Leonard Woolley : Les premières fouilles sur le cimetière d'Ur (original) (raw)

Premier bilan d’une prospection-inventaire des tumuli médocains

En 2009, nous posions les bases d’un inventaire des nombreuses buttes d’origine anthropique que recèlent les forêts médocaines. Inquiet de leur disparition progressive, nous avions alors la volonté d’en identifier le plus grand nombre et d’en comprendre l’origine et la fonction. Cette démarche nous a mis au contact de l’Uni- versité de Bordeaux et l’Institut Ausonius a chargé un étudiant en Master 2 travaillant sur la protohistoire en Médoc d’investir également le sujet, ce qui a permis de multiplier le nombre de sites, d’aboutir à une vaste base de données et d’animer la réflexion sur ces vestiges. Cet inventaire s’est fait par de nombreux déplacements sur le terrain suite à un dépouillement exhaustif de la bibliographie régionale, aux recherches des toponymes significatifs des anciens cadastres et à quelques témoignages locaux.

L'ancienne abbaye de Psalmodi: premier bilan des fouilles

Archéologie Médiévale, XIX, 1989

In 1970 Whitney Stoddard (Williams College) and Brooks Stoddard (Colgate University, later University of Southern Maine) opened a campaign of excavations on the site of the medieval Benedictine abbey of Psalmodi (Saint-Laurent d’Aigouze, Gard, France). This article synthesizes the results of one-month annual campaigns through 1989. Written sources suggested that the monastery was founded in the Carolingian period, abandoned during disorders in the tenth century, was rebuilt and flourished in the high Middle Ages, and finally secularized in 1538, to be succeeded by a farm (mas). This article focuses on the Gothic period, when a new triple-apse choir was added to pre-existing structures to its west to constitute a monument of imposing dimensions (70 m long by 35 m wide). The architectural and sculptural evidence discussed here reflects the wealth of the abbey, well attested in medieval written sources, and the precocious influence in this region of the new Gothic style from the north. Evidence of the earlier periods (Romanesque, Carolingian, pre-Carolingian) is not discussed here, and the research was ongoing.

Nouvelles découvertes épigraphiques à Ur (2015 et 2017)

Comptes-rendus des séances de l année - Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, 2017

* La version écrite de cette communication a été mise au point dans le cadre du projet « EcritUr. La ville d'Ur d'après les textes du premier quart du II e millénaire av. J.-C. » (voir <http://digitorient. com/?p=3341>) financé par l'ANR pour 36 mois depuis octobre 2017. Je remercie Marine Béranger, ATER au Collège de France, pour sa relecture de mon manuscrit. 1. Elle est notamment reproduite en frontispice de l'ouvrage de H. R. Hall, A season

Premiers temps du Magdalénien en Gironde: Réévaluation des fouilles Trécolle à Saint-Germain-la-Rivière (France)

The Magdalenian site of Saint-Germain la Rivière (Gironde, France) has often figured in debates and discussions about the Late Upper Palaeolithic of western Europe. Most of the discussions are based on the material excavated by R. Blanchard - in particular the now well-known burial - as well as the more rigorous excavations by G. Trécolle in the slope deposits. After the detailed study of all this material by M. Lenoir, which allowed the material from the slope and terrace deposits to be attributed to the Lower and Middle Magdalenian, many other studies were done by various researchers on specific aspects of the collections (lithics, personal ornaments, fauna). It became clear, however, that the stratigraphic framework and chronology of the site needed to be reexamined. In order to understand the rise of the classic Magdalenian in Gironde, members of the ANR Magdatis project reexamined many early Middle Magdalenian sites and collections of that area. The thorough work of Trécolle at Saint-Germain-la-Rivière was pivotal to this reassessment. Initially, this involved the analysis of his fieldnotes which led to an archaeostratigraphic reattribution of most artefacts into two principal units, with a potentially problematic interface between these. Once these new archaeostratigraphic divisions had been determined, the analysis of the artefacts could proceed. The comparison of the lithic and bone/antler industries to those of other sites have afforded us new insights into the nature of technical and economic behaviours of this initial Magdalenian of western Europe. In terms of lithic and osseous raw material, we have found a good degree of continuity between the units. The differing treatment of domestic versus hunting flint tools is also an important aspect to consider in the discussion of the changes that took place in hunter-gatherer societies at this time. The bone/antler industry shows some continuity between units (for example the use of the groove and splinter technique), but also some differences (in the upper unit: less diversity in tools; higher frequency of decorated objects). The systemization of a standardized blade production in the upper unit is accompanied by an increase in size of antler points. The production of different lithic projectile morphotypes (backed microbladelets versus scalene bladelets), in parallel with a change in base types within antler points, in addition to the presence or absence of grooves, demonstrate that changes occurred in the toolkits used. A reassessment of the faunal remains also helped to clarify the practices having occurred in each of the two principal stratigraphic units; combined with a taphonomic analysis, the specific subsistence practices in each could be identified. Different hunting strategies were noticed regarding saiga antelope (hunting within female groups versus mixed herds) as well as differing carcass treatment (degree of intensity of marrow extraction, carcass processing techniques). Our analysis also revealed that small-game hunting had been practised (birds and small mammals) already in the earliest Magdalenian phases at the site, thus providing a more complete picture of these reindeer and saiga antelope hunters. Taking into account all of these data and practices allows us to be more specific about the type and pace of technical and subsistence changes having occurred during this period. New 14C dates done directly on bones of identified species or on characteristic organic artefacts also aids us in shedding new light on the two main phases of the Magdalenian. Thea Trécolle excavation and its contents can thus be placed within the overall Saint-Germain-la-Rivière site sequence and compared to other contemporaneous sites in western Europe which have also benefited from a renewed stratigraphic, archaeological and chronological assessment and framework.

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