This dissertation examines certain aspects of the Belgian archaeological record during the Lateglacial. It is geographically centred on the north-western Ardennes and has two main themes. The first is a re-evaluation of the known chronology and archaeology for this region during the Lateglacial. The main part of this is presented in chapter 2, and includes a discussion of recent radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system, including some obtained in the course of this research. The second theme is an examination of a series of supposedly Lateglacial faunal assemblages from 5 cave sites in the north-western Ardennes, namely the Trou de Chaleux, the Trou des Nutons at Furfooz, the Trou du Frontal at Furfooz, the Grotte du Coleoptere and the Grotte de Sy Verlaine. All of these sites have yielded late Magdalenian archaeological finds, and the prime objective of the study of the faunal assemblages is to identify direct evidence for the human modification of animal bone. The study reveals some good evidence for the latter, but also certain bars to the interpretation of these assemblages, which are discussed in detail within the relevant chapters. This dissertation concludes with an overview of the results and interpretations presented in the dissertation. The final pages of this dissertation include a tentative exploration of the notion of ethnicity, and how this concept may be relevant to the interpretation of butchery evidence.

Projectile points manufactured from antler, bone, ivory, and horn were a significant component of the Pleistocene hunter-gatherer’s weapons toolkit. While this situation appears to have been particularly the case for Upper Palaeolithic Europe where thousands of implements from Aurignacian to Azilian contexts have been recovered, elements of osseous technologies are increasingly being identified in Africa, Asia, Australia and North America. Projectile weaponry tipped with osseous raw materials therefore constitute a major dataset for the investigation of technological, subsistence, and social aspects of various and numerous Pleistocene populations. Having once been described as ‘impossible to evaluate’, investigation of maintenance and discard patterns for osseous projectile point assemblages has been severely neglected in the archaeological literature. As previous work has generally been restricted to qualitative descriptions of single artefacts exhibiting clear signs of rejuvenation or recycling, our knowledge of ‘the keeping’ of these toolkits is therefore extraordinarily limited. This thesis addresses this imbalance through beginning to build a robust methodology for investigating the maintenance, recycling, and discard of osseous projectile weaponry. More than 4,000 whole and fragmentary barbed and unbarbed osseous projectile points recovered from 25 Middle to Late Magdalenian sites located throughout France and southern Germany were examined, and through employing a multi-faceted approach incorporating metric analyses, statistics, use wear analysis, and the examination of contemporaneous depictions of weaponry, inter-site and inter-regional differences in maintenance and discard patterns were successfully identified. These results are discussed from a regional perspective in order to articulate these new data into interpretations of wider Magdalenian economic and social organisation.

Ce travail vise à apporter de nouveaux éléments dans la compréhension de la relation entre humains et animaux dans l'une des cultures emblématiques du Paléolithique supérieur européen, le Magdalénien moyen du sud-ouest de la France, à travers le prisme d'une approche conjointe des figurations animalières (et humaines) et des éléments squelettiques animaux (et humains). Le cadre du naturalisme rigide qui présuppose l'opposition des concepts de nature et de culture, ainsi que l'universalité d'un anthropocentrisme, s'avère être une limitation gênante pour une telle entreprise. Nous observons en effet que ces caractéristiques réduisent le champ d'investigation de l'archéozoologie comme de l'étude de l'art figuratif animalier, empêchant en partie d'accéder à la manière dont les collectivités du passé elles-mêmes appréhendaient leur environnement. Nous nous intéressons donc aux postures théoriques qui autorisent une relativisation de l'ontologie naturaliste en reconnaissant une diversité d'ontologies. Notre projet est de tenter d'identifier le régime ontologique particulier du Magdalénien moyen à travers les vestiges archéologiques qui lui sont attribués – dans le but de préciser la teneur des relations entre humains et animaux pendant le Magdalénien moyen. Le modèle des quatre modes d'identification de Philippe Descola nous semble être le plus adéquat pour entreprendre un tel projet, en raison de la précision de ses définitions et de sa maniabilité. L'art pariétal du Magdalénien moyen se focalise particulièrement sur les distinctions spécifiques, mais aussi sur l'individuation des animaux et les agissements de chacun, donnant à voir une intentionnalité des animaux. Certaines modalités participent à la mise en relation de ces intentionnalités : le dispositif pariétal, l'utilisation des reliefs naturels et la manière de figurer l'humanité, notamment. Une étude portée sur les vestiges osseux animaux des sites du Magdalénien moyen montre que le schéma global des opérations de boucherie et sa ritualisation supposée s'orientent particulièrement vers l'individualité des animaux et leur subjectivité. Le schéma global de la boucherie concernant les animaux semble trouver un écho avec des pratiques concernant le traitement de certains corps humains. Dans les deux cas, une emphase s'observe dans la minutie et l'intensité des procédés et une sur-représentation des crânes dans les sites d'habitat, pointant un équivalence relative entre les statuts d'humains et de non-humains, ainsi qu'une volonté de désubjectiver les individus par une transformation des formes. Les intentions véhiculées par ces diverses pratiques – dans l'art pariétal, le traitement des corps animaux et humains – nous semblent particulièrement représentatives d'un mode d'identification animiste au sens de Descola, et s'avèrent peu compatibles avec d'autres modes d'identification, y compris le totémisme auquel on associe pourtant régulièrement le Paléolithique supérieur européen. Un schéma global à la coloration animiste apparaît, dans lequel se note l'importance de l'individuation des humains comme des animaux, et l'importance de leurs mises en relation. Diverses formes d'interaction entre individus humains et non-humains pourraient trouver leur place au sein de ce qui semble constituer un cycle intégrant des pratiques visant à l'apparition comme à la disparition de subjectivités animales. / The aim of this work is to bring new elements to our comprehension of human-animal relationships in one of the emblematic cultures of the European Upper Palaeolithic, the Middle Magdalenian of south-western France, through a two-pronged approach treating animal (and human) depictions and animal (and human) skeletal remains. Rigid naturalism, which presupposes an opposition between nature and culture, as well as the assumed universality of anthropocentrism, are limiting to this endeavor. These intellectual frames of reference confine the realms of investigation of both archaeozoology and the study of figurative art, impeding in part our ability to access the ways in which communities of the past apprehended their own environment. We concentrate therefore on theoretical postures that authorize the relativization of naturalistic ontology while all the same recognizing a diversity of ontologies.Our project is therefore an attempt to identify the specific ontological system of the Middle Magdalenian via its attributed archaeological remains – with the objective of determining the nature of human-animal relationship during the Middle Magdalenian. Philippe Descola’s model of four modes of identification seems to us to be the best adapted approach for such an enterprise, as it provides precise definitions that are easily employed.Middle Magdalenian parietal art focuses particularly on very specific distinctions, but also on the individuation of animals and their respective behaviours, seeming to bring out the depicted animals’ intentionality. Certain methods participate in the linking of these intentionalities: notably the parietal plan, the use of natural reliefs, and the way humanity is represented. A study focusing on skeletal animal remains from Middle Magdalenian sites shows that the general pattern of butchery operations and its supposed ritualization is particularly oriented towards animal individuality and subjectivity. This generalized butchery pattern of animals shows parallels with the treatment of certain human remains. In the two cases, a particular emphasis is seen in the minutia and intensity of procedures and an over-representation of skulls in habitat sites, indicating a relative equivalence between the status of humans and non-humans, as well as a desire to reduce the subjectivity of individuals via the transformation of forms. The intentions conveyed by these diverse practices – in parietal art, and in the treatment of animal and human remains – seem particularly representative of Descola’s animist mode of identification, and appear to be incompatible with other modes of identification, including totemism, which we often associate with the European Upper Palaeolithic. A globalized theme of animist bent appears, in which the individuation of humans as animals seems important, as is their linkage. Diverse forms of interaction between human and non-human individuals may have found their place in what appears to constitute a cycle integrating practices underlining the apparition and disparition of animal subjectivity.

This dissertation builds upon previous Magdalenian research to reframe a logistical subsistence posture as an active risk-mitigation structure premised upon ensuring predictable surplus economic production at the French Upper Paleolithic site of Verberie le Buisson Campin (hereinafter VBC). Using a detailed faunal and statistical analysis of two faunal datasets to assess taphonomically the role of bone density-mediated vs. anthropogenic taphonomic agencies, this research also correlates bone survivorship with both limb element marrow cavity volume and the meat drying index. A limited program of bone refits attempted to provide evidence for the distribution of meat at the site. Age profiles generated from dental crown height measurements provide strong evidence that younger, perhaps more nutritious and valuable, carcasses were treated quite differently than were geriatric carcasses. There also appears to be a spatial component to the differential age-mediated treatment of reindeer carcasses at VBC. In essence, it appears that seasonal reindeer hunts at VBC were concerned with two eventualities: 1) the attainment of predictable and adequate nutrition for provisioning over winter, and 2) seeking to balance adequate nutrition with future reindeer herd viability. It appears that Magdalenian hunters essentially held young/prime prey targets as an independent variable, and treated the presence of geriatric, elder reindeer herd members as a dependent variable in meeting subsistence needs. Perhaps lower numbers of more nutritious (i.e., containing more and better quality fat reserves in meat and marrow) young/prime animals resulted in taking greater numbers of elderly reindeer to offset potential shortfall; in more abundant times, so long as herd viability could be maintained, greater numbers of more valuable young/prime would be taken along with lower numbers of geriatric reindeer. The fulcrum point of this subsistence balance appears to have been a very active, real-time process of prey item evaluation. Not all animals are equal in nutritional terms hence not all carcasses are evaluated equally. A Ground-penetrating radar study is also included to answer two substantive questions: 1) How representative of the entire site assemblage is the currently excavated sample?; and 2) Are there data visible that are indicative of multiple, interacting "households" as at Pincevent, or does the material scale, configuration, and distribution appear limited to a single household? GPR has proven to be a highly informative and productive near-surface geophysical technique for investigating many archaeological sites, and this research details one of the earliest such applications in a Paleolithic open-air context. At VBC, GPR was highly effective in locating anthropogenic accumulations of unexcavated archaeological materials which were field-tested through excavations during the 2009 field season.

Le Centre-Ouest de la France est une région clef pour l’appréhension des variations culturelles du Magdalénien moyen ancien (19-17 500 cal. BP). Elle apparaît, à travers de riches productions artistiques (art pariétal et mobilier, parure) et osseuses (pointes de projectiles, navettes), comme un carrefour culturel. Deux faciès sont identifiés : le Magdalénien à pointe de Lussac-Angles et le Magdalénien à navettes. À travers l’étude des sites de la Marche (Lussac-Angles) et de la grotte Blanchard à la Garenne (navettes), nous avons cherché à restituer les comportements techniques liés à la production et à l’utilisation de l’outillage de ces deux grands faciès. À la suite d’une approche systémique combinant analyse technologique et fonctionnelle des productions lithiques, nous montrons qu’il existe un partage de fonds technique commun et une perméabilité entre ces faciès, à travers les modalités de production des lames et des lamelles, les relations entre forme et fonction et les stratégies de gestion de l’outillage (utilisations multiples, réutilisations, ravivages, raffûtages, multiplication des outils doubles). En revanche, des variations en termes de gestes voire de procédés techniques liés à l’utilisation des grattoirs et des lamelles à dos sont perceptibles. Ces éléments révèlent des spécificités propres aux comportements techniques sur chacun des sites. / West-central France is a key region to apprehend cultural variations of the Early Middle Magdalenian (19-17 500 cal. BP). This region appears to be at a cultural crossroad of several traditions visible through rich art (cave art, portable art, ornaments) and bone industry traditions (projectile points, navettes). Two facies are identified: the Lussac-Angles Magdalenian and the navettes Magdalenian. By focusing on the sites of la Marche (Lussac-Angles) and the Blanchard cave on the hillside of la Garenne (navettes), we seeked to approach technical behaviours related to use and production of the tools of these two facies. With a systemic approach that combines technological and functional analyses of lithic production, we show the existence of a shared technical background and a permeability between facies. This is evidenced through modalities of production of blades and bladelets, relations between form and function and tools management strategies (multiple uses, reuses, sharpenings, multiplication of double tools). On the other hand, variations in terms of gestures or technical processes related to the use of endscrapers and backed bladelets are perceptible. These elements reveal specificities of the technical behaviours on each site.

Depuis les années 1980-90, les études de l’art préhistorique ont développé les analyses techniques afin de rechercher les choix individuels, aborder le contexte techno-économique des groupes paléolithiques, et proposer un modèle social et culturel. Les recherches menées sur l’art mobilier ont apporté des résultats tels que l’identification des outils, ou plus généralement les processus mis en œuvre pour la réalisation des œuvres. L’ensemble de ces renseignements a permis de comprendre la succession des gestes des graveurs et ainsi apercevoir l’Homme derrière la technique.Dans la suite de ces travaux, une étude des processus techniques des supports de l’art mobilier en matières osseuses depuis leur acquisition sur l’animal jusqu’à la réalisation de la gravure, semblait nécessaire pour compléter les informations du système technique, et documenter la complémentarité support/décor. L’objectif est de retracer dans un premier temps les différentes actions sur la matière première conduisant à l’obtention d’un objet orné. Puis, dans un second temps d’analyser la place du décor dans la chaîne opératoire de l’objet, afin d’identifier des possibles variations dans les choix techniques de cette production. La méthodologie choisie fait référence, à la fois aux travaux développés depuis les années 1970 en industrie osseuse, et à ceux en art mobilier. Une approche expérimentale a permis la création et l’observation d’un corpus de stigmates, amenant à l’étude d’un ensemble choisi d’objets archéologiques. L’analyse détaillée à la fois des éléments de transformation du support et de la description du décor, a permis de proposer la chaîne opératoire de chacun d’entre eux, de la phase d’acquisition de la matière à celle de son utilisation. Le corpus archéologique a été constitué de pièces des gisements magdaléniens de la vallée de l’Aveyron, Lafaye, Plantade, Montastruc et Courbet, conservées au Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Montauban et au British Museum. / Since the 80s and 90s, the studies of prehistoric art are mostly directed towards technical analyses allowing us to look for individual choices, to approach the techno-economic context of the palaeolithic groups, and to propose social and cultural models. Researches carried out on osseous mobiliary art have led to identify the tools and, more generally, the processes used for the manufacture of these objects. This set of information brought about a better comprehension of the engravers’ hand gestures, allowing to perceive the Man behind the technique.Following these works, a study of the technical processing of portable art on osseous materials from the acquisition of the raw material to the realization of engravings appeared necessary to complete our knowledge of the technical system, and get information about the complementary relationship between blank and decoration. The first objective was to understand the various actions performed on the raw material to obtain the final decorated piece. The second aim was to analyze when the decoration takes place during the “chaîne opératoire” and to identify possible variations in the technical choices during the whole process. The chosen methodology makes reference at the same time to the research developed since the 1970s in osseous industry, and to studies specifically dedicated to mobiliary art. An experimental approach was used to observe a large variety of traces and to create a reference corpus, that was useful afterwards to select a set of archaeological objects to be studied. The simultaneous analysis of the transformation of the raw material and the description of the decoration led us to propose a full “chaîne opératoire” for each of them, from the acquisition of the raw material to the use of the final artefact. The archaeological corpus was constituted by pieces from the Magdalenian sites of Lafaye, Plantade, Montastruc and Courbet in the Aveyron valley, cared in the Natural History Museum of Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne, France) and in the British Museum (London, England).

abstract: This dissertation uses a comparative approach to investigate long-term human- environment interrelationships in times of climate change. It uses Geographical Information Systems and ecological models to reconstruct the Magdalenian (~20,000- 14,000 calibrated years ago) environments of the coastal mountainous zone of Cantabria (Northwest Spain) and the interior valleys of the Dordogne (Southwest France) to contextualize the social networks that could have formed during a time of high climate and resource variability. It simulates the formation of such networks in an agent-based model, which documents the processes underlying the formation of archaeological assemblages, and evaluates the potential impacts of climate-topography interactions on cultural transmission. This research then reconstructs the Magdalenian social networks visible through a multivariate statistical analysis of stylistic similarities among portable art objects. As these networks cannot be analyzed directly to infer social behavior, their characteristics are compared to the results of the agent-based model, which provide characteristics estimates of the Magdalenian latent social networks that most likely produced the empirical archaeological assemblage studied. This research contributes several new results, most of which point to the advantages of using an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of the archaeological record. It demonstrates the benefits of using an agent-based model to parse social data from long- term palimpsests. It shows that geographical and environmental contexts affect the structure of social networks, which in turn affects the transmission of ideas and goods that flow through it. This shows the presence of human-environment interactions that not only affected our ancestors’ reaction to resource insecurities, but also led them to innovate and improve the productivity of their own environment. However, it also suggests that such alterations may have reduced the populations’ resilience to strong climatic changes, and that the region with diverse resources provided a more stable and resilient environment than the region transformed to satisfy the immediate needs of its population. / Dissertation/Thesis / Appendix_D_Sites_Dates / Appendix_E_Flowchart_Biome_Reconstruction / Appendix_H_Flowchart_ABM / Appendix_I_Flowchart_Social_Network / Appendix_J_Portable_Art_Objects / Appendix_J_Art_Characteristics / Appendix_L_Poster_Summary / Appendix_A_Prehistoric_Fauna / Appendix_B_Modern_PFT_Distribution / Appendix_C_Prehistoric_PFT_Distribution / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2017

Cette étude porte sur l'équipement en bois de cervidé (armement et outillage) fabriqué par les chasseurs-cueilleurs paléolithiques qui peuplaient le massif pyrénéen durant le Magdalénien (19-14 ka cal. BP). Pendant cette période, qui correspond à la fin de la dernière glaciation, les Pyrénées constituent une frontière écologique naturelle, circonscrivant plus ou moins strictement la répartition des cervidés de part et d’autre du massif. La question des usages comparés du bois de cervidé autour des Pyrénées est un cas d'étude particulièrement intéressant pour appréhender les interactions hommes préhistoriques-variations du milieu de part et d’autre d’une frontière écologique naturelle. À travers l’étude techno-économique de sept séries d’industrie sur bois de cervidé du Magdalénien pyrénéen (Santa Catalina-NIII, Isturitz-SI/Eω, Isturitz-I/F1, Troubat-10/8, Belvis-1/4,Canecaude I-2, La Bora Gran), nous avons pu confirmer que les groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs avaient globalement puisé dans leur environnement proche l’essentiel des ressources dont ils avaient besoin pour leurs équipements.Si les études techniques et économiques comparées que nous avons menées sur ces deux matériaux ne font pas apparaître d’avantages substantiels de l’un par rapport à l’autre, il n’en demeure pas moins que leur exploitation implique dans les deux cas une anticipation des besoins à plus ou moins long terme. En ce sens, le versant nord du massif livre un exemple original de planification des besoins en armement à travers l’exploitation du bois de renne par les groupes du Magdalénien moyen récent et du Magdalénien supérieur ancien. Enfin,pour pallier les problèmes d’identification taxinomique des bois de cervidé (cerf/ renne) liés à la transformation anthropique des vestiges, nous avons développé une nouvelle méthode d’identification des bois de cervidé au micro-CT, combinant microtomographie X et analyses statistiques avancées (SVM classifiers). Cette méthode innovante, dont l’indice de confiance est évalué à 96 %, a permis de démontrer l’importation de bois de renne sur le territoire Ibérique depuis le versant nord du massif. / This study focuses on deer antler equipment (weapon and tool kits) crafted by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers that inhabited the Pyrenees during the Magdalenian (19-14 ka cal. BP). Throughout this period, which corresponds to the end of the last glaciation, the Pyrenees constitute a natural ecological border, more or less confining the distribution of deer on either side of this mountain range. Comparing the use of deer antler throughout the Pyrenees is a particularly interesting case study for addressing interactions between prehistoric people and environmental variations on either side of a natural ecological border. Through a techno-economic study of seven deerantler industries from the Pyrenean Magdalenian (Santa Catalina-NIII, Isturitz-SI/Eω, Isturitz-I/F1, Troubat-10/8, Belvis-1/4, Canecaude I-2, La Bora Gran), we were able to confirm that hunter-gatherer groups generally exploited their immediate environment for essential resources that they needed for these artefact types. While comparative technical and economic analyses of these two materials do not reveal any substantial advantageof one over the other, their exploitation does however imply in both cases a more or less long-term anticipationof needs. In this sense, the northern side of the range underlines an original example of forward planning of weaponry needs in the exploitation of reindeer antler by Late Middle and Early Upper Magdalenian groups. Finally, in order to overcome problems of taxonomic identification of deer antler (red deer vs. reindeer) tied tothe anthropic transformation of these artefacts, we developed a new identification method using micro-CT scanning,combining X-ray microtomography and advanced statistical analyses (SVM classifiers). This innovative method, with a confidence interval evaluated at 96%, allowed us to demonstrate the import of reindeer antler into the Iberian territory from the northern slopes of the mountain range.

L’analyse technologique des industries osseuses paléolithiques est une discipline encorerelativement jeune. Nous avons appliqué cette méthode d’analyse à deux assemblages : celuide la grotte du Rond-du-Barry (Haute-Loire) qui a livré une longue séquence allant duBadegoulien ancien au Magdalénien supérieur ; et celui de la grotte de Rochereil (Dordogne)qui a livré un ensemble attribué au Magdalénien supérieur.Dans une perspective synchronique, l’analyse technologique a permis de défi nir les modalitésd’exploitation des bois de cervidés dans ces gisements pour chaque période envisagée duBadegoulien ancien jusqu’au Magdalénien supérieur, pour les replacer dans le contexte généralde ces groupes chrono-culturels tels qu’ils sont connus à l’heure actuelle.Dans une perspective diachronique, nous analysons dans leur aspect technologique leschangements qui sont intervenus dans le travail des bois de cervidés entre le Badegoulien etle Magdalénien, changements qui se caractérisent avant tout par l’abandon du débitage parpercussion directe et le retour au débitage par double rainurage. Enfi n nous discutons du rôleet du statut qu’ont pu détenir ces deux gisements dans leur contexte local et régional. / Technological analysis of paleolithic bone industries is a still relatively young discipline. Weapplied this method to the material from two sites: the Rond-du-Barry (Haute-Loire) whichdelivered a long sequence from ancient Badegoulian to upper Magdalenian ; and Rochereil(Dordogne) which delivered an assemblage attributed to upper Magdalenian.In a synchronic perspective, the technological analysis allowed to defi ne the modalitiesof exploitation of antler in these sites for every period, from ancient Badegoulien to upperMagdalenian, and then to replace them in the general context of these chrono-cultural groupssuch as they are known at the moment.In a diachronic perspective, we analyze, in their technological aspect, the changes thatoccurred in antlerworking between the Badegoulian and the Magdalenian, which are aboveall characterized by the abandonment of the debitage by direct percussion and the groove andsplinter technique. Finally we discuss the role and the status of these two sites in their localand regional context.

En Europe occidentale, la phase climatique du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire couvre une période-clé pour l’étude des dynamiques évolutives du Paléolithique supérieur. Correspondant au passage du Solutréen au Magdalénien, en passant par le Badegoulien, cette intervalle chronologique (entre 20 000 et 15 000 BP) est considéré comme un moment de «rupture» touchant tant au domaine techno-économique (productions lithiques et osseuses) que symbolique (art pariétal et mobilier). Le travail mené ici vise à interroger si la parure, qui possède ses propres sphères techniques et symboliques, a également été impactée par les bouleversements ambiants de l’époque. Avec près de 3000 objets de parure issus de sites français (Bassins parisien, ligérien et aquitain), une analyse diachronique, combinant approches morphométriques, technologiques et fonctionnelles, a pour cela été réalisée. À la lumière des nouvelles données acquises, une réévaluation des «normes» ornementales de chaque ensemble chrono-culturel étudié est ici proposée. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les pratiques de décoration corporelle de la fin du Solutréen, du Badegoulien et du début du Magdalénien n’échappent pas à la mutation pressentie. Elles se révèlent mouvantes et témoignent de profonds changements techniques et symboliques. On assiste à un renouvellement de la composition des parures et au développement de modalités de fabrication inédites qui évoquent l’émergence progressive et non généralisée de nouvelles traditions ornementales. Ces autres façons de penser et de se représenter par la parure se font ainsi l’écho des importants remaniements socio-culturels ayant eu lieu au cours du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire. / In Western Europe, the Last Glacial Maximum climatic phase covers a period-key for the study of the upper Palaeolithic dynamics, corresponding to the passage of Solutrean-Badegoulian-Magdalenian periods. This chronological interval (between 20 000 and 15 000 BP) is considered as a moment of "break" touching the techno-economic (lithic and osseous industries) and symbolism (rock-art and movable art) domains. This present work aims at questioning if the personal ornaments, which possess its own technical and symbolic spheres, was also impacted by the ambient upheavals of time. With about 3000 pieces discovered in French sites (Paris, Loire and Aquitaine Basins), a diachronic analysis, combining morphometric, technological and functional approaches, is realized for it. From the new acquired data, a revaluation of the ornamental "standards" of every cultural entity is proposed. The obtained results show that the ornamental practices of the end of the Solutrean, the Badegoulien and the beginning of the Magdalenian periods do not escape the anticipated transfer. These are unstable and expose technical and symbolic deep changes. We observe a renewal of the ornament composition and a development of new manufacturing modalities. These facts suggest the progressive and local emergence of new ornamental traditions. These other manners to think ant to represent itself by the ornaments testify about the important sociocultural reorganizations having taken place during the Last Glacial Maximum.