Thierry Aubry | IGESPAR - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by Thierry Aubry

More than a century after the revelation of the Altamira frescoes, the discovery of open air engr... more More than a century after the revelation of the Altamira frescoes, the discovery of open air engravings in the rocky slopes of the Côa Valley made it possible for both scientists and the general public to become fully aware of the diverse nature of the artistic manifestations of the Palaeolithic and of one of the earliest instances of the monumentalisation of a natural space.
The amazing preservation of these representations, left by humans of the Last Glacial, raises many questions. When were they made? How were they perceived by the successive generations of hunter-gatherers that roamed through this territory? What do we really know about the daily life of their makers and the culture that underlay the development of such a graphic communication device? How did they interact with the other human groups living in Iberia at that time?
In an attempt to open wider windows into this past, 25 Portuguese, French, Spanish and Swiss researchers took on the challenge and seized the scientific opportunity created by the decision to preserve the Côa engravings in situ. The data they assembled and the conclusions they were able to reach are presented here.

Proceedings of the XV World Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric... more Proceedings of the XV World Congress of the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences.

Papers by Thierry Aubry

Aubry, T., Gameiro, C., Santos, A.T., Luís, L., 2017. Existe Azilense em Portugal? Novos dados sobre o Tardiglaciar e o Pré-Boreal no Vale do Côa, in: Arnaud, J.M., Martins, A. (Eds.), Arqueologia Em Portugal 2017: Estado Da Questão. Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses, Lisboa, pp. 403–418., 2017

O faseamento do Magdalenense definido no Sudoeste francês, estabelecido com base na tipologia da ... more O faseamento do Magdalenense definido no Sudoeste francês, estabelecido com base na tipologia da indústria em osso, tem vindo a ser adotado em Portugal (Zilhão 1997, Bicho 1997, Gameiro 2012). Relativamente à transição do Pleistoceno para o Holoceno, tem-se considerado que, apesar da existência de pontas azilenses, a ausência de indústria óssea em território nacional, bem como a inicialmente defendida continuidade tecnológica entre o Magdalenense e o Azilense franco-cantábricos, torna impossível a caracterização de um período azilense (Zilhão 1997). O estudo das indústrias líticas de sítios do Baixo Côa (Fariseu, Cardina, Quinta da Barca Sul) e a continuação dos estudos em França e no norte da Península Ibérica conduziram ao abandono da perspectiva de continuidade tipo-tecnológica entre o Magdalenense e o Azilense. As mudanças tecnológicas das indústrias do Vale do Côa, bem como as convenções morfotécnicas e temáticas das representações artísticas a elas associados, aproximam-se do faseamento identificado na região franco-cantábrica entre o fim do Tardiglaciar e o início do Holoceno.

Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle d'Autun, Mar 2012

The spatial distribution of the open air rock art known today along the Coa Valley (Northeast Por... more The spatial distribution of the open air rock art known today along the Coa Valley (Northeast Portugal) denotes a clear concentration along the left riverbank. In order to explain this specific occurrence, the geological and environmental constraints for the preservation of the rock art supports have been analysed. Regional geological structure was studied and interpreted through a multi‑scalar approach (from regional setting to individual outcrops), where more than 900 natural rock panels (mainly joint‑fractures), with and without rock art, were observed and described. The goal was to reconstruct the natural processes contributing for the formation and preservation of the rock art supports. Having the identified constraints in mind, a predictive model for the formation and
preservation of Coa Valley panels was developed with the aid of a Geographic Information System. This model allowed a better understanding of the Coa Valley rock art present‑day distribution, projecting this knowledge to contiguous areas not yet systematically surveyed. Field verification defines the model as a valuable tool, not only to guide archaeological research in terms of record and interpretation, but also for the management of the Coa Valley heritage, inscribed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

... Approche fonctionnelle des sites dit d&amp;amp;amp;#x27;atelier: l&amp;amp;am... more ... Approche fonctionnelle des sites dit d&amp;amp;amp;#x27;atelier: l&amp;amp;amp;#x27;exemple des occupations solutréennes et badegouliennes des Maitreaux (Indre et Loire, France). Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Thierry Aubry. Author: Bertrand Walter. ...

We present the results of the study of lithic raw materials used in Upper Palaeolithic occupation... more We present the results of the study of lithic raw materials used in Upper Palaeolithic occupations preserved in caves, rockshelters and open-air sites from two different geological environments in Portugal. For the sites located in the Lusitanian Basin, flint or silcrete sources are easily available in close vicinity. The Côa Valley sites, located in the Iberian Massif, are within a geological environment where restricted fine-grained vein quartz and siliceous metamorphic rocks are available, but no flint or silcrete, even though both are present in the archaeological assemblages. Data from the two clusters of sites are compared with a third newly located site in the Lower Vouga valley, at the limit of the Iberian Massif with the Lusitanian Basin, where quartz vein raw material types are locally available and flint is about 40 kilometres distant. This study reveals prehistoric adaptations to these different geological contexts, with shorter networks for the Lusitanian basin sites contrasting with the long distance ones for the Côa Valley, and the Vouga site at an intermediary position. Finally, we propose that lithic raw material supply networks, defined by a GIS least-cost algorithm, could be used as a proxy not only for territoriality in the case of local and regional lithic raw material sources, but also to infer long-distance social networks between different Palaeolithic human groups, created and maintained to promote the access to asymmetrically distributed resources.

O sítio da Cardina (Salto do Boi) foi a primeira jazida com ocupação paleolítica identificada no ... more O sítio da Cardina (Salto do Boi) foi a primeira jazida com ocupação paleolítica identificada no Vale do Côa em 1995. As intervenções arqueológicas realizadas, de forma intermitente, desde 1996 até 2015, vieram confirmar a ocupação do local, desde o Paleolítico Médio até ao final do Paleolítico Superior. Todavia, desde as primeiras sondagens no sítio que foram também detetados vestígios de ocupações posteriores. As recentes escavações de 2014 e 2015 trouxeram novos dados que permitem uma melhor caracterização das ocupações pós-glaciares do sítio. Neste trabalho, fazemos uma primeira apresentação do conjunto de vestígios arqueológicos da Pré-história Recente e de algumas estruturas modernas, que testemunham a ocupação do sítio ao longo do Holoceno.

Antiquity, Dec 1, 2006

For a long time prehistorians accepted as conventional wisdom the idea that Palaeolithic parietal... more For a long time prehistorians accepted as conventional wisdom the idea that Palaeolithic parietal art was confined to caves where it could be kept hidden from uninitiated individuals. So, it was not surprising that the age of hundreds of petroglyphs discovered on exposed cliffs bordering the Portuguese river Côa became a matter of controversy among some rock art specialists (Bahn 1995; Bednarik 1995; Zilhão 1995; Dorn 1997), since the animals represented and pictorial compositions showed great affinities with upper Palaeolithic ...

In P. Paillet (ed.), Les Arts de La Préhistoire: Micro-analyses, Mise en Contexte et Conservation, Société des Amis du Musée National de Préhistoire et de la Recherche Archéologique (Paléo, numéro spécial), Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, pp.259-270., 2014

The rediscovery of pecked, grooved and incised representations in the Lower Côa valley joint/frac... more The rediscovery of pecked, grooved and incised representations in the Lower Côa valley joint/fractures and the decision to preserve them in place led to the development of a long term research program. It is based on rock art tracing, the study of its archaeological and sedimentary contexts, and on a methodology comprising its specific geologic context and direct exposition to atmospheric elements. We apply a multidisciplinary approach to the structure of a graphic system from the Côa valley’s early Palaeolithic phase, exemplified by panel 1 from Fariseu. It presents a dense superposition, and was covered by dated Pleistocene and Holocene deposits, thus allowing to expose the approach and to evaluate its potential and limits.

Archéologie du Val de Creuse en Berry, Bulletin nº6. Hommage au Docteur Jacques Allain, médecin et préhistorien 1913-1997, Dec 2015

Du fait de leur résistance à l'altération physique et chimique, les outils en pierre des chasseur... more Du fait de leur résistance à l'altération physique et chimique, les outils en pierre des chasseurscueilleurs préhistoriques se sont mieux conservés que ceux en matériaux organiques qui ne sont parvenus qu' exceptionnellement jusqu'à nos jours. Ils constituent des témoins fondamentaux pour reconstituer des savoir-faire, évaluer la connaissance de l' environnement minéral de ces groupes préhistoriques et appréhender les modes de vie et fonctionnement de sociétés disparues. A cet égard, l' étude de l' origine des matériaux sélectionnés, transformés et utilisés par les hommes du Paléolithique, principalement le silex, est évoquée par les précurseurs de la recherche préhistorique en Périgord (Lartet et Christy, 1864). Il faudra cependant attendre les dernières décennies du XX e siècle pour que les préhistoriens mettent à profit la connaissance du substrat géologique, accumulée par les géologues pendant près d'un siècle, afin de la mettre en relation avec les matériaux utilisés et déplacés par les hommes préhistoriques.

Os maciços calcários do Centro de Portugal apresentam um conjunto de formas e depósitos relaciona... more Os maciços calcários do Centro de Portugal apresentam um conjunto de formas e depósitos relacionados com processos particulares da sua evolução essencialmente cársica que detêm um elevado valor científico, pedagógico, estético e cultural, pelo que assumem uma importância significativa no contexto nacional e mesmo internacional em termos geopatrimoniais e de geoconservação.
Destes, o Maciço de Sicó, apesar da sua reduzida dimensão (pouco mais de 400 Km2) apresenta uma enorme variedade de formas cársicas (lapiás, dolinas, canhões fluviocársicos, grutas, abrigos sob rocha, exsurgências), muitas das quais com elevado valor em termos patrimoniais, mas também com alguns problemas de geoconservação. O valor patrimonial associado às formas cársicas é ainda acrescido pela presença de vestígios arqueológicos de ar livre ou associado a abrigos rochosos (“Buracas”) e grutas, que têm vindo a ser estudados, permitindo estabelecer as principais fases de evolução espeleogenética e paleoambiental, bem como a relação dos Seres Humanos com o ambiente no Quaternário recente. Também a riqueza biológica e a sua especificidade local, nomeadamente no que respeita aos carvalhais de carvalho cerquinho, o vasto património ligado à recolha de água e às atividades agro-pastoris, ajudam a criar um conjunto de elementos do património cársico, com procura significativa em termos de eco e de geoturismo.

Geomorphology, 2012

In the uppermost reach of the Lower Tejo River (eastern central Portugal), where the river crosse... more In the uppermost reach of the Lower Tejo River (eastern central Portugal), where the river crosses two quartzite ridges that separate the Ródão (upstream) and Arneiro (downstream) depressions, Palaeolithic artefacts have been recovered from three lower river terrace levels and a cover unit of aeolian sands. This paper presents data on the discovery of archaeological artefacts from the terrace levels and the aeolian sands that can be linked to Middle and Upper Palaeolithic industries from new field sites at Tapada do Montinho and Castelejo. The archaeological data when placed in a geomorphological, sedimentary and chronological framework, contribute new information on the understanding of human occupation in western Iberia during coldclimate episodes of the last 62 to 12 ka; and especially during the cooler and driest conditions that occurred between 32 and 12 ka, when the climate favoured aeolian sediment transport. In the Lower Tejo River, the integration of absolute age datasets with archaeological, geomorphological and sedimentary data indicate that in westernmost Iberia the first appearance of artefacts in river terrace sediments suggests that the earliest marker for human occupation dates from the lower Acheulian (Lower Palaeolithic), probably corresponding to an age of~340 ka. Data also suggest, for the first time, that Acheulian lithic industries were replaced by Middle Palaeolithic ones (namely the Levallois stone knapping technique) by~160 ka (~MIS6). Middle Palaeolithic industries were later replaced by Upper Palaeolithic industries at 32 ka. The post 32 ka period, dominated by aeolian sediment transport, is related to the onset of cold-dry climate conditions which resulted in low river flow discharges, floodplain exposure and reworking by NW winds. This colddry period is coeval with the disappearance of Megafauna and associated Neanderthal communities, and the replacement of the Middle Palaeolithic industries by Upper Palaeolithic ones in this westernmost part of Europe.

Solutrean culture has been interpreted as a response to the Last Glacial Maximum in western Europ... more Solutrean culture has been interpreted as a response to the Last Glacial Maximum in western Europe. However, to establish a link depends of our knowledge of the impact of global climatic changes at a local level and of the differential preservation and significance of the record. The identification of lithic sources, technology, function, and place of discard, is an effective way to mitigate some of these biases and to improve our understanding of hunter-gatherer societies. We present the results of a study of flint materials found in several rockshelters and open- air sites preserving Upper Solutrean lithic assemblages from France and Portugal, using a Geographic Information System. The network defined by a least-cost algorithm is considered a proxy for social and territoriality reconstruction. Our goal is to identify recurrences and differences in Solutrean raw material network and management as compared with Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic assemblages in the same areas, considering environmental changes.

Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle d'Autun, Mar 2012

Antiquity, Dec 1, 2006

Archéologie du Val de Creuse en Berry, Bulletin nº6. Hommage au Docteur Jacques Allain, médecin et préhistorien 1913-1997, Dec 2015

Geomorphology, 2012

Paléo. Revue d'archéologie …, 2003

L’intérieur de la Meseta septentrionale n’a livré que de rares sites du Paléolithique supérieur r... more L’intérieur de la Meseta septentrionale n’a livré que de rares sites du Paléolithique supérieur relativement à ses marges où une présence humaine pendant le Gravettien, le Solutréen, le Magdalénien et l’Azilien a été confirmée par les résultats obtenus pendant les 20 dernières années. Pour tenter d’interpréter cette distribution nous utilisons d’autres indices fournis par les matériaux siliceux utilisés sur les sites de sa bordure occidentale (Vallée du Côa) qui montrent que le peuplement humain et les voies de déplacement intégraient aussi l’intérieur de la Meseta. Les axes de déplacement et les modalités de cette fréquentation ne pourront être compris que si l’on prend en compte les conditions de conservation particulières des dépôts quaternaires dans le bassin cénozoïque du Duero en mettant en œuvre d’une méthodologie de prospection qui soit adaptée.

This paper distinguishes the different Côa Valley Palaeolithic rock art phases, not only in terms... more This paper distinguishes the different Côa Valley Palaeolithic rock art phases, not only in terms of their motifs and style, but also on the grounds of their different topographical locations, visibility and scale. Those differences, like the ones that are observed in the rest of the regional contemporary archaeological record, can be seen as the result of different social contexts and as signs of an evolution of the Palaeolithic societies. Our goal is to infer the different social contexts implied by the differences in the rock art, and to understand the evolution throughout the Upper Palaeolithic in the Côa Valley.

The site of Cardina (Salto do Boi) was the first archaeological site with Paleolithic occupation ... more The site of Cardina (Salto do Boi) was the first archaeological site with Paleolithic occupation identified in the Coa Valley. The identification showed that, unlike the generalized theory, the hinterland of the Iberian Peninsula was occupied during the Upper Paleolithic. The archaeological excavations carried out between 1996 and 2001 have come to attest a Paleolithic occupation sequence, with different phases between the Gravettian and the Azilian and identify a set of structures.
After 13 years, the site was again the subject of excavation work in two campaigns between May and October this year, under the Archaeological Multiannual Research Project “Chronology and paleoenvironments of Paleolithic occupation of the Coa Valley”. Its objectives were to extend the area of intervention in the site platform, complete the chronostratigraphic sequence of their occupation and better understanding of their spatial organization over time.
In this paper we present the preliminary results of the 2014 campaigns, especially the identification of new Gravettian and Magdalenian structures and remains of Middle Paleolithic occupations.

Differing from most of European Upper Palaeolithic record, the Côa Valley lithic assemblages reve... more Differing from most of European Upper Palaeolithic record, the Côa Valley lithic assemblages reveal an intensive use of a large variety of quartz and quartzite available locally. New surveys of the lower Côa Valley quartz veins were carried out in order to establish potential areas of raw material exploitation by hunter-gatherers through the identification of the raw material sources present in the archaeological record. Upper Palaeolithic lithic assemblages are produced on local quartz varieties, regional fine-grained quartz veins and flint and silcrete from long distance sources. The proportion of raw material and their choice for different tool types reveal some variation through the Upper Palaeolithic sequence, but present the same diversity and large geographical range of supply. Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from the same region are essentially based on local lithic material, showing a more restricted exploitation area and revealing different technology and procurement strategies, possibly evidence of changes in mobility and social networks.

Os estudos geológicos desenvolvidos em Portugal desde finais do Século XIX, na bacia lusitaniana,... more Os estudos geológicos desenvolvidos em Portugal desde finais do Século XIX, na bacia lusitaniana, permitem reconstituir em pormenor a evolução estrutural, os ambientes sedimentares e o conteúdo faunístico das suas formações mesozóicas e cenozóicas. Todavia, as rochas siliciosas observadas ao longo da sequência litológica, algumas delas utilizadas como referência estratigráfica, nunca foram objecto de um estudo sistemático à escala da bacia. Os estudos do aprovisionamento de matérias-primas das indústrias do Paleolítico médio e superior foram apenas desenvolvidos durante os últimos anos. Estes estudos carecem ainda de uma abordagem e terminologia similares às aplicadas às rochas carbonatadas e detríticas coevas. Para além disso, é necessário considerar a evolução mineralógica e química do sílex, desde o afloramento até o seu abandono num solo arqueológico, para avaliar a frequência da utilização de rochas siliciosas em posição secundária.
Com base nas prospecções realizadas no sector setentrional da bacia lusitaniana, apresentamos um inventário das fontes de sílex primárias e secundárias. A comparação com os dados arqueológicos permite-nos reconstituir os espaços geográficos de difusão das diferentes fontes de sílex ao longo do Paleolítico médio e superior. São finalmente apresentadas as perspectivas da aplicação desta metodologia às outras categorias de rochas siliciosas.

A new geomorphological and structural cave survey, as well as a sedimentological and stratigraphi... more A new geomorphological and structural cave survey, as well as a sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of clastic cave sediments and local post-Jurassic siliciclastic covers, was performed at the Buraca Escura archaeological site (Poio Novo valley, Sicó Massif, western-central Portugal). Provenance and endokarstic transport were investigated by examining clastic cave sediments and making comparisons with new and published data on the siliciclastic regional covers. A framework for speleogenesis, beginning during the Late Cretaceous-Miocene, is established.

"Resumo: O Vale das Buracas corresponde a um pequeno canhão fluviocársico escavado em calcários ... more "Resumo:
O Vale das Buracas corresponde a um pequeno canhão fluviocársico escavado em calcários do Jurássico médio que se estende rigidamente de SSE para NNW, ao longo de cerca de 400 metros, na frente setentrional da Serra do Rabaçal (Maciço de Sicó). Os dados resultantes de uma intervenção arqueológica de emergência numa das vertentes do vale contribuíram para a reconstituição da evolução recente das formas e depósitos do vale, demonstrando a idade holocénica do depósito heterométrico negro que contém, em posição secundária, vestígios arqueológicos de diferentes cronologias, inclusive materiais neo-calcolíticos. Estes dados permitiram
também balizar cronologicamente a fase fria responsável pela constituição do depósito não consolidado de gelifractos exposto na vertente norte. O conhecimento pluridisciplinar do vale, que, para além da Geomorfologia e da Arqueologia, envolve já participações da Geologia e da Biologia, aponta para o carácter
especial deste sítio e para a enorme importância científica que detém no quadro da compreensão integrada do carso e sua utilização pelas sociedades humanas. Estes resultados justificam a curiosidade crescente que o Vale das Buracas suscita e o número de visitantes que o procuram, facto que, paradoxalmente, constitui um factor de rápida degradação do património científico, cultural e ambiental que o sítio representa, desde logo por força das recentes intervenções autárquicas no sentido de facilitar o acesso ao vale.
Palavras-chaves: Vale das Buracas, Canhão Fluvio-cársico, Pleistocénico-Holocénico, Arqueologia.

Abstract:
Contribution about the cultural sequence by pleistocene/holocene to understanding the genesis and evolution
of the fluviokarstic canyon of the Bburacas Valley The Buracas Valley corresponds to a small fluviokarst canyon in carbonate rocks of the middle Jurassic that extends by SSE to NNW rigid direction, throughout about 400 meters, in the northern front of Rabaçal (Sicó Mountain). The resulting data of an archaeological intervention in one of the slope of the valley had contributed for the reconstitution of the recent evolution of the landforms and deposits of the valley. This study has demonstrated the Holocene age of black deposit that contains, in secondary position, archaeological vestiges of different chronologies, also material neo-calcolitic.These data had also allowed to change the chronology of could phase responsible for the constitution of the not consolidated slope deposit displayed in the north part of the valley.The multidisciplinary knowledge of the valley, that, for beyond the Geomorphology and Archaeology, involves already participation of Geology and the Biology, points it to be special of these small landforms and for they enormous scientific importance for the understanding karst and its use for the human societies in the time.These results justify the increasing curiosity that the Buracas Valley excites and the number of visitors that looks it, fact that, paradoxically, constitutes a factor of fast degradation of the scientific heritage, cultural heritage and the environmental, since soon for force of the recent autarchic interventions in the direction facilitating the access to the valley.
Word-keys: Buracas Valley, Fluviokarst Canyon, Pleistocene/Holocene, Archaeology."

Palavras-chave: Maciço de Sicó, geomorfologia tectónica, geoarqueologia, sedimentos de gruta, for... more Palavras-chave: Maciço de Sicó, geomorfologia tectónica, geoarqueologia, sedimentos de gruta, formas parietais de gruta, espeleogênese.