Depuis près d’un siècle et demi, près de quatre cent cinquante sépultures collectives ont été découvertes dans le Bassin parisien. L’information archéologique à disposition y est largement lacunaire. La connaissance des groupes chrono-culturels de la fin du Néolithique a tout de même été enrichie grâce au mobilier funéraire. Il a permis de définir une phase de construction et d’utilisation commune pour une grande majorité de sépultures collectives au Néolithique récent 2 (3350-3000 av. J.-C). Une minorité d’entre elles a été utilisée au Néolithique final 1 (2900-2550 av. J.-C.), voire jusqu’au début de l’Âge du Bronze. Malgré un horizon chronologique commun, les sépultures collectives du Bassin parisien présentent une étonnante diversité architecturale. Deux grands types de monuments ont été identifiés : les allées sépulcrales et les hypogées. Ils coexistent avec un ensemble de sépulcres anciennement appelés « dolmens » ou « sépultures en fosse », deux termes qui sont aujourd’hui à bannir. Chaque type architectural se caractérise par des techniques de construction, une répartition géographique, une logique d’implantation, une durée d’utilisation et une concentration de mobilier qui lui est propre. Cette diversité est-elle renforcée par des divergences au niveau des pratiques funéraires ? Les différents types de sépultures collectives du Bassin parisien se distinguent-ils également par leurs modes de fonctionnement ? Peuvent-ils constituer des caractères culturels originaux ? / For one century and an half, around four hundred and fifty collective burials had been discovered in the Paris basin. The archeological information is widely lacunar. The knowledge of the chronological and cultural groups of the end of the Neolithic had been enhanced thanks to the burial deposit. It permitted to define a common phase of building and use of a large majority of the collective burials during the recent Neolithic (3350-3000 av. J.-C). A minority of them had been used during the final Neolithic(2900-2550 av. J.-C.), or even till the beginning of the Bronze Age.In spite of a common chronological horizon, the collective burials of the Paris basin presents a suprising architectural diversity. Two main types of monuments had been identified : the sepulchral galleries and the hypogeums. They coexist with a group of burials formerly named “dolmen” or “burial grave”, two names that we could not use any more. Each archictectural type is characterised by his own building technique, geographical distribution, implantation logic, useful life and deposit concentration. Is this diversity reinforced by some differences on burial practices ? Are the different types of collective burials of the Paris basin distinguished between as well by their functioning ? Could they constitue original characteristic cultural ?

Cette thèse porte sur la Néolithisation du Nord-Ouest de la France, abordée à travers l’analyse des industries en silex jurassiques de Normandie. Objet de plusieurs influences environnementales et culturelles, cette région essentielle pour comprendre les dynamiques et les comportements socio-économiques de la Néolithisation de l’Ouest se caractérise par un environnement géologique riche en silex d’excellente qualité exploités durant toute la Préhistoire, utilisés ici comme marqueurs de ces comportements et de leur évolution sur la longue durée. L’objectif est de caractériser les productions liées à ces ressources et leur diffusion, de préciser les contextes chronoculturels dans lesquels elles évoluent, en prenant en compte tous les processus de la chaîne opératoire, depuis l’acquisition des matériaux jusqu’à l’abandon des outils. Restituer une vision cohérente de ces processus suppose un protocole qui croise les approches typo-morphologique, technologique et fonctionnelle des industries pour respecter le lien structurel qui existe entre l’économie des matières premières, la gestion des productions et de l’outillage. L’étude sur la longue durée de l’utilisation d’un type de ressources particulières offre un point de vue spécifique sur la Néolithisation de l’Ouest. Les continuités et les ruptures, la permanence ou la disparition de chaînes opératoires, procédés techniques, ou voies de distribution restituent un pan de l’évolution technique et culturelle de ces sociétés néolithiques. L’analyse critique des sites a permis de dépasser l’hétérogénéité de la documentation pour parvenir à ce but. / This thesis addresses the question of the Neolithisation of the Northwest of France, throught the analysis of the industries based on Jurassic flint from the Neolithic sequence in Normandy. Subject of several environmental and cultural influences, this region is essential for understanding the dynamics and socio-economic behaviors in the Neolithisation process. Normandy is characterized by a geological environment with excellent flint sources used throughout Prehistory, used here as markers of these behaviors and their evolution over the long term. The aim is to characterize the productions related to these sources and their distribution, the chronological and cultural sequence in which they operate, taking into account all the processes of chaîne opératoire, from flints procurement to the abandonment contexts. Restore a coherent vision of the process involves a protocol that melts typo-morphological, functional and technological approaches, to meet the structural link between the economies of raw materials, production and tools management. The study on the long-term use of a particular type of resource gives a specific point of view about Neolithisation of the Northwest of France. Continuities and ruptures, permanence or extinction of chaînes opératoires, technical processes and distribution channels restore a piece of technical evolution and cultural significance of the Neolithic societies.

Au Proche-Orient, le Néolithique acéramique (12200-8400 cal BP) correspond à une période de changements sociétaux qui se caractérisent principalement par le mode de vie sédentaire et la mise en place de nouvelles stratégies de subsistance. Bien que les pratiques agricoles et l’élevage aient probablement été initiées en parallèle, les indices de l’agriculture sont les premiers à se manifester, notamment à travers le développement d’un cortège de plantes adventices et la perte progressive de la déhiscence chez l’orge et les blés vêtus. L’objectif de ce travail est de mieux cerner cette période fondamentale de changements, à travers l’étude archéobotanique de deux sites emblématiques. Dja’de el-mughara (10700-10200 cal BP) et Tell Aswad (9800-8400 cal BP), respectivement localisés au nord et au sud de la Syrie, sur le Moyen Euphrate et en Damascène. Les deux sites ont déjà fait l’objet d’analyses mais la présente étude porte sur un nombre beaucoup plus important d’échantillons, issus de fouilles récentes, ayant bénéficié de nouvelles recherches et datations. Elle permet ainsi de revoir certaines interprétations, de comparer le processus d’émergence de l’agriculture dans les deux régions et de restituer les pratiques associées à l’échelle locale, grâce à la nature et la composition des assemblages ainsi que leur distribution sur les sites. / In southwest Asia, the Aceramic Neolithic (12200-8400 cal BP) coincides with a period of social changes characterized by a new sedentary way of life and new subsistence strategies. Plant cultivation and animal husbandry developed together during this period to form a mixed agricultural economy. Evidence for plant husbandry was the irst to manifest itself as seen by the development of arable weeds and the loss of the dispersal mechanism in wheat and barley. This research seeks to better understand this crucial period in human history by examining the charred plant remains recovered from two key sites for this period. Dja’de el-mughara (10700-10200 cal BP) situated in the Euphrates valley in northern Syria and Tell Aswad (9800-8400 cal BP) situated in the Damascus basin in southern Syria. Both sites had already been the subject of archaeobotanical studies. The present study includes a much larger and more representative number of samples thanks to additional excavation and more complete archaeological data not least the dating. These new results presented here allows us to reassess earlier interpretations, better compare the development of agricultural practices in the northern and southern Levant and better understand crop processing and crop management on a local level through spatial analyses and an assessment of potential arable weeds.

La mort d'autrui est une épreuve que les communautés humaines ont dû apprendre à surmonter dès les premiers temps de l'Humanité. Ce travail est une exploration des différentes réponses proposées par l'homme face au problème de la perte de l'autre à travers les gestes effectués sur le corps mort, depuis les soins thanatopraxiques jusqu'aux funérailles en plusieurs temps ou la création de reliques.La manipulation post-mortem des corps fournit régulièrement à l'archéologue des “dépôts secondaires” ou des dépôts primaires ayant subi des manipulations anthropiques post-dépositionnelles. Ces dépôts impliquent une gestion complexe et planifiée du processus funéraire et, en général, des gestes / pratiques / cérémonies en plusieurs épisodes. Cette thèse propose un éclaircissement des concepts et de la nomenclature liés à ces dépôts spécifiques. Une analyse transchronologique et transculturelle d’études de cas archéologiques et ethnologiques nous permet d'éclairer ces phénomènes mortuaires complexes dans leur dimension anthropologique. / Human remains resulting from sophisticated mortuary treatments represent a preferred information source about the organization of societies and about the belief systems of ancient people. Thereby, on the archaeological field, secondary deposits, sacred artefacts made of humain bones or dismembered burials emerge as precious raw material in order to reconstruct gestures, practices and finally the symbolic discourse built around those dead who are selected to become particular protective entities, perhaps Ancestors. This work includes the study of double-funerals ceremonies and manipulations of human bones in funerary or ritual contexts but also complicated pre-funerals treatments (exposure, dismemberment, mummification) in a transcultural and transchronological perspective. Human remains and spacial data from archaeological contexts have been analyzed using bioanthropological and traceological approach in order to reconstruct complex mortuary operating sequences. An ethnoarcheological study on multiple-steps funerals has been led in order to interpret archaeological remains

The subject of this thesis is animal bones found in the Pitted Ware Culture site of Ajvide in Eksta parish, Gotland, Sweden. The site has been excavated since the 1980s and along with 85 graves and 7500 artefacts about 2500 kg of animal bones has been collected. Previous studies have often focused on specific areas or species, but the aim of this work has been to get a wider perspective of different areas within the Ajvide site. A total of about 20 kg of animal bones from ten different areas in Ajvide have been analysed with osteological methods. The analysis has shown that there are some differences between the areas considering amount of bone material found and the present species. The material consists of almost exclusively unburnt fragments and fragmentation is high in all areas. In the deeper layers fish is the most common species while fragments of pig are the most common considering every layer and area analysed. The difference seen between the areas most likely depend on how the sites were used by the people in the Pitted Ware Culture and discussions are made on how some of the areas could have been used for more ritual purposes while others possibly have been used in the everyday life.

The characteristic traits of the Neolithic developed independently of each other during a very long time period over a broad region in China. Pottery appeared as early as ca. 19.000 cal. BP in late Paleolithic contexts. A shift to a semi-sedentary way of life first occurred at the onset of Holocene (ca. 11.000 cal. BP), and was associated with hunting-gathering populations. Pigs, dogs, rice and millet were domesticated by 9000-8000 cal. BP by people who primarily relied on wild plants and animals. Fully developed Neolithic sedentary farming villages were not established until ca. 7000 cal. BP in China. Agricultural economy was the foundation for emergence of hierarchical organized societies with elite groups controlling political and ritual power. Throughout the middle and late Neolithic period (7000-4000 cal. BP) numerous complex societies developed and declined across much of China’s landscape before the formation of early states in the second millennium BC. / Los característicos rasgos del Neolítico se desarrollaron independientemente unos de otros durante un periodo muy largo en una amplia región de China. La cerámica es tan antigua como c. 19.000 A.P., en contextos del Paleolítico Tardío. A principios del Holoceno (c. 11.000 A.P.) ocurrió un cambio hacia un modo de vida sedentario y estuvo asociado con las poblaciones de cazadores-recolectores. El cerdo, el perro, el arroz y el mijo fueron domesticados alrededor de 9000 a 8000 A.P. por gente que antes dependía, en especial, de plantas y animales silvestres. Las aldeas agrícolas del Neolítico completamente desarrolladas no se establecieron si no hasta c. 7000 A.P. La economía agrícola fue el fundamento para el surgimiento de sociedades jerárquicas organizadas en las que existían grupos de elite que controlaban el poder político y ritual. A lo largo de los periodos Neolítico Medio y Tardío (7000-4000 A.P.) numerosas sociedades complejas se desarrollaron y pasaron por procesos de decadencia en gran parte del paisaje del territorio chino antes de la formación de los Estados tempranos en el segundo milenio a.C.

My research is on the significance of building practice at sites that are known as chambered monuments or long cairns and long mounds. In particular, this work focuses on the long cairn sites of Gwernvale, Powys and Hazleton North, Gloucestershire; and the long mound sites of Easton Down, Beckhampton Road, Horslip, and South Street in the Avebury region of Wiltshire, and Gussage Cow Down 78 and 294 in Dorset. These sites are considered to be among the first 'architectures' in Britain. These architectures have been considered by archaeologists to characterise part of what we know about the neolithic in southern Britain. There are features and material culture associated with the mesolithic at these sites but this evidence has previously been understood as having made a 'place' for architecture, or as having created a 'setting' for later architectural constructions. I am writing to challenge our architectural understandings of these sites. In the following chapters trees, the processing of wood, hearth settings, the working of flint, grassland, worked earth, the processing of animal bone are recognised as having been a part of the connective dynamics of architectural construction. I will argue that material culture that was a part of these activities was left in these areas. These small things were parted, re-assembled and entwined together into assemblages that blur archaeologists distinctions between fifth and fourth millennia B.C. lives and that blur distinctions between hunter-gatherer and pastoralist (and partly agriculturalist) practices. Practices of making did not remain the same; neither did practices of connecting, parting, re-assembling and entwining materials. Material culture, as a media for making and understanding connections between people and things, did not remain constant. However, through encounters with the material and historical conditions of others lives, people made something of living and dying during the fifth and fourth millennia.

About 15 kilometers north-east of the Turkish city of Şanliurfa lies the mound of Göbekli Tepe with its Stone Age Sanctuaries. Its enormous deposit layers, up to 15 meters high, have accumulated over several millennia on an area of about 9 hectares. Excavations done by the German Archaeological Institute with the Archaeological Museum of Şanliurfa, which have been carried out since 1995, found a very important site, which contributes to a completely new understanding of the process of sedentism and the beginning of agriculture. Amazingly, no residential buildings have been discovered up to now. However, at least two phases of monumental religious architecture have been uncovered. Of these, the oldest layer, with its richly adorned monolithic T-shaped pillars, is the most impressive. The buildings on this layer are circular, with a diameter of over 20 meters, and constructed from quarry stone. There are the enclosures A-D on the southern slope and enclosure E at the western plateau. Their age is impressive, having been dated to the 10th millennium BC, a time when men still lived as hunter-gatherers. This opened up a layer of the Stone Age, in which the so-called Neolithic Revolution took place. Overlying layer III is layer II, which has been dated to the 9th millennium BC. During this latter period there is a certain reduction both in the size of the structures and in the numbers of pillars. The uppermost layer I is represented by the surface debris including enormous deposits of Hangfußsedimente, accumulations of eroded sediments from layers II and III. There is no occupation from periods younger than the Pre-Pottery Neolithic at the site. The sanctuaries of Göbekli Tepe were completely filled in during the Stone Age. The old surfaces that can be observed in the excavations and the processes that occurred in the sediment have been subjected to pedological analyses and allow the act of filling to be dated into the late 9th millennium BC. / El montículo de Göbekli Tepe, con sus santuarios de la Edad de Piedra, se ubica a unos 15 kilómetros al noreste de la ciudad de Şanliurfa, en Turquía. Sus enormes capas de sedimentos, que alcanzan más de 15 metros de espesor, se acumularon en una superficie de alrededor de 9 hectáreas durante varios milenios. En las excavaciones realizadas desde 1995 por el Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI), en cooperación con el Archaeological Museum of Şanliurfa, se descubrió un sitio muy importante que ofrece una comprensión totalmente nueva del proceso de la sedentarización y del inicio de la agricultura. Resulta sorprendente que no se hayan descubierto construcciones residenciales hasta el momento. En vez de ello, se han ubicado, al menos, dos fases de arquitectura monumental, de las que la más temprana es la más espectacular por sus grandes pilares ricamente adornados. Las construcciones de este nivel, hechas de piedras canteadas, son de planta circular y tienen un diámetro de más de 20 metros. Los denominados recintos A a D se encuentran en la pendiente sur, mientras que el Recinto E se ubica en la meseta occidental. Su edad es impresionante, ya que data del décimo milenio a.C., en una época en que el hombre aún vivía de la caza y la recolección; es, por lo tanto, un grado de la Edad de Piedra en el que ocurrió la Revolución Neolítica. La capa II cubre la III y fue fechada en el noveno milenio a.C. En este tiempo se advierte una cierta reducción en el tamaño de las estructuras y en la cantidad de los pilares. La capa I es superficial, con derrumbes e importantes depósitos de sedimentos de piedemonte, como acumulaciones de sedimentos erosionados procedentes de las capas II y III. No existen vestigios más recientes que el PPN (Pre-Pottery Neolithic o Neolítico Precerámico) en el sitio: los santuarios de Göbekli Tepe fueron rellenados completamente durante la Edad de Piedra. Las superficies antiguas se observan en la excavación y los procesos que ocurrieron en el sedimento fueron sometidos a análisis pedológicos que permitieron determinar la edad del relleno en la parte tardía del noveno milenio a.C.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This study is a continuation of my previous essay, which performed a catalogue and interpretation of stone cists from the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age. This essay will develop that study through a analysis of the land use during the same period. The material will be analyzed through ArcGIS where five main analysis will be used to study this, watershed, viewshed, hillshade, buffer/density and nearest neighbor. The goal of these analysis will be to create a better view of the landscape and together with the archaeological material create a deeper understanding for the land use during the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age. The archaeological material that will be used consists of stone cists, which were identified in my previous essay, as well as stray finds, namely flint daggers and simple shaft hole axes. The stone cists and their position in the landscape will be studied closer as these are the only stationary monuments in the landscape during this period. These will be compared with the stray finds and ArcGIS analysis with the goal of identifying land use, for example potential settlements, something which is rarely found during this period. / Denna studie är en fortsättning på min föregående uppsats som  utförde en sammanställning och tolkning av hällkistor från Senneolitikum - äldre Bronsålder på Gotland. Denna uppsats utvecklar detta genom en analys av landskapsanvändningen under samma period. Materialet kommer analyseras genom ArcGIS där fem huvudsakliga analyser kommer användas för att studera detta, watershed, viewshed, hillshade, buffer/density samt nearest neighbor. Dessa har som mål att skapa en bättre bild av landskapet och tillsammans med det arkeologiska materialet skapa en förståelse för landskapsanvändningen under Senneolitikum - äldre Bronsålder. Det arkeologiska materialet som kommer användas består av hällkistor som identifierats i föregående uppsats samt lösfynd i form av flintdolkar och enkla skafthålsyxor. Hällkistorna och deras position i landskapet kommer studeras i  närmare då dessa är de ända fasta monumenten från denna period. Dessa kommer sedan jämföras med lösfynden och förhållas till ArcGIS analyserna som utförts med målet att identifiera landskapsanvändning. Utifrån dessa analyser kan eventuella viktiga områden i landskapet identifieras, exempelvis potentiella bosättningar, något som sällan hittas under denna period.