À la fin du VIe millénaire av. J.-C. le Néolithique s’est propagé en Europe centre-occidentale par l’intermédiaire des courants danubien et méridionaux. Pourtant les premières traces connues d’occupation néolithique au sein du Plateau suisse n’apparaissent que près d’un millénaire plus tard. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’étudier la faune issue des niveaux supérieurs de l’abri sous roche de la Souche (Arconciel, Canton de Fribourg, Suisse). Le nombre de restes de faune inégalé pour le Second Mésolithique régional, l’exceptionnelle stratigraphie de ce gisement et la datation des ensembles étudiés à la fin du Second Mésolithique en font un site idéal pour appréhender de nombreux aspects du mode de vie des derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs d’Europe centrale. Les résultats de cette étude montrent une évolution dans le temps des activités liées à la chasse qui ont pris place au sein de l’abri. En replaçant les résultats de cette analyse archéozoologique au sein d’un corpus plus vaste, ce travail aborde également les facteurs qui peuvent influer sur la composition des spectres de chasse et le rôle qu’ils ont pu jouer à la fin du Mésolithique. / At the end of the VIth millennium BC, the Neolithic propagated in central and western Europe through danubian and meridional streams. However, the first known traces of Neolithic occupation on the Swiss Plateau date from a thousand years later only. This PhD work focuses on the study of the fauna remains from the upper levels of the La Souche rock shelter (Arconciel, Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland). The site is characterized by unusually abundant fauna remains for the regional Second Mesolithic, an exceptionally extensive stratigraphy and the dating of the studied assemblages to the end of the Second Mesolithic. It therefore constitutes an ideal tool to investigate the various aspects of the last hunter-gatherers way of life in central Europe. The results of the study point to an evolution over time of the activities linked to hunting in this shelter. By integrating the results of this archeozoological analysis in a more general context, we can further address the factors that can affect the composition of the hunted faunal spectra, and the part they played at the end of the Second Mesolithic.

The main archaeological features studied in this thesis are semi-subterranean house remains in the woodlands of middle northern Sweden, east of the high mountains and some 100 km from the coast. The period during which they were occupied has been delimited to 4500-2500 BC. The house remains consist of circular or sometimes rectangular depressions in the ground, surrounded by mounds of refuse and large amounts of fire-cracked stone. Eighty house remains of this kind have been discovered so far and 20 features have been excavated. They are found at 29 different localities that cover an area of more than 60,000 km2. The question put forward is whether these house remains show patterning in site location, economy and material culture, suggesting that they belonged to one people sharing a similar language and values. The majority of the locations include more than one house and because of the dug-out-floors and the large amounts of fire-cracked stone they are interpreted as winter villages. The distributions of the villages show a settlement pattern in which the locales are separated by a mean distance of approximately 35 km. In one of the regions, Vilhelmina parish, summer camps have been located by smaller lakes where the waterways from 3 different winter villages connect. Other possible summer camp sites are suggested, based on their location in areas where waterways connect two or three winter villages. The winter sites were associated with local bands, according to the social structure of hunting societies in North America, suggested by June Helm. Several local bands form a regional band that camp together during certain periods of the year. All regional bands form the tribe or the language family. No traces of social differences between groups or families have been revealed in the material and it is therefore assumed that the remains of the houses represent a hunting/gathering band society. Among the artifacts in the houses is a predominance of small scrapers of quartz and quartzite. There is also a very high representation of elk (moose) in the bone material from the house remains. Prehistoric and later pit-falls as well as paintings and carvings of elk are distributed within the same area. This shows that elk were a very important prey and this has been emphasized when discussing the explanations of the uniformity in house type and artefacts. Finally the importance of the slate tools, in particular those of red slate, is briefly discussed. The manufacture of slate tools increase during the neolithic period. In the inland of middle Norrland artifacts of red slate dominate over the grey and black slate artifacts in most of the houses and on many other sites. The raw material is, in most cases, found close to the high mountains, but the red slate is otherwise rare compared to the black and grey, which suggests that it has been highly valued. The knowledge of, and access to, red slate is suggested as having symbolized the unity of this band society. / digitalisering@umu

The history of death is entangled with the history of changing social values, meaning that a shift in attitudes to death will be consistent with changes in a society’s world view. Late Mesolithic shell middens in the Tagus and Sado valleys, Portugal, constitute some of the largest and earliest burial grounds known, arranged and maintained by people with a hunting, fishing, and foraging lifestyle, c 6000–5000 cal BCE. These sites have been interpreted in the light of economic and environmental processes as territorial claims to establish control over limited resources. This approach does not explain the significance of the frequent disposal of the dead in neighbouring burial grounds, and how these places were meaningful and socially recognized. The aim of this dissertation is to answer these questions through the detailed analysis of museum collections of human burials from these sites, excavated between the late nineteenth century and the 1960s. I examine the burial activity of the last hunter-gatherers of the south-western Iberian Peninsula from an archaeological perspective, and explain the burial phenomenon through the lens of historical and humanist approaches to death and hunter-gatherers, on the basis of theoretical concepts of social memory, place, mortuary ritual practice, and historical processes. Human burials are investigated in terms of time and practice based on the application of three methods: radiocarbon dating and Bayesian analysis to define the chronological framework of the burial activity at each site and valley; stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen aimed at defining the burial populations by the identification of dietary choices; and archaeothanatology to reconstruct and define central practices in the treatment of the dead. This dissertation provides new perspectives on the role and relevance of the shell middens in the Tagus and Sado valleys. Hunter-gatherers frequenting these sites were bound by shared social practices, which included the formation and maintenance of burial grounds, as a primary means of history making. Death rituals played a central role in the life of these hunter-gatherers in developing a sense of community, as well as maintaining social ties in both life and death.

Cette recherche couvre une période comprise entre 7000 et 5500 ans av. J.-C. et s'intéresse aux communautés de pêcheurs-chasseurs-cueilleurs sans céramique (Mésolithique récent) et avec céramique (Néolithique ancien) de Russie centrale. Au début de l'Atlantique, les groupes sans céramique présents dans la région réduisirent leur mobilité à la faveur d'un environnement riche. Ce faisant, les premières pêcheries furent construites dès 6200 ans av. J.­C., avant que la céramique n'apparaisse à son tour. Sur ces sites, l'équipement en matières dures animales est la composante majoritaire. C'est donc ce dernier que nous avons décidé d'étudier. Dans une perspective diachronique, l'analyse technologique de cet équipement nous a permis de définir les modalités du travail des matières dures animales et de mettre en évidence une exploitation clairement différenciée des os, des bois et des dents des élans à Zamostje 2. Pour ce faire nous avons eu recours, outre à une approche technologique classique, à une approche expérimentale qui participe d'une volonté de mieux caractériser les techniques d'éclatement, souvent utilisées en ces contextes. Finalement, ces résultats nous ont pern1is de mettre en évidence diverses évolutions d'ordre typologique, technique et économique, qui nous ont mené à proposer des hypothèses sur l'organisation de ces sociétés - dont une spécialisation progressive dans le domaine de la fabrication des armes en os - ainsi qu'à établir une nouvelle sériation chronologique. / This research covers the period between 7000 and 5500 cal. BC and deals with communities of non­ceramic-using (Late Mesolithic) and ceramic-using (Early Neolithic) hunter-gatherer-fishers in Central Russia. At the beginning of the Atlantic period, the non-ceramic-using groups in this area became less mobile as they took advantage of a rich environment. The first fisheries were set up during this settling process as early as 6200 BC, even before the appearance of ceramics. Hard animal material dominates among the equipment on these sites, which is why we have decided to make it the subject matter of our study. From a diachronic point of view, the technological analyses of this equipment have enabled us to define working modalities for hard animal materials and to demonstrate a clearly differentiated use of moose bones, antlers and teeth at Zamostje 2. To achieve this, we used both a classic technological approach and an experimental method aimed at better characterizing the splitting techniques that were often used in these settings. Finally, these results have enabled us to highlight various typological, technical and economical evolutions and, on this basis, to propose assumptions about the organization of the societies in question, including their progressive specialization in the making of bone weapons. We have also been able to establish a new chronological seriation. / Это исследование охватывает период между 7000 и 5500 лет до н. э. и посвящено обществам рыболовов-охотников-собирателей с керамикой (поздний мезолит) и без керамики (ранний неолит) в Центральной России. В начале Антлантикума благодаря богатой природной среде в регионе снижается подвижность групп населения без керамики. В это же время, начиная с 6200 лет до н. э., начинают возводиться первые рыболовные конструкции, вслед за которыми в свою очередь появилась керамика. На этих стоянках инвентарь из твердых животных материалов занимает главенствующее положение. Именно он стал объектом нашего изучения. В диахроническом ракурсе технологический анализ этого инвентаря позволил нам определить особенности обработки твердых животных материалов и выявить четкие различия в использовании костей, рогов и зубов лося в Замостье 2. Для этого нам пришлось обратиться, помимо классического технологического подхода, к экспериментальному методу, который помог лучше охарактеризовать техники раскалывания, часто использовавшиеся в этих контекстах. Наконец, эти результаты позволили нам выявить различные изменения типологического, технического и экономического порядка, что нам дало возможность предложить гипотезы об организации этих обществ – в том числе увеличивающаяся специализация в области производства костяного вооружения – а также установить новое хронологическое деление.