Fieldwork in the Zemplen Mountain area of north-eastern Hungary showed that there are at least eight geological sources of obsidian here, five of which have obsidian of a workable quality. There are a further three sources in the Slovak Zemplen, all of which provide workable obsidian. Sources in Central Slovakia are highly devitrified and not useable, and reported sources in Rumania had been discounted earlier (Nandris, 1975). Forty-six samples of obsidian from the Zemplen sources, and 293 pieces from 87 archaeological sites in Central and Eastern Europe, were analysed by neutron activation analysis for 15 trace and two major elements. The trace elements used included those which are geochemically likely to show the greatest variation between different obsidian sources, and which are not badly affected by devitrification and hydration of the obsidian, for example the rare earth elements. The analytical data was processed using Cluster Analysis. 242 of the archaeological samples came from Slovak sources, 22 from Hungarian sources, 9 from Lipari and 5 from Melos. In addition, 6 samples were tentatively assigned to Carpathian sources, and 9 could not be assigned to any source. Obsidian from the Zemplen Mountains was distributed up to a distance of approximately 480 km from the sources; it was used extensively in Slovakia and Hungary and reached southern Poland, Austria, Moravia, central Yugoslavia, north-east Italy and central Rumania. Obsidian use in central and eastern Europe began in the Mousterian period. The earliest pieces analysed were Aurignacian and came from Hungarian sources. Later, in the Gravettian, Slovakian sources began to be exploited and remained predominant until obsidian use declined sharply in the Later Neolithic, and Copper and Bronze Ages. The Carpathian obsidian distribution overlaps with the Liparian distribution at one site in north-east Italy. There is no evidence for an overlap with Aegean or Near Eastern sources. The rate of fall off of obsidian away from the sources suggests a down-the-line trading mechanism.

Ce travail consiste en l’étude fonctionnelle de la séquence supérieure de la Grotte Mandrin (du 55 au 43ème millénaire) en France méditerranéenne. Dans cette séquence, le niveau Néronien de la Grotte Mandrin apparaît comme une anomalie, tant d’un point de vue technique, que fonctionnel. Sa profusion de pointes, leur caractère non seulement microlithique mais plus encore standardisé m’a amené à réfléchir sur la finalité de ces productions. Quelle est la signification de cette signature associant standardisation et microlithisation réelle au sein d’une unique unité de cette vaste séquence archéologique ? Au travers d’une étude fonctionnelle spécifiquement orientée vers la recherche, la détermination et la compréhension des associations de stigmates d’impact, une méthode d’approche, l’étude impactologique, est ici exposée à partir de la constitution d’un référentiel expérimental original. L’étude impactologique des pointes de Mandrin E révèle qu’au moins 15,5 % d’entre-elles ont été utilisées comme partie vulnérante ou perforante d’arme. Le module extrêmement réduit de ces micro- et nanopointes induit une inertie pondérale particulièrement faible que seul un système de propulsion à très forte énergie cinétique peut compenser. La réflexion a donc porté sur le mode de propulsion employé permettant de rendre effectif et efficace ces pointes de très faible dimension. Les résultats amènent à la conclusion que seul un système de propulsion tel que l’arc a pu compenser la faible énergie cinétique des tous petits éléments impactés découverts à Mandrin E. / This work is an use-wear analysis of the upper sequence of Grotte Mandrin in Mediterranean France (from the 55th to 43rd millennium). In this sequence, the Neronian level of Grotte Mandrin appears as an anomaly, both from a technical and a functional perspective. Its profusion of points and their not only microlithic but also standardized character prompts reflection on the purpose of these productions. What is the meaning of this signature, combining standardization and real microlithization within a single unit of this vast archaeological sequence? Through a functional study specifically oriented toward research, determination and understanding of the associations of impact scars, a method of approach, an impact study, is presented here, and constructed from a systematic, original experiment. An impactological study of the Mandrin E points reveals that at least 15.5% of them were used as weapons. In the absence of any other criteria revealing other functions, and in view of the exceptionally high rate of impacted pieces, we must consider whether all of these small objects belong directly and exclusively to the sphere of armaments. The extreme reduction of these micro- and nanopoints results in a particularly weak inert weight that can only be compensated for by a propulsion system with very high kinetic energy. Attention has therefore been focused on the mode of propulsion used to make these very small, sometimes less than a centimeter, points effective and efficient. The results lead to the conclusion that only a propulsion system such as the bow would be able to offset the low kinetic energy of all of these small impacted elements discovered at Mandrin E.

L’Asie du sud-ouest et en particulier le plateau iranien, au croisement de l’Afrique, de l’Europe et de l’Asie, constituent une région assez unique marquée par une histoire longue et diversifiée. Cet espace a souvent été considérée au Paléolithique moyen comme un lieu de passage d’hommes anatomiquement différents : Homo Sapiens et Neandertal. Mais pour plusieurs raisons, les chercheurs ont concentré leurs recherches sur la région du Levant et du Zagros. Le sud et l’est du pourtour de la Mer Caspienne sont en revanche nettement moins étudiés. Si le Moustérien du Proche-Orient est marqué par la prédominance de débitages de type Levallois, au-delà du Torus à l’ouest de la Caspienne, c'est-à-dire en Azerbaïdjan et en Géorgie, les industries lithiques se caractérisent par des pièces bifaciales dites micoquiennes. Dans ce contexte, que se passe-t-il à l'est et sud de la mer Caspienne entre ces deux grandes aires d’influence ? Une étude approfondie des outillages lithiques par une approche technologique et technofonctionnelle a été menée sur cinq assemblages d’Iran et du Turkménistan. Nous avons pu observer que si à l’est de la mer Caspienne la tradition bifaciale est bien attestée dans certaines industries turkmènes, elle regroupe des systèmes techniques variés. Ces éléments nous invitent donc à faire le lien avec d’autres « techno-complexes » jusqu’à présent moins connus. Il semblerait donc que le Turkménistan et l'est de l'Iran représentent un carrefour où différents complexes techniques ont pu se rencontrer. Cette diversité de systèmes techniques semble indiquer une complexité plus importante qu’attendue des dynamiques de peuplements pendant le Moustérien. C’est grâce à la mise en évidence de la variabilité technique que l’on tentera de percevoir et de reconstituer cesphénomènes de peuplements et la mobilité des groupes humains préhistoriques dans les espaces qu’ils ont occupés. / Southwest Asia and in particular the Iranian plateau, at the crossroads of Africa, Europe and Asia, constitute a rather unique area with a long and diversified history. In Middle Paleolithic, the whole region has often been considered as a place for passage of anatomically different humans: Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal. However, for several reasons, researchers focused their activities, on the region of Levant and Zagros, therefore the southern parts and the east of Caspian Sea are much less studied. As Mousterian of the near east region is marked by the predominance of Levalloisdebitages, in Torus region (regions in the west of Caspian Sea including current Azerbaijan and Georgia), the lithic industries are characterized by so-called Micoquian bifacial pieces. In this context, a very important question is what happened in the east and the south of Caspian Sea,between these two great areas of influence.A deep study of lithic tools has been conducted on five assemblages of Iran andTurkmenistan, by a technological and techno-functional approach. The obtained results show that if in the east of Caspian Sea the bifacial tradition is well attested in some Turkmen industries, it attests various technical systems. These elements lead us to make the link with the other "techno-complexes" so far less known. It would seem, therefore, that Turkmenistan and eastern Iran represent a crossroads where different techno-complexes could meet.This diversity of technical systems seems to indicate a complexity more than expected of dynamics of populations during Mousterian. Thanks to the demonstration of the technical variation, we will try to perceive and reconstruct these phenomena of populations, the mobility of prehistoric human groups, in the environment that they occupied. / جنوب غرب آسیا و به خصوص فلات ایران، در تقاطع قاره های آفریقا، اروپا و آسیا، منطقه ای نسبتا منحصر به فرد با تاریخی طولانی و متنوع را تشکیل می دهند. در طول دوره پارینه سنگی میانی، این منطقه اغلب به عنوان مکانی برای عبور گونه های مختلف انسان: انسان هوشمند باستانی و نئاندرتال در نظر گرفته شده است. با این حال، به دلایل مختلف، محققان اغلب در انجام فعالیت های علمی خود در منطقه لوانت و زاگرس متمرکز بوده اند بخش های شرقی دریای خزر بسیار کمتر مورد مطالعه قرار گرفته اند.اگر موسترین در منطقه خاورمیانه با تراشه برداری لوالوا عجین شده است، منطقه توروس در غرب دریای خزر (شامل آذربایجان و گرجستان کنونی) با قطعات دو طرفه از نوع میکوکین شناخته می شود. در این زمینه، سوال مهم مطرح این است که چه اتفاقی در شرق و جنوب دریای خزر، بین این دو حوزه بزرگ رخ داده است؟در این راستا، مطالعه ایی بسیار گسترده توسط روش های تجزیه و تحلیلی فن آوری و فنی-کاربردی بر روی ابزارهایی از پنج مجموعه از ایران و ترکمنستان انجام شد. نتایج به دست آمده نشان می دهد که علی رغم حضور ابزارهای دو طرفه در برخی از صنایع ترکمنستان، در شرق دریای خزر شاهد سیستم های تکنیکی متفاوتی هستیم. این عناصر ما را بر آن می دارد که به دنبال ارتباط آنها با سیستم های فنی ای باشیم که تا کنون کمتر شناخته شده اند. به نظر می رسد که ترکمنستان و مناطق شرقی ایران، محل تقاطع سیستم های فنی مختلفی باشند.این تنوع در سیستم های فنی احتمالا از آنچه پیشتر در مورد پویایی جمعیت در طول دوره موسترین تصور می شد بسیار پیچیده تر باشد. به لطف شناسایی این گوناگونی های فنی است که ما سعی می کنیم پدیده های مربوط به جمعیت و جابجایی گروه های انسانی پیش از تاریخ در محیط مورد اشغال آنها را درک و بازسازی کنیم.

In the world of archaeological and anthropological research, the transition from the Middle Paleolithic (MP) to the Upper Paleolithic (UP) is widely debated and studied. During this period in Europe, the last Neanderthals were replaced by the first Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH). It is widely debated how and in what time frame this replacement occurred, and if, when, and where the two human species interacted with eachother. In order to understand the differences and similarities between Neanderthals and AMH, many branches of archaeology collaborate to answer these questions. For example, the study of artifacts or genetic investigations can provide a wealth of information on the cognitive-behavioral abilities of the two hominins or on possible hybridization. In this context, archaeozoology is an extremely interesting branch for reconstructing the interactions between humans and the environment in which they lived and thus defining the economic and behavioral strategies of the two human species. Of particular interest are the sites of RiparoMochi (Ventimiglia) and RiparoTagliente (Verona), which present evidence of occupation by the last Neanderthals and subsequent arrival of AMH. Due to their geographical location, crucial for investigating the arrival of AMH in Europe, the study of faunal remains from these two sites is of fundamental importance. This thesis proposes an archaeozoological study useful for shedding light on the human-environment dynamics that occurred between the end of the MP and the beginning of the UP innorthern Italy, examining two sites belonging to two distinct geographical regions, Liguria and Veneto, characterized (today and in the past) by different climatic and environmental conditions. In addition to the classic archaeozoological study, the methodologies applied here range from analyses of dental microwear to the use of 3D technology for the study of bone artifacts. The archaeozoological analysis of these two contexts is also necessary due to the scarcity of faunal data for the two sites, which are infact preliminary or incomplete. How did Neanderthal hunting strategies differ between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic sides of the Apennines? Did the arrival of AMH correspond to a change in hunting behavior or in the way sites were occupied? How have the fauna and surrounding ecosystems of the two sites evolved? Answering these and other questions will help to understand how the rapid climatic and environmental changes that characterized the end of the MP influenced human groups and animal populations in the two regions and how human-environment interactions changed in the transition from the late MP to the beginning of the UP. / Nel mondo della ricerca archeologica e antropologica, la transizione fra il Paleolitico Medio (PM) e il Paleolitico Superiore (PS) è ampiamente dibattuta e studiata. In questo periodo, in Europa, gli ultimi Neandertal vengono sostituiti dai primi Umani Anatomicamente Moderni (UAM). È ampiamente dibattuto come e in quanto tempo sia avvenuta questa sostituzione e se, quando e dove, le due specie umane abbiano interagito fra loro. Al fine di comprendere le differenze e le similitudini fra Neandertal e UAM, molte branche dell’archeologia collaborano per rispondere a queste incognite. Ad esempio, lo studio dei manufatti o le indagini genetiche possono dare molte informazioni sulle capacità cognitivo-comportamentali dei due ominini o su una possibile ibridazione. In questo contesto l’archeozoologia è una branca di estremo interesse per ricostruire le interazioni fra l’uomo e l’ambiente nel quale viveva e definire quindi le strategie economiche e comportamentali delle due specie umane. Di particolare interesse sono i siti di Riparo Mochi (Ventimiglia) e Riparo Tagliente (Verona), i quali presentano testimonianze dell’occupazione da parte degli ultimi Neandertal e la successiva frequentazione di UAM. Per via della loro posizione geografica, nevralgica per indagare sull’arrivo di UAM in Europa, lo studio dei resti faunistici provenienti da questi due siti è di fondamentale importanza. In questa tesi si propone uno studio archeozoologico utile a far luce sulle dinamiche uomo-ambiente intercorse fra la fine del PM e l’inizio del PS in Nord Italia, prendendo in esame due siti facenti parte di due regioni geografiche distinte, la Liguria e il Veneto, caratterizzate (oggi e in passato) da differenti condizioni climatico-ambientali. Oltre al classico studio archeozoologico, le metodologie qui applicate spaziano dalle analisi della microusura dentale all’utilizzo della tecnologia 3D per lo studio di manufatti in osso. L’analisi archeozoologica di questi due contesti risulta inoltre necessaria a causa della scarsità di dati faunistici per i due siti, questi risultano infatti preliminari o incompleti. Come differivano le strategie di caccia dei Neandertal fra il versante tirrenico e adriatico degli appennini?L’arrivo di UAM ha corrisposto ad un cambiamento del comportamento venatorio o nelle modalità di occupazione dei siti? Come si sono evolute le faune e gli ecosistemi circondanti i due siti? Rispondere a queste ed altre domande permetterà di comprendere come le rapide variazioni climatico-ambientali che caratterizzarono la fine del PM, abbiano influito sui gruppi umani e sulle popolazioni animali delle due regioni e come le interazioni uomo-ambiente siano mutate nel passaggio dal PM finale e l’inizio del PS.

Ce projet contribue aux discussions en cours sur la transition du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur en Europe occidentale marquée par un tournant dans l’évolution de notre espèce, l’Homo sapiens. Alors que les Néandertaliens, nos plus proches cousins évolutionnaires disparaissent du registre fossile, les humains modernes qui ont migré hors d’Afrique, se dispersent rapidement à travers l’Eurasie. Les deux populations étaient exposées aux mêmes changements climatiques dramatiques caractéristiques de la transition, et pourtant, les Néandertaliens sont rapidement remplacés par les humains modernes. Par conséquent, ce phénomène suggère que les populations humaines modernes auraient pu être mieux adaptées face aux changements environnementaux. Puisque le régime alimentaire est un bon moniteur de l’adaptation, cette recherche compare les stratégies de subsistance des deux espèces humaines ayant tour à tour occupé le site de Riparo Bombrini (Balzi Rossi, Ligurie, Italie). Une analyse archéozoologique et taphonomique a été effectuée sur les collections fauniques du Moustérien tardif et du Proto-Aurignacien afin d’obtenir la première comparaison détaillée du régime alimentaire et des comportements de chasse des Néandertaliens et des humains modernes sur l’un des seuls sites du nord-ouest de l’Italie entièrement documenté avec des méthodes archéologiques modernes. Étant donné que la nature très fragmentée des ossements animaux sur le site a été un obstacle aux analyses fauniques dans le passé, les méthodes d’analyse archéozoologique ont été complétées par le « collagen fingerprinting » (c.-à-d. zooarchéologie par spectrométrie de masse, ou ZooMS) afin d’assurer l’identification d’un maximum de spécimens pour atteindre une précision accrue de l’identification taxonomique. La préservation différentielle du collagène dans les restes squelettiques a également justifié le développement d’une méthode novatrice de dépistage du collagène utilisant la spectroscopie FTIR-ATR pour la présélection d’échantillons ZooMS. Les résultats montrent que, tandis que Néandertal et Homo sapiens ont continuellement chassé les taxons ongulés disponibles à proximité de Riparo Bombrini, les niveaux de Moustérien tardif indiquent un rétrécissement du tableau de chasse associé à un mode de subsistance hyperlocal. En revanche, les spectres fauniques se sont considérablement élargis dans le plus ancien Proto-Aurignacien, lorsque Riparo Bombrini était occupé comme camp de base logistique à long terme associé à un vaste territoire de subsistance. Les résultats fournissent également les premières données détaillées sur la subsistance des populations humaines durant la transition dans la région de l’arc liguro-provençal, établissant ainsi de nouvelles hypothèses à tester dans de futurs travaux concernant la nature changeante de leurs écologies. / This project contributes to the ongoing debates over the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in Western Europe, which marks a turning point in the evolution of our species, Homo sapiens. While Neanderthals, our closest evolutionary relatives, went extinct at that time, modern humans who had migrated out of Africa dispersed very rapidly across Eurasia. While both populations were exposed to the same dramatic climatic shifts at the time, it is only the Neanderthals that quickly disappeared from the archeological record, suggesting that modern human populations may have been better adapted to react to environmental changes than Neanderthals. Since diet is a good monitor of adaptation, this research compares the subsistence strategies of both human groups as they occupied, in quick succession, the site of Riparo Bombrini (Balzi Rossi, Liguria, Italy). An archeozoological and taphonomic analysis was conducted on Late Mousterian and Proto-Aurignacian faunal collections to produce the first direct comparison between Neanderthal and modern human diets and hunting strategies at one of the only sites in Northwest Italy entirely excavated using modern documentation methods. Because the highly fragmented nature of the animal bones at the site has hindered faunal analysis in the past, these approaches were complemented by collagen fingerprinting (i.e., Zooarcheology by Mass Spectrometry, or ZooMS) to identify as many specimens as possible as to species, thus yielding unprecedented accuracy in taxonomic identification. The challenging collagen preservation state also required developing a screening method using FTIR-ATR spectroscopy prior to ZooMS. The results show that, while Neanderthals and modern humans continuously hunted prime-aged ungulate taxa available in a close range of Riparo Bombrini, the Late Mousterian levels indicate a narrower diet associated with a hyper-local subsistence range. In contrast, the faunal spectra broadened noticeably in the earliest Proto-Aurignacian, when Riparo Bombrini was occupied as a long-term logistical base camp within an extensive land-use strategy. The results also provide the first high-resolution view of human subsistence during the transition in the Liguro-Provençal arc region and set up test hypotheses about the changing nature of hominin behavioural ecology that can be further tested in future work.