Bernard Gassin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

books by Bernard Gassin

Papers by Bernard Gassin

[EN] Our aim in this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of the lit... more [EN] Our aim in this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of the lithictools used to procure and transform the materials consumed as food d uring the Middle Neolithic in the western Mediterranean region. We focus on three tool categories: projectile weapons (points and geometric microliths), butchery tools and sickle implements. The numerous assemblages studied Íll recent years provide information on not only the role played by these instruments and the importance of related activities in different sites, but also reveal recurrences in the choice of raw materials, tool morphology and their methods of use. We int roduce sorne method ological points to evaluate the contribution of use-wear interpretations, especially for butchery activit ies. For projectile weapons and sickle blades, we will present the attested haft ing methods, their geographical distribution and chronological evolution. The presence of these tools in the world of the dead is not a simple reflection of the daily act ivities of the living, and their interpretation is therefore more complex. We will present the state of knowledge in this area. Starting from the middle of the fifth millennium cal. BC, the contacts between communities in various areas of the Western Mediterranean intensified, especially through the exchange of raw materials, such as Alpine axes, Sardinian obsidian, Bedoulian flint from the Provence region, and variscite from Catalonia. These intensive exchanges and the technological investment represented by the heat treatment of flint are evidently reflected in the domain of lith ic tools dedicated to the procurement and transformation of materials for alimentation.[FR] Nous tentons ici de faire un état des connaissances sur les outils lithiques taillés destinés a l'acquisition et a la transformation des matériaux consommés comme aliments au Néolithique moyen en Méditerranée occidentale. Notre réflexion porte sur trois outils : les armatures de projectiles (pointes et géométriques), les outils de boucherie et les armatures de faucilles. Les nombreuses séries étud iées ces dernieres années nous permettent non se ulement de connaítre le role joué par ces instruments et l'importance des activités associées dans les différents sites, mais aussi d'observer des récurrences portant sur le choix des matieres premieres, la morphologie des outils et leurs modes d'utilisation. Nous présentons quelques points de méthodologie permettant d'évaluer la portée des interprétations tracéologiques, notamment pour les activités de boucherie. Pour les armatu res de projectiles et les armatures de faucille, nous présenterons les modes d'emmanchement attestés, leur répartition géographique et leur évolution chronologique. La présence de ces outils dans le monde des morts n'est pas un simple reflet des activités quotidiennes des vivants, et leur interprétation est alors plus complexe. Nous présenterons l'état des connaissances dans ce domaine. À partir du milieu du Ve millénaire cal BC, les contacts entre communautés de diverses zones de Méditerranée occidentale s'int ensifient, notamment a travers les échanges de matieres premieres, comme les haches des Alpes, l'obsidienne de Sardaigne, le silex bédoulien de Provence, la variscite de Catalogne. Ces échanges int enses, l'investissement technologique que représente la chauffe du silex, se refletent évidemment dans le domaine des outils lithiques consacrés a l'acquisition et au traitement des matériaux destinés a l'alimentation.Peer reviewe

Cover image: Kef Zoura D from the south looking towards Relilaï. The low stone wall visible in th... more Cover image: Kef Zoura D from the south looking towards Relilaï. The low stone wall visible in the shadowed area under the rockshelter marks the main excavation trench.

During the 7 th millennium BC, important changes occur in Western Europe. The lithic production f... more During the 7 th millennium BC, important changes occur in Western Europe. The lithic production focuses on regular blades, knapped by pressure or indirect percussion. These blades are often retouched with one or several notches, sometimes giving them a serrated appearance. We have studied a sample of notched blades coming from different late Mesolithic sites (7 th and 6 th millennium BC) in France and Belgium. The wear analysis of these tools shows that the notches are the result of a voluntary retouch and are used as scraping tools. The variability of the observed wear traces suggests that different materials have been scraped, among them different vegetal materials. This preliminary study presents our first results, some functional hypotheses and a discussion about the place of the notched blades in the lithic toolkit.

The Holocene’s global warming led to a fundamental change of the ecosystems exploited by man in E... more The Holocene’s global warming led to a fundamental change of the ecosystems exploited by man in Europe. Among this changes, there is an important increase in the vegetation cover, at the beginning of Mesolithic, during the Preboreal. Neolithic flint tool microwear analyses have shown that a significant share of the tool kit was used for plant processing. Recent functional researches on Mesolithic flint tool show similar results. We will compare plant-processing wear-traces from these two main chrono-cultural stages of the Holocene. Along with the archaeobotanical studies, our paper presents some new approaches to the discussion about long-term evolution of the plant processing technical system during the Holocene. We will also discuss the scale of the technical changes that occurred during Neolithic transition.

Scientific Reports

The lakeshore site of La Marmotta is one of the most important Early Neolithic sites of Mediterra... more The lakeshore site of La Marmotta is one of the most important Early Neolithic sites of Mediterranean Europe. The site is famous for the exceptional preservation of organic materials, including numerous wooden artefacts related to navigation, agriculture, textile production, and basketry. This article presents interdisciplinary research on three of the most complete and well-preserved sickles recovered from the site, yet unpublished. All the components of the tools are analysed: the stone inserts, the wooden haft and the adhesive substances used to fix the stones inside the haft. Our innovative methodology combines use-wear and microtexture analysis of stone tools through confocal microscopy, taxonomical and technological analysis of wood, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the adhesive substances, and pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, and phytolith analysis of the remains incorporated within the adhesive. This multiproxy approach provides a significant insight into the...

Cereal harvesting techniques are a fundamental part of the Neolithic farming package and a main t... more Cereal harvesting techniques are a fundamental part of the Neolithic farming package and a main technological innovation in food technology. The first harvesting tools were developed in the Near-East in the frame of Epipalaeolithic groups. During PPNA, PPNB and PN cultures harvesting tools strongly evolved, with both a regional and chronological variability. Starting from ca. the 7th millennium BCE, harvesting technologies were spread towards the Western Mediterranean and Central Europe. Analysing the technological and functional variability of the so-called sickle inserts at least three different ways of Neolithic expansion can be suggested: the Linearbandkeramik wave in Eastern and Central Europe, the maritime Impressed-Ware pioneer expansion, and a later Balkan-Mediterranean wave. In this presentation we will tackle this topic comprehensively, including new unpublished data from Near-East, Mediterranean and Continental Europe. Data collected from hundreds of sites will be here presented, focusing on the major changes occurred in harvesting tools morphology and functionality and their relationships with the cultural and technological dynamics of the Early Neolithic groups.Peer reviewe

During the last decades we have gained a considerable amount of data about the Mesolithic lithic ... more During the last decades we have gained a considerable amount of data about the Mesolithic lithic toolkit in the Western Mediterranean. A large set of instruments probably existed for a variety of purposes: foraging practices (both hunting and fishing), food processing, crafting activities, etc. Disposable tools, scarcely elaborated, coexisted with formal and more complex instruments, often composed of multiple parts and realized on a variety of raw-materials (e.g. stone, shell or bone inserts; bone or wood hafts, etc.). In this paper we will consider one particular type of tool that appears in the Western Mediterranean starting from the Seventh-Sixth millennia BC: the notched and denticulated blades. We will consider and interpret from a functional viewpoint materials from five different Late Mesolithic contexts: the Cocina Cave and Vallmayor IX in the NE of the Peninsula, Artusia rock-shelters in Navarre and Atxoste and Mendandia rock-shelters in the Basque country.

Times of Neolithic Transition along the Western Mediterranean, 2017

Nous avons pu établir, depuis 1983, que dans plusieurs grottes à peintures du paléolithique, il y... more Nous avons pu établir, depuis 1983, que dans plusieurs grottes à peintures du paléolithique, il y avait un rapport étroit entre les emplacements des peintures dans la grotte et la valeur sonore (qualité acoustique) de ces emplacements. D'une façon générale, on peut dire que c'est à proximité des endroits les plus sonores que l'on trouve le plus de peintures. Dans certaines grottes, la densité des images est proportionnelle à la qualité acoustique (mesurée p.ex. en durée de résonance ou nombre d'échos). Nous avons récemment étudié (2008 et 2009) la grotte Kapova dans l'Oural, aux qualités sonores remarquables. Ces résultats ont évidemment une grande importance pour l'étude de l'art et des sociétés paléolithiques. Mais, d'autre part, quant à l'approche acoustique, beaucoup de problèmes se posent : définition objective de ce que peut être une qualité acoustique, mesures pertinentes etc., en particulier en rapport avec la dimension anthropologique de ces études faites à la voix.

The lakeshore settlement of ‘La Marmotta’ represents one of the earliest evidence for seafaring f... more The lakeshore settlement of ‘La Marmotta’ represents one of the earliest evidence for seafaring farmers in Italy (ca. 5900-5600 cal BC) and one of the earliest wetland sites of the entire Central Mediterranean Basin. The site is unique for the richness and variety of organic materials preserved (i.e. foodstuff, wood and plant crafts, house remains, pirogues, etc.), especially if compared with the rest of Early Neolithic sites in the Italian Peninsula. Nevertheless, due to several reasons, the site has still been little integrated within the debate on the Neolithization process. How can the huge amount of data obtained from ‘La Marmotta’ be transposed to the surroundings, contemporaneous, dryland sites? This is a compelling challenge, especially considering that often no comparable records exist in sites characterized by drier preservation conditions. In this presentation we will focus on the lithic assemblage and on the several wooden sickles recovered from this site. The integration of both records can help us understanding the harvesting techniques adopted during Early Neolithic and provide a fundamental reference for the rest of Impressed Ware sites of the Central and Western Mediterranean.

During the 7th and 6th millenniums BC, major changes occurred over a widespread area in the lithi... more During the 7th and 6th millenniums BC, major changes occurred over a widespread area in the lithic industries of the late Mesolithic. We focused our research on notched blades and bladelets knapped by pressure or indirect percussion. We managed to define this technical process by Late Mesolithic Notched Blades from Western Europe and North Africa 233 showing that these notches result from voluntary retouch, with variability in retouch modes and in uses (different operating processes and worked materials). It is a simple technical concept, connected to the recurring mode of operation, but with varied functional purposes that comes out as a result of this survey carried out in France, Belgium, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia.

Geometric microliths have been often considered as an important cultural and chronological marker... more Geometric microliths have been often considered as an important cultural and chronological marker for the study of lithic assemblages, especially for European Mesolithic and Neolithic. However, systematic studies on microlith function are still lacking. In this paper we present a synthesis of microwear analysis realized on a number of sites, in Western Mediterranean, dated between the VI-V millennium. Our objective is to investigate the significance and the recurrence of those instruments within a spectrum of different contexts. Results indicate that, within a global tendency for microliths use as hunting weapons, there is a certain degree of variability on the basis of environmental, economical and cultural factors that strongly influence their production and mode of use.

in Frederick W. F., Drinkall H., Perri A., Clinnick D., Walker J. (ed.), Wild Things: Recent Adva... more in Frederick W. F., Drinkall H., Perri A., Clinnick D., Walker J. (ed.), Wild Things: Recent Advances in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Research, Oxbow Books, 94-105.

espanolEste articulo reune las investigaciones realizadas durante mas de 20 anos alrededor de un ... more espanolEste articulo reune las investigaciones realizadas durante mas de 20 anos alrededor de un tema muy especifico: las primeras hoces neoliticas. Aunque podria pensarse que hacer una aproximacion a las hoces no tiene mas recorrido que el de describir un util genuinamente del Neolitico, esta idea esta muy lejos de la realidad. Nuestro objetivo al estudiar este instrumento es conocer a las poblaciones que lo usaron y especialmente los territorios que ocuparon y los caminos por donde se expandieron. La hoz en si no es la finalidad del estudio, sino el medio con el que aproximarnos a esas cuestiones EnglishFor most of the 20th century, the border cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora formed This paper presents a review of the research on the Early Neolithic sickles after more than 20 years of investigati on. Despite it can be thought that a similar research approach has no other goal than the description of the harvesting tool that idea is far from the truth. Our aim is to a...

Scientific Reports

Times of Neolithic Transition along the Western Mediterranean, 2017

Kef Zoura D is a Capsian rockshelter, located in the Telidjene Basin to the south of Cheria in th... more Kef Zoura D is a Capsian rockshelter, located in the Telidjene Basin to the south of Cheria in the Tebessa region of eastern Algeria. It was excavated in 1976 and 1978 by D. Lubell and M. Jackes. The site contains a stratigraphic succession from Capsien typique to Capsien superieur, with abundant lithic and bone artifacts and extensive documentation of the palaeoecology and subsistence patterns of the Capsian occupants from c. 10,000 to 6500 cal BP as established by numerous radiocarbon dates. A preliminary use-wear analysis of a sample of the lithic assemblage has been undertaken by B. Gassin and J. F. Gibaja, focussing on the main typological categories of the Capsian: geometrics and backed pieces, burins, notched/denticulated bladelets and endscrapers. This preliminary study has provided data on the technology of projectile inserts, the ways in which burins and notched/denticulated bladelets were used to shape organic materials, on butchery and on hide-working. Prior to the compl...

Contemporary with the beginning of the western Mediterranean Neolithization, Peiro Signado is one... more Contemporary with the beginning of the western Mediterranean Neolithization, Peiro Signado is one of the oldest Neolithic settlements in the south of France. The site shows the installation, on the coast of Languedoc, of small pioneer groups with clearly Italian origins. The lithic industry is characterized by a bladelet production. Use-wear analysis brings to light the diversified forms of Neolithic economy corresponding to a technical system transported by the first settlers. This paper presents the first results of use-wear analysis that will be entirely published in the monograph of the site.

Les outils mis au jour sur differents sites du Chasseen du sud-est de la France portent des trace... more Les outils mis au jour sur differents sites du Chasseen du sud-est de la France portent des traces de raclage de vegetaux. La morphologie des zones usees de ces outils, de leur position durant l'emploi definit un fonctionnement particulier. Les comparaisons technologiques et ethnographiques suggerent plusieurs hypotheses fonctionnelles, parmi lesquelles la finition de futs de fleches semble etre corroboree par le contexte archeologique. Il s'agirait plus probablement d'une production domestique que d'une production artisanale specialisee

Remarque Les traces décrites correspondent à ce qui est observable après un temps d'utilisation v... more Remarque Les traces décrites correspondent à ce qui est observable après un temps d'utilisation variable, suffisant pour que des traces à caractère diagnostique soient observables. Ce temps de travail varie selon de nombreux facteurs (matière première lithique, matériau travaillé, intensité de l'utilisation, etc.), et n'a pas été introduit comme variable dans ces tableaux (bien qu'il ait été enregistré lors des expériences). Toute démarche d'apprentissage de l'observation des traces doit prendre en compte ce facteur temps / intensité. Cela se traduit notamment par des protocoles d'expérimentation et d'observation enregistrant le temps d'utilisation et comparant les traces produites avec des durées d'utilisation variables, toutes choses égales par ailleurs.

Over the last decade, confocal microscopy has been increasingly employed to investigate changes i... more Over the last decade, confocal microscopy has been increasingly employed to investigate changes in stone tool surfaces and has proved to be an accurate technique for use-wear quantification. Promising results have been obtained characterising polish formation on both experimental and archaeological flint tools. Recent studies also highlighted the potential of confocal microscopy for the analysis of tools made on reflective materials, such as quartz and quartzite.

In this contribution, we explore the capacity of confocal microscopy to quantitively discriminate use-wear on obsidian tools. The experimental samples used in this study are part of the larger reference ObsiLab collection, hosted at the Laboratory of Sardinian Antiquities and Palaeoethnology in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). Experimentally worn areas produced by four contact materials (meat, dry hide, cereals, and wood) were scanned using a Sensofar PLu Neox confocal microscopy, with 20x and 50x objectives, and then processed with surface measurement parameters through metrology software. The analytical protocol will be presented and discussed in order to evaluate the ability of texture parameters to discriminate use-wear surfaces on obsidian tools.

Valdeyron N., Henry A., Marquebielle B., Gassin B., Michel S., Bosc-Zanardo B.

During the 7th and 6th millenniums BC, major changes occurred over a widespread area in the lithi... more During the 7th and 6th millenniums BC, major changes occurred over a widespread area in the lithic industries of the late Mesolithic. We focused our research on notched blades and bladelets knapped by pressure or indirect percussion. We managed to define this technical process by Late Mesolithic Notched Blades from Western Europe and North Africa showing that these notches result from voluntary retouch, with variability in retouch modes and in uses (different operating processes and worked materials). It is a simple technical concept, connected to the recurring mode of operation, but with varied functional purposes that comes out as a result of this survey carried out in France, Belgium, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia.