En Afrique Australe, plusieurs sites attribués au Middle Stone Age (MSA) ont livré de grandes quantités de blocs « d’ocre », suggérant une longue tradition d’exploitation, bien avant l’occurrence des premières peintures rupestres. Les indices sur la fonction de ce matériau et le but pour lequel il a été utilisé sont rares, ce qui a conduit à plusieurs hypothèses. Certains auteurs leur ont associé des comportements symboliques tandis que d’autres ont montré qu’une utilisation « utilitaire » était possible. La question de la fonction et du rôle qu’occupait l’ocre est par ailleurs centrale dans le contexte du MSA, étant donnée l’émergence de plusieurs innovations, production de perles, de motifs gravés et technologies de taille spécifiques. Le site de Diepkloof Rock Shelter apparait particulièrement propice pour tenter de comprendre les comportements associés à l’exploitation de l’ocre, du fait de sa longue séquence fouillée récemment. Ce travail propose d’aborder les différentes étapes de l’exploitation de l’ocre, de la collecte des matières premières à l’utilisation, à partir de l’étude des blocs. Plusieurs méthodes d’observations et d’analyse physico-chimique (MEB-EDS, DRX, ICP-MS, TL, TEM et PIXE) ont été mises en œuvre pour identifier les matières premières, leur provenance, et les transformations opérées. Des prospections et une comparaison avec un corpus géologique ont permis de déterminer l’origine géologique des objets. Des expérimentations et une étude des traces d’usure ont permis d’identifier les transformations. Les résultats obtenus indiquent que des distances supérieures à 20 km ont été parcourues pour l’acquisition de certaines matières premières, dont on constate qu’elles sont plus riches en fer que celles accessibles localement. Les matières premières ont été presque systématiquement abrasées pour produire de la poudre. Ces résultats sont compatibles avec une fonction comme agent siccatif, couvrant ou colorant. Enfin, la continuité avec laquelle l’ocre est exploitée à Diepkloof malgré les changements survenus dans les techno-complexes, ainsi qu’un usage différent par rapport à d’autres sites, suggère que l’ocre a pu jouer un rôle dans les relations sociales inter et intra-groupes. / During the Middle Stone Age hundreds of ochre pieces were discovered on numerous southern Africansites long before the first occurrences of rock paintings, suggesting an important tradition of ochreexploitation. How this material was used remains however uncertain: while symbolic uses are often assumed,archaeological evidence also suggest utilitarian functions. The function and the value attributed to ochrematerials are of high interest for an overall perspective of the Middle Stone Age context, associated with theemergence of different innovations such as new lithic technology, bead production and geometric engravings.The site of Diepkloof Rock Shelter offers a unique opportunity to discuss these questions over a long recentlyexcavated MSA sequence. In this work the modalities of selection and transformation were investigated bystudying the main witnesses of ochre exploitation, the raw and processed pieces. The nature of the rawmaterials, their geological origin and the processing steps were determined by using macroscopic observationand different analytical methods (SEM‐EDXS, XRD, ICP‐MS, PIXE, TL and TEM). Surveys were carried out andarchaeological pieces were compared with geological materials in order to define where they come from.Experimentations have been performed in order to identify mechanical and chemical transformation. Theresults obtained show that some raw materials come from relative long distance, and that they are richer iniron oxide than more local sources. Wear traces indicate that ochre were ground to produce powder, whichcould function as drying agent, protective coating, or pigment. The continuity of this material’s exploitation allover the sequence, and regional uses of this material suggested by the comparison of Diepkloof with othersites, led us to assume that ochre may have favoured intra and inter‐group socials relationships at this time.

Pottery and livestock reached lithic using people in southern Africa some 2000 years ago. It has been suggested that early ceramics were introduced from further north then spread to the southernmost tip of Africa by an immigrant Khoekhoe herder population. How pottery and small livestock spread in southern Africa is debated. Some scholars believe that migrating Khoekhoe herders were responsible while others state that networks of local hunter-gatherer groups gained livestock and pottery by exchange and diffusion. Some think that both migration and diffusion played a part. The aim of this study is to contribute to this debate by comparing lithic technology in pre-pottery and pottery assemblages in the Central Limpopo Basin and northern Botswana. An abrupt change in lithic technology across the 2000 BP boundary would favour the migration model while gradual or no change would favour the diffusion model. This study focuses on two contemporary sites with Bambata pottery. Assemblages from Toteng 1 and Mphekwane Rock shelter in northern Botswana and the Central Limpopo Basin are analysed. For lithic analysis at both sites, the chaînes opératoires approach is employed. Although the method is not commonly applied to southern African Later Stone Age assemblages, it has broad appeal and potential in other parts of the world. The essential difference between this approach and the commonly applied typological approach in southern Africa is that it encompasses the whole life history of lithic material, from the basic nodule to finished tools. The study focuses much on the technological analysis and this dominates the analytical part. However, typological analysis was also performed in the study in classifying different categories of formal tools.

Sem Efeito. / Sem Efeito.

Sem Efeito. / Sem Efeito.

A presente tese fornece um primeiro quadro arqueológico para a ocupação pré-cerâmica da Região Cárstica do Alto São Francisco, uma área com cerca de 1500 km² localizada no centro-oeste de Minas Gerais, baseando-se na análise de sete elementos: cronologia (relativa e absoluta), tecnologia lítica, subsistência (fauna), sepultamentos, mobilidade, uso do espaço em cavidades naturais e arte rupestre. Os registros e amostras mais significativos foram obtidos em sondagens e escavações realizadas por níveis arbitrários de 10 cm em quatro sítios em cavidade natural de calcário, totalizando 28m² de área aberta em 11 setores, todos eles situados na área abrigada a partir da linha de goteira para dentro, com destaque, em termos de superfície aberta, para a Gruta do Marinheiro (20m²). Após a análise dos diferentes tipos de evidências por nível, setor e sítio, foi realizada uma síntese onde foram enfocadas as mudanças verticais ou diacrônicas, de origem quantitativa e/ou qualitativa, ao longo dos níveis arbitrários, permitindo observar eventuais tendências, rupturas ou transformações. As variações horizontais ou sincrônicas intra- e intersítio também foram consideradas à luz das diferenças entre os setores escavados. A partir da análise dos sete elementos supracitados obteve-se, de forma resumida, o seguinte quadro geral: observa-se uma ocupação intensa dos abrigos naturais por grupos humanos nos primeiros três mil anos do Holoceno na região (de cerca 10,2 a 7,2 mil anos AP), apresentando uma indústria lítica lascada e bruta com instrumentos tanto bifaciais quanto unifaciais, padronizados ou não. Praticavam uma caça generalizada com destaque para mamíferos de pequeno e médio porte, uma pesca/coleta de peixes não-migradores como os siluriformes (mandi, bagre, etc.) e uma coleta de caramujos gigantes (Gastrópoda). Produziram sepultamentos com padrões diferenciados, conforme também foi observado em outros sítios abrigados de Minas Gerais para o período paleoíndio. Exerciam uma alta mobilidade em que ocupavam os espaços de uma variedade de abrigos naturais, localizados em todos os compartimentos topográficos do carste, de forma padronizada (no total 27 sítios pré-cerâmicos sob abrigo natural foram contemplados). Não restringiam seus movimentos, provavelmente sazonais, apenas a este ambiente como demonstram vestígios 24 encontrados por arqueólogos amadores nas margens do Lago de Furnas (cerca de 80 km a SW do carste). Existem, enfim, indícios circunstanciais para que esses grupos sejam associados à tradição rupestre Planalto. No final argumenta-se pela existência de algumas semelhanças e paralelos com a região de Lagoa Santa, situada 200 km a NE (em linha reta) da região em estudo. / This thesis brings a first archaeological framework for the pre-ceramic occupation of a carstic area situated in the upper São Francisco river valley, also known as the Pains region, with an area of about 1500 km², in the central-western portion of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This was done by the study of seven elements related to these populations: chronology (relative and absolute), technology (lithic and bone), subsistence (faunal remains), burials, mobility, use of space in rock-shelters and rock-art. The most relevant findings were made in excavations and test-pits by artificial levels of 10 cm in four limestone rock-shelter sites, distributed in eleven different places or sectors, all of them from the drip-line to the interior of the shelters, with a total area of 28m². The most important site is the \"Gruta do Marinheiro\" cave, where 20m² were excavated. After the analysis of the different types of materials by level, sector and site, the quantitative and qualitative vertical changes were studied in search for tendencies, ruptures and/or transformations. The horizontal variations between sectors were also observed. These analysis showed that the rock-shelters were intensely occupied in the first three millennia of the Holocene, between ca. 10200 and 7200 years BP, associated with an unifacial and bifacial lithic industry and faunal remains, indicating they hunted small and middle-sized mammals, fished mainly Siluriformes and gathered Gastropoda. They buried their dead in a variety of manners, in patterns that are also seen in other rock-shelters of Minas Gerais associated with the paleo-indian occupation. Looking at 27 known rock-shelters in the region with pre-ceramic evidence, it was also possible to see that they were present in all main topographical areas of this limestone region, indicating a high mobility within it, but also showing some connections with areas outside, as seen by very similar lithic material found by amateurs in the \"Lago de Furnas\" area (80 km to the SW). There is also circumstantial evidence that could relate these groups to the \"Planalto\" rock-art tradition. Finally we argue that there are many elements that put the Pains region close archaeologically to the better-known Lagoa Santa region, situated 200 km to the NE.

En Afrique Australe, plusieurs sites attribués au Middle Stone Age (MSA) ont livré de grandes quantités de blocs " d'ocre ", suggérant une longue tradition d'exploitation, bien avant l'occurrence des premières peintures rupestres. Les indices sur la fonction de ce matériau et le but pour lequel il a été utilisé sont rares, ce qui a conduit à plusieurs hypothèses. Certains auteurs leur ont associé des comportements symboliques tandis que d'autres ont montré qu'une utilisation " utilitaire " était possible. La question de la fonction et du rôle qu'occupait l'ocre est par ailleurs centrale dans le contexte du MSA, étant donnée l'émergence de plusieurs innovations, production de perles, de motifs gravés et technologies de taille spécifiques. Le site de Diepkloof Rock Shelter apparait particulièrement propice pour tenter de comprendre les comportements associés à l'exploitation de l'ocre, du fait de sa longue séquence fouillée récemment. Ce travail propose d'aborder les différentes étapes de l'exploitation de l'ocre, de la collecte des matières premières à l'utilisation, à partir de l'étude des blocs. Plusieurs méthodes d'observations et d'analyse physico-chimique (MEB-EDS, DRX, ICP-MS, TL, TEM et PIXE) ont été mises en œuvre pour identifier les matières premières, leur provenance, et les transformations opérées. Des prospections et une comparaison avec un corpus géologique ont permis de déterminer l'origine géologique des objets. Des expérimentations et une étude des traces d'usure ont permis d'identifier les transformations. Les résultats obtenus indiquent que des distances supérieures à 20 km ont été parcourues pour l'acquisition de certaines matières premières, dont on constate qu'elles sont plus riches en fer que celles accessibles localement. Les matières premières ont été presque systématiquement abrasées pour produire de la poudre. Ces résultats sont compatibles avec une fonction comme agent siccatif, couvrant ou colorant. Enfin, la continuité avec laquelle l'ocre est exploitée à Diepkloof malgré les changements survenus dans les techno-complexes, ainsi qu'un usage différent par rapport à d'autres sites, suggère que l'ocre a pu jouer un rôle dans les relations sociales inter et intra-groupes.

A presente tese fornece um primeiro quadro arqueológico para a ocupação pré-cerâmica da Região Cárstica do Alto São Francisco, uma área com cerca de 1500 km² localizada no centro-oeste de Minas Gerais, baseando-se na análise de sete elementos: cronologia (relativa e absoluta), tecnologia lítica, subsistência (fauna), sepultamentos, mobilidade, uso do espaço em cavidades naturais e arte rupestre. Os registros e amostras mais significativos foram obtidos em sondagens e escavações realizadas por níveis arbitrários de 10 cm em quatro sítios em cavidade natural de calcário, totalizando 28m² de área aberta em 11 setores, todos eles situados na área abrigada a partir da linha de goteira para dentro, com destaque, em termos de superfície aberta, para a Gruta do Marinheiro (20m²). Após a análise dos diferentes tipos de evidências por nível, setor e sítio, foi realizada uma síntese onde foram enfocadas as mudanças verticais ou diacrônicas, de origem quantitativa e/ou qualitativa, ao longo dos níveis arbitrários, permitindo observar eventuais tendências, rupturas ou transformações. As variações horizontais ou sincrônicas intra- e intersítio também foram consideradas à luz das diferenças entre os setores escavados. A partir da análise dos sete elementos supracitados obteve-se, de forma resumida, o seguinte quadro geral: observa-se uma ocupação intensa dos abrigos naturais por grupos humanos nos primeiros três mil anos do Holoceno na região (de cerca 10,2 a 7,2 mil anos AP), apresentando uma indústria lítica lascada e bruta com instrumentos tanto bifaciais quanto unifaciais, padronizados ou não. Praticavam uma caça generalizada com destaque para mamíferos de pequeno e médio porte, uma pesca/coleta de peixes não-migradores como os siluriformes (mandi, bagre, etc.) e uma coleta de caramujos gigantes (Gastrópoda). Produziram sepultamentos com padrões diferenciados, conforme também foi observado em outros sítios abrigados de Minas Gerais para o período paleoíndio. Exerciam uma alta mobilidade em que ocupavam os espaços de uma variedade de abrigos naturais, localizados em todos os compartimentos topográficos do carste, de forma padronizada (no total 27 sítios pré-cerâmicos sob abrigo natural foram contemplados). Não restringiam seus movimentos, provavelmente sazonais, apenas a este ambiente como demonstram vestígios 24 encontrados por arqueólogos amadores nas margens do Lago de Furnas (cerca de 80 km a SW do carste). Existem, enfim, indícios circunstanciais para que esses grupos sejam associados à tradição rupestre Planalto. No final argumenta-se pela existência de algumas semelhanças e paralelos com a região de Lagoa Santa, situada 200 km a NE (em linha reta) da região em estudo. / This thesis brings a first archaeological framework for the pre-ceramic occupation of a carstic area situated in the upper São Francisco river valley, also known as the Pains region, with an area of about 1500 km², in the central-western portion of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This was done by the study of seven elements related to these populations: chronology (relative and absolute), technology (lithic and bone), subsistence (faunal remains), burials, mobility, use of space in rock-shelters and rock-art. The most relevant findings were made in excavations and test-pits by artificial levels of 10 cm in four limestone rock-shelter sites, distributed in eleven different places or sectors, all of them from the drip-line to the interior of the shelters, with a total area of 28m². The most important site is the \"Gruta do Marinheiro\" cave, where 20m² were excavated. After the analysis of the different types of materials by level, sector and site, the quantitative and qualitative vertical changes were studied in search for tendencies, ruptures and/or transformations. The horizontal variations between sectors were also observed. These analysis showed that the rock-shelters were intensely occupied in the first three millennia of the Holocene, between ca. 10200 and 7200 years BP, associated with an unifacial and bifacial lithic industry and faunal remains, indicating they hunted small and middle-sized mammals, fished mainly Siluriformes and gathered Gastropoda. They buried their dead in a variety of manners, in patterns that are also seen in other rock-shelters of Minas Gerais associated with the paleo-indian occupation. Looking at 27 known rock-shelters in the region with pre-ceramic evidence, it was also possible to see that they were present in all main topographical areas of this limestone region, indicating a high mobility within it, but also showing some connections with areas outside, as seen by very similar lithic material found by amateurs in the \"Lago de Furnas\" area (80 km to the SW). There is also circumstantial evidence that could relate these groups to the \"Planalto\" rock-art tradition. Finally we argue that there are many elements that put the Pains region close archaeologically to the better-known Lagoa Santa region, situated 200 km to the NE.

This thesis assesses climate change during the Hypsithermal Climatic Interval through the analysis of freshwater mussel remains from archaeological sites in Eastern North America. Modern climate data was used as a model to test the mosaic consequences of climate change. Freshwater mussels: can be used as indicators of precipitation by examining changes in overall size through time: larger mussels are found in larger streams, while smaller mussels are found in smaller streams. This study combines morphometric and isotopic data from archaeological freshwater mussels at Modoc Rock Shelter, Watson Brake, Plum Creek, Owens site, and Landerneau mounds to assess past climatic conditions. At Modoc Rock Shelter, oxygen isotopic data corroborate morphometric data and show that climate was fluctuating with a period of stability at the onset of the Hypsithermal. The oxygen isotopic data sets from the Louisiana sites show that the mid-Holocene was much warmer than the late-Holocene.

La fin des temps glaciaires est une période d’importants changements. La transition Tardiglaciaire-Holocène est marquée par de nombreuses variations climatiques qui rythment la recomposition de la faune et de la flore. Entre le XIIIe et le Xe millénaire avant notre ère, les sociétés humaines d’Europe occidentale connaissent elles aussi d’importantes mutations techno-économiques et sociales. Dans cette étude, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’évolution des sociétés contemporaines du Dryas récent et, plus particulièrement, aux transformations des industries lithiques et à la signification paléohistorique de ces changements.L’assemblage lithique du niveau A4 de l’abri de Rochedane (Villars-sous-Dampjoux, Doubs) constitue le point de départ de notre réflexion. L’étude de ce corpus, à travers une approche typologique et techno-économique, a permis de confirmer et d’affiner le modèle d’organisation chrono-culturel proposé ces dernières années par A. Thévenin. Ainsi peut-on confirmer l’existence d’un faciès de type Rochedane et en préciser les caractéristiques. L’insertion de ces données dans un cadre chronologique et géographique plus large révèle que l’identité des industries de type Rochedane est double puisque ces industries appartiennent à la fois au monde épigravettien et au techno-complexe des Straight Blades and Bladelets Industries. / The end of glacial time is a period of change. The succession of different vegetations and faunas from the end of Lateglacial period to the beginning of the Holocene is marked by the large range and sometimes short time climatic fluctuations. Between the XIIIth and Xth millenniums BC, human societies of Western Europe experienced also significant techno-economic and social changes. This study focuses on the evolution of Younger Dryas societies and more specifically on the transformation of lithic industries and on the palaeohistoric meaning of these changes.The lithic material of the A4 level of Rochedane rock shelter (Villars-sous-Dampjoux, Doubs, France) constitutes a first rate corpus to reflect on this issue. The study of this corpus, which integrates the technological, typological and economical aspects of lithic industry, has allowed us to confirm and refine the chrono-cultural organizational model proposed those last years by A. Thévenin. Confronting results obtained from Rochedane to those groups located in bordering regions, this work has allowed the definition of “industries de type Rochedane”. The inclusion of these data within the European context has led to the understanding of population dynamics of the area and to the development of a reflection on the cultural and technical exchanges in Western Europe during the Late Glacial. Identity of “industries de type Rochedane” is double: those industries are part of epigravettian world and of Straight Blades and Bladelets Industries.