garonne), Le Poeymaü (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Gouërris (Haute-Garonne) et l’abri Pagès (Lot). Ces analyses permettent d’aborder les questions liées aux évolutions dynamiques, notamment la mise en place de l’Azilien puis sa fin et le développement du Laborien. Elles mettent aussi en avant la particularité des pratiques pyrénéennes par rapport à ce que l’on connaît de l’Azilien plus septentrional. Un point de vue plus général est ensuite entrepris par rapport aux autres cas de figures de l’ouest européen. Le développement de l’Azilien dans les Pyrénées (14 200 à 12 500 cal BP) est différent des données plus septentrionales dans la phase d’azilianisation, avec un Magdalénien tardif (jusqu’à 14 200 cal BP) et l’absence de phase de transition. Par la suite, la phase récente trouve des points communs à l’ensemble des données françaises, pyrénéennes et cantabriques par une simplification technique marquée, mais tout de même agrémentée de caractères régionaux propres aux Pyrénées. Le Laborien, parfois présent, pourrait témoigner d’un retour à une normalisation technique dans les sites attribuables à cette phase. Il confirme la généralisation de ce renouveau dans l’ensemble de l’Ouest européen à partir de 12 300 cal BP. / Since its discovery in the French Pyrenees at the end of 19th century, the Azilien has an important role in construction and reconnaissance of the last Palaeolithic societies. It was characterized by its specific lithic industry (baked points), osseous artefacts (harpoons) and artistic remains (painted pebbles). However, new discoveries shed some new light on the character and dynamics of Azilian. This work deals with lithic industry in order to question its regional character and its relation other chrono-cultural data. Six lithic assemblages were examined in this work: Rhodes II (Ariège), Troubat (Hautes-Pyrénées), La Tourasse (Haute-Garonne), Le Poeymaü (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Gouërris (Haute-Garonne) and Pagès (Lot). Primary, this study allows questioning the evolution of Azilian culture and its relation to the development of Laborien. Further, we question the character of Pyrenean Azilian, its status and particularity by comparing it with its northern counterparts. Finally, we’re observing the Azilian phenomenon in larger perspective by comparing the French facies with those of Western Europe. The development of Azilian in the Pyrenees differs from the situation observed in the “azilianisation phase” of the northern sites as the Magdalenian persist until 14 200 cal. BP and the transitional phase is actually lacking. However, during the younger phase some common traits are identified on the larger territory (France, Pyrenees, Cantabria) marked in particularly by a technological simplification. Still, the Pyrenean Azilian (between 14 200 and 12 500 cal BP) preserves its regional particularity as seen in its lithic industry characterized by double backed points, little scrapers and use of anvil in percussion. The Laborian, sporadically present in the Pyrenees, might indicate the retour of “technological normalisation” characterized by more regular and straight production. This “technical renewal” will soon characterize the whole Western Europe around 12 300 cal. BP.

Over the past five decades, archaeologists have proposed a wide range of methods for the study of spatial organization within hunter-gatherer sites. Many of these methods sought to identify the spatial location of activities based on patterns of behavior observed in ethnographic contexts. While this resulted in productive observations at certain sites, many of these methods were tailored to specific situations and thus could not be applied to a wide range of sites. For example, open-air sites rarely contain preserved bone or features, such as hearths, which were central components to identifying characteristics of site structure. In addition, many of these methods often did not take into consideration the temporal dynamics of the occupation, i.e., that many sites were formed through subsequent occupations of differing duration. This paper proposes the use of two related methods that assume many assemblages are the result of more than one occupation. The methods target the distribution of lithic artifacts, the most ubiquitously preserved of archaeological materials, and accounts for the potential that the final resting place of artifacts was the result of both intentional and unintentional movement by humans and a host of biological and geological processes. The main goal of this paper is to use an understanding of how these processes influenced the formation of site structure to estimate the relative number and duration of occupations for each site in the sample. These new methods will be presented and explained through the study of seven open-air Middle Paleolithic sites in France but are applicable to a wide range of hunter-gatherer sites.

Ce travail est une démarche d'évaluation des industries du Badegoulien en Auvergne au travers d'une analyse techno-typologique fine des séries de deux gisements : la grotte du Rond-du-Barry (Haute-Loire) et le site de plein air de la Contrée Viallet (Allier). Les caractères marquants et ceux plus discrets de ces industries ont été identifiés et comparés à ceux d'autres gisements de l'espace régional (Cottier, la Roche à Tavernat, Le Blot, la Goutte Roffat, la Grange Jobin et la Faye Godet). Nombre de chaînes opératoires ont été reconstituées en fonction de la variété des matériaux exploités. Il en ressort la mise en évidence de la souplesse technique du Badegoulien.En Velay, dans la grotte du Rond-du-Barry, le niveau F2 présente une diversité de faciès culturels du Badegoulien. Le Badegoulien ancien s'y caractérise par l'abondance des outils composites, l'absence de raclettes et par une production laminaire de supports épais. Le Badegoulien récent est marqué par des traditions techniques variées, en lien avec le sud du Bassin parisien et l'espace méditerranéen.Les sites de plein air du Bourbonnais (La Contrée Viallet et la Faye Godet), montrent la diversité technique du Badegoulien auvergnat : débitage d'éclat sur face inférieure de gros support éclat (méthode Kombewa), production lamellaire autonome, débitage sur tranche transversale et longitudinale d'éclat, débitage lamellaire sur face inférieure (pièce de la Bertonne).L'ensemble de ces données, intégrées à celles des autres sites du Velay (La Roche à Tavernat, le Blot, Cottier) et du Forez (La Goutte Roffat, la Grange Jobin) permettent de proposer une structuration de l'espace auvergnat au Badegoulien, entre plaine et montagne. / We present an evaluation of the Badegoulian of Auvergne after a detailed technological and typological approach of the lithic series from two sites, the Rond-du-Barry cave in Haute-Loire and the open-air site of La Contrée Viallet in the Allier. The characters of these series are compared with those from other sites located in the same area (Cottier, La Roche à Tavernat, Le Blot, La Goutte Roffat, La Grange Jobin and La Faye Godet). Numerous chaînes opératoires have been reconstructed according to the nature of the raw materials utilized. They demonstrate the technical adaptivity of the Badegoulian.In Velay, unit F2 of the Rond-du-Barr cave exhibits a diversity of Badegoulian cultural fascies. Ancient Badegoulian is characterized by the abundance of multiple tools, the absence of raclettes and a production of thick blades.The recent Badegoulian is marked by various technical traditions linked with thoose from the South of the Paris Basin and from the Mediterranean area.The open-air sites in the Bourbonnais (La Contrée Viallet and La Faye Godet) reveal the technical diversity of the Badegoulian of the Auvergne : flakes production from large flakes (Kombewa), autonomous bladelets production, débitage on flakes flanks and bladelet production on ventral surfaces (pièce de la Bertonne).All these data, when connected with those from the other sites of the Velay (La Roche à Tavernat, Le Blot, Cottier) and the Forez (La Goutte Roffat, la Grange Jobin) allow us to propose a model of structuration of the Badegoulian in the Auvergne, between lowlands and mountains.

The study of prehistoric trade and exchange networks in the Western Mediterranean is directly linked to the identification and location of commodities available to Neolithic communities in that region. One of these commodities is a volcanic glass commonly known as obsidian. This investigation focused on the procurement, processing, and distribution of obsidian from the island of Pantelleria, situated between the southwestern coast of Sicily in the Straits of Sicily and the northeastern coast of Africa near Cape Bon, Tunisia. Previous studies indicate that there are several chemically different source areas on the island. Research involved the identification of primary obsidian deposits and the collection of samples from primary and/or secondary sources. The position of each collection point was recorded using GPS coordinates, photographs, and physical descriptions, including accessibility and geological matrix. Additional information regarding the size, frequency, and grade (i.e. quality for tool production) was also noted. Each geological specimen and artifact was visually examined for color, luster, transparency and internal structure. Geological samples and artifacts were subjected to trace element analysis, and the density weight of each piece was determined. Multivariate analyses of these test results were used to establish the unique chemical signature of each primary source on Pantelleria and to identify the specific flows where obsidian was collected by Neolithic and Bronze Age communities on Pantelleria and Zembra. Artifacts from Late Neolithic and Bronze Age sites on Pantelleria, and from Zembra, a Late Neolithic site located on an island situated off the northeast coast of Tunisia near Cape Bon were also included in this study. The results of this research has proven the importance of using large geological sample populations in determining the unique geochemical signatures of obsidian flows on Italian source islands, and will enable researchers to identify with greater certainty the source of raw material used to create obsidian tools in the Western Mediterranean.

Yes / Microwear analysis is applied to reconstruct the function and social organisation at the Late Glacial site of Trollesgave, Denmark. As with Bromme Culture sites in general, the lithic assemblage consists of primarily three types of tools. There is a strong association between these types and their use: end scrapers for dry hide scraping; burins for working hard material, primarily bone; and tanged points primarily for projectile tips. Nearly all divergence from this pattern can be referred to as the activities of children, the products and workshops of which have previously been identified. Based on the combined information from microwear analysis, flint knapping and spatial distribution of artefacts, the assemblage is inferred as the traces of a single family hunting (and fishing) occupation. / Danish Council for Independent Research (FKK ref. no. 273-08-0424)

Nesquehoning Creek (36CR142) is a stratified, multicomponent site situated on a late Wisconsin age terrace in Lehigh Gorge State Park, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Cultural occupations represented at Nesquehoning Creek include Colonial (late 17th-early 18th century); Late, Middle, and Early Woodland; Transitional, Late, Middle and Early Archaic; and Paleoindian. The Paleoindian component is deeply buried, contextually secure, and produced a Crowfield fluted point with associated radiocarbon dates of 12,422 ± 164, 12,255 ± 177, and 11,398 ± 110 cal BP. This dissertation focuses on: 1) assessing the Paleoindian occupation history at Nesquehoning Creek, 2) analyzing the organization of Paleoindian lithic technology, and 3) examining Paleoindian residential mobility patterns in the Middle Atlantic and Northeast regions. The history of research at Nesquehoning Creek, Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene environmental data, and Paleoindian culture history are reviewed in order to provide background information. By examining the stratigraphy and geomorphology at the Nesquehoning Creek site, this study was able to propose a model of landscape evolution and determine excavation areas with the greatest potential for stratified Paleoindian occupations. A lithic refitting and artifact distribution analysis of these excavation areas was able to identify a single Crowfield Paleoindian occupation zone. The Crowfield component lithic assemblage displayed production and reduction strategies similar to Clovis and later Paleoindian complexes. Lithic raw material types represented in the Crowfield toolkit suggest a relatively small territorial range on the order of 50 km. An evaluation of Early and Late Paleoindian residential mobility patterns in the Middle Atlantic and Northeast showed continuity in the relative occupation span of sites from both periods. This suggests that although Late Paleoindian groups had smaller territorial ranges, they appear to have moved from site to site within those territories about as frequently as Early Paleoindians in the Middle Atlantic and Northeast regions. Detailed analysis of contextually secure Paleoindian assemblages are crucial to identifying similarities and differences between archaeological complexes. This research demonstrates the importance of lithic refitting studies in the assessment of stratified, multicomponent archaeological sites. Detailed examination of the Crowfield lithic assemblage improved our understanding of Paleoindian technological organization in the Middle Atlantic region. The evaluation of Paleoindian residential mobility patterns has complimented previous studies and presented data that may be updated and reassessed in the future. / Anthropology

La présence de hachereaux au sein de nombreux sites du Paléolithique moyen pyrénéo-cantabrique a conduit F. Bordes à définir en 1953 un faciès régional, le Vasconien. Par la suite, des analyses typologiques centrées sur la représentativité des outils retouchés ont remis en question la validité de ce faciès tandis que la présence récurrente mais sporadique de hachereaux dans des ensembles du Paléolithique moyen a entraîné l’idée d’une perduration depuis l’Acheuléen ibérique. Dans ce travail de ré-évaluation du Paléolithique moyen récent pyrénéo-cantabrique, une large gamme de données issues de plusieurs champs disciplinaires a été mobilisée. Ce renouveau du cadre contextuel se voit consolidé par l’obtention récente de datations absolues permettant de proposer un cadre chronologique précis pour le Moustérien à hachereaux de l’OIS 3. L’analyse de près 450 hachereaux provenant de neuf sites est fondée sur une caractérisation technologique, morphométrique et fonctionnelle de ces outils du Paléolithique moyen récent. Cette première étape de caractérisation est ensuite complétée par la comparaison avec un corpus de près de 200 hachereaux acheuléens provenant de sites localisés au sein de la même aire géographique. Les différences perçues entre ces deux populations, corrélées à un cadre chronologique redéfini, permet d’écarter l’idée d’une perduration ponctuelle de ces outils depuis l’Acheuléen et de les identifier comme l’expression d’une réinvention, leur octroyant de la sorte une nouvelle signification culturelle. Parallèlement, les séries lithiques provenant de 7 sites localisés au nord de la zone vasco-cantabrique ont été analysées selon les principes classiques de la technologie lithique. Ces ensembles sont issus de contextes topographiques variés (grotte, abri, plein air) et de milieux diversifiés (montagnard, littoral, aride). Bien qu’une variabilité attendue soit perceptible entre ces ensembles, le même fond technologique est présent et les différences perçues sont évaluées à l’aune de la fonction présumée des occupations. Interprétées en termes de complémentarité, ces différences autorisent à proposer l’hypothèse d’un modèle d’organisation territorial à faible mobilité impliquant cependant une structuration sociale complexe de ces sociétés de la fin du Paléolithique moyen. Un premier essai de construction d’une archéoséquence pour la région pyrénéo-cantabrique permet de mieux cerner l’homogénéité et la place du Vasconien au niveau régional ainsi que vis-à-vis des technocomplexes qui l’encadrent. Des comparaisons avec les différentes traditions techniques évoluant en synchronie (principalement le Moustérien de Tradition Acheuléenne) permettent également d’aborder la question de leur autonomie respective et de proposer de nouvelles aires d’influences techniques auxquelles elles sont soumises. / The presence of cleavers in numerous Pyrenean-Cantabrian Middle Paleolithic sites led to the creation of a regional facies called Vasconian (Bordes, 1953). Later, typological analyses based on shaped tool classes’ cumulative frequency have questioned the very existence of this facies (Cabrera Valdés, 1983). The recurrence of cleavers within Middle Paleolithic assemblages was then interpreted as a long perdurance of the Iberian Acheulean. The present research was aimed to re-evaluate the Pyrenean-Cantabrian Late Middle Paleolithic through the comparison of a large variety of data. It is supported by a detailed and renewed chronological framework for the Mousterian with cleavers of OIS 3 based on newly obtained radiometric data. The analysis included technological, morphometric and functional characterization of over 450 cleavers from nine sites attributed to the Late Middle Paleolithic. Our results were then compared to ca. 200 Acheulean cleavers from the same area. The differences between these two populations and a revised chronological framework allow us to reject the hypothesis of a sporadic persistence of cleavers after the Acheulean. We rather propose that these tools have resulted of a new invention and fully were a cultural marker. Meanwhile, the whole lithic ensembles from seven sites located north of the Basque-Cantabrian area were analyzed with the conventional methods of lithic technology. These sites correspond to various topographic contexts (caves, rock shelters, and open air sites) and to diverse environments (alpine, coastal, and arid). Despite an expected variability between these ensembles, we identified a shared technological tradition and propose that differences could be the result of different site functions. If we consider the different sites as being complementarity, we can propose the hypothesis of a low-mobility territorial structuration and thus a social complexity of the Late Middle Paleolithic societies. A first attempt to build a cultural-stratigraphic sequence for the Pyrenean-Cantabrian region is being made in order to properly assess the Vasconian location and homogeneity as for the constraining techno-complexes. Comparisons with contemporaneous techno-complexes (and more particularly with the MTA) allow us to address their respective autonomy within a newly defined technical are of influence.

A presente dissertação apresenta o estudo realizado sobre as cadeias operatórias da cultura material lítica coletada nos sítios Silva Serrote (Guimarânia) e Menezes (Perdizes), e a cerâmica coletada no segundo sítio. O objetivo é caracterizar aspectos culturais de populações pré-coloniais do vale do Paranaíba-MG, por meio da análise tecnológica dos vestígios materiais deixados no registro arqueológico, com o processamento de datações absolutas por Carbono 14 e Termoluminescência; Silva Serrote: 790± 190 AP (TL-FATEC-SP) e 760±50( C14-Gif-sur-Yvette) e Menezes 572±80 AP(TL-FATEC-SP). A análise tecnológica do material lítico do Silva Serrote (campanha 1985) versou sobre o estudo de 703 peças e 28 do Menezes (campanha 1991) e foram analisados 1939 elementos cerâmicos do sítio Menezes, coletados no âmbito do projeto arqueológico regional Quebra-Anzol. Por meio desta análise, foi possível a caracterização de alguns aspectos sócio-culturais sobre o modo de vida, assim como sobre o proceder e a escolha tecnológica destas populações. / This research presents a study about operational chains of lithic culture collected in the sites Silva Serrote and Menezes, and the pottery collected in the Menezes site. The goal is to establish some cultural aspects of the pre-colonial population that lived in the Paranaíba Valley (Minas Gerais State) using lithic and pottery technological analysis of this material, abandoned in the archaeological record. The material was dated by termoluminescence and Carbon 14. The lithic analysis of the Silva Serrote site was composed by 703(collected in 1985) pieces and Menezes 28 pieces(collected in 1991). The pottery analysis of the Menezes site embraced altogether 1939 pieces. This master thesis is related to a major sectional archaeological project named Quebra-Anzol. Through this work, it was possible to characterize some social and cultural aspects about the way of life, operational sequences and technological choices made by these groups.

O presente trabalho é referente ao estudo das indústrias líticas do sítio Brito, localizado na margem direita do rio Paranapanema, no Estado de São Paulo. Os materiais estudados estão associados a datações recuadas a transição Holoceno Inicial/Médio, entre, aproximadamente, 8.000 BP e 6.500 BP. O nosso primeiro objetivo concerne à caracterização tecnológica das indústrias líticas a partir de uma abordagem centrada no conceito de cadeia operatória visando reconstituir os processos técnicos e as estratégias de uso das matérias primas que geraram a variabilidade artefatual observada. O segundo objetivo trata da verificação, por meio da análise da distribuição vertical e horizontal dos vestígios, da integridade de solos de ocupação identificados durante a escavação. Propomos que as indústrias líticas mais antigas do sítio Brito estão distribuídas em um nível arqueológico caracterizado por um palimpsesto de ocupações. / The present dissertation refers to the study of the lithic assemblages from the Brito site, located at the right bank of the Paranapanema river, in the state of São Paulo. The materials that were studied are associated to dates that go back to the transition between the initial and the middle Holocene, approximately 8,000 to 6,500 BP. Our first objective concerns the technological characterization of the lithic assemblages from an approach based on the concept of operation sequence (chaîne opératoire), with the aim of reconstituting the technical processes and the strategies of usage of raw material that generated the observed artifact variability. The second objective was to verify, by means of analyzing the vertical and horizontal distribution of the lithic materials, the integrity of the occupational floors identified during the fieldwork. We suggest that the oldest lithic assemblages of the Brito site are distributed over an archeological level characterized by a palimpsest of occupations.

Le Sauveterrien représente l'une des principales traditions culturelles du Premier Mésolithique européen. L'uniformité présumée de ce complexe était basée surtout sur la présence dans la France méridionale et l'Italie septentrionale de pointes à dos fusiformes (pointes de Sauveterre) et de microlithes triangulaires. Le but principal de ce travail est celui de mettre en discussion et vérifier cette association en utilisant une approche technologique ample des assemblages lithiques appartenant à 23 contextes stratigraphiques de 12 sites français et italiens de référence. En particulier, ces assemblages ont été analysés avec l'objectif de reconstruire les chaînes opératoires dans leur totalité, de l'approvisionnement des matières premières à l'utilisation et à l'abandon des éléments ayant servi comme outils. Plusieurs techniques d'analyse ont été intégrées afin de comprendre et caractériser les assemblages sauveterriens à partir de points de vue différents et complémentaires. De plus, l'évaluation de l'uniformité du complexe sauveterrien dans son territoire central par rapports aux groupes culturels des régions voisines a permis d'aborder de façon préliminaire la question de la réelle nature du Premier Mésolithique de l'Europe occidentale. / The Sauveterrian represents one of the main cultural aspects of the European Early Mesolithic. It was at first identified and described in southern France during the 1920ies. Following the discovery of similar lithic assemblages in north-eastern Italy (Adige Valley), during the 1970ies it was proposed that this culture had developed over a large territory whose central areas are represented by southern France and northern Italy. The presumed uniformity of this complex was based, in particular, on the presence in both regions of needle-like backed points (Sauveterre points) and triangular microliths. In the following years a first typological attempt to verify the actual homogeneity of the Early Mesolithic of this region arose some doubts regarding the appropriateness of this unification. Following this line of research the main aim of this work was, thus, to question and verify this association, by applying a broad technological approach to the study of the lithic assemblages belonging to 23 stratigraphic contexts from 12 French and Italian reference sites. More specifically these assemblages were investigated with the aim of reconstructing the entire reduction sequences, from the procurement of lithic raw materials to the use and discard of tools. Different analytical techniques were thus combined in order to understand and characterize the Sauveterrian assemblages from different and complementary viewpoints. Besides, the evaluation of the uniformity of the Sauveterrian complex in its central area with respect to the neighbouring cultural groups, allowed tentatively approaching the investigation of the very nature of western European Early Mesolithic.