Méthodes et rythmes du débitage laminaire au Châtelperronien : comparaison avec le Protoaurignacien (original) (raw)
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Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 2020
In these times of confinement, the French Prehistoric Society decided to offer open access to the whole first number of its quarterly bulletin. The articles are fully available in PDF format. http://www.prehistoire.org/515\_p\_55320/bulletin-de-la-spf-2020-tome-117.html This study explores the technical diversity of blade production in the village of Vaux-et-Borset located in Hesbaye (Belgium), where two settlements have been excavated. The first dates to the Linear Pottery Culture and the second is dated to the Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture. The Linear Pottery Culture settlement comprises of five houses and an enclosure. Stratigraphic observations, combined with the different orientations of the farmsteads suggest two or three occupation phases. The Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain village also comprises of five houses. This paper will focus on the flint industry from these settlements or more precisely on the blades, the study of which underlines a large technical diversity. The objective is to propose a new interpretation of these lithic industries aimed at defining technical traditions, based on the identification of technical processes acquired through learning. By studying both Linear Pottery culture and Blicquian productions, based on 755 Linear Pottery blades and 1186 Bliquian blades, we aim to understand the relationship between continuity and innovation in these two cultural groups from the unprecedented perspective of the transmission of technical expertise. Linear Pottery knappers and Blicquian knappers from Vaux-et-Borset do not select the same siliceous materials to produce their blades, as the former has clearly oriented their selection towards local raw materials, whereas the proportion of exogenous flint blades in Blicquian contexts is extremely high and is largely preferred in several housing units. The large supply of exogenous raw materials to the Blicquian settlement does not seem to be for the manufacture of tools for a particular technical activity, but was used for the village's contemporary needs, on the same basis as local materials. The productions are similar with the manufacture of small blades (7-10 cm) with a trapezoidal section. Furthermore, all raw materials seem to have been knapped locally, raising the question of the identity of the knappers, which is highlighted by their technical diversity and expressed by the differential treatment of the striking platforms and the preparations made for the detachment of the blades. Some blades have been knapped on a flat striking platform, some on a facetted one and the preparations for the detachment seem to have been done with a punch or a stone. Within the various stages and operations of blade production, the processing of striking platforms seems to constitute a technical action relaying a strong identity. Furthermore, it is necessary to underline the technical homogeneity within the Linear Pottery context, whereas in the Blicquian context the three raw materials are processed according to three different technical modalities. There is also a difference in the skills. Several knappers know specific arrangements to obtain more regular trapezoidal section blades, with a technical process that requires a good skill level. This underlines that it is the ideas and the technical know-how that distinguish the knapper groups. However, this distinction does not explain the technical variability observed in the processing of striking platforms and in the preparation for the detachment of the blades. The observed differences do not lead to the production of blanks for specific tools, nor are they justified by the intrinsic qualities of the raw materials. For an equivalent production context, we therefore propose that this technical variability reflects different ways of doing used by knappers in the settlements. This study distinguishes three main and two minor ways. Knappers of the Linear Pottery culture use local raw materials and the same way to manufacture blades. Only rare artefacts attest to the implementation of a different procedure, probably introduced during one of the site later phases. Blicquian knappers use diverse ways of doing. There are two main technical traditions, the first carries on the traditions of the Linear Pottery culture, the second, involving exogenous flints, uses another method. Two new ways of doing that are absent from Linear Pottery contexts have also been observed. There is therefore a certain technical continuity between the Linear Pottery culture and the Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture, which attests to the transmission of knowledge through the generations.This transmission indicates the coexistence of at least two learning networks among Early Neolithic knappers. Moreover, the Linear Pottery knappers of Vaux-et-Borset almost all seem to come from the same learning network, unlike the four technical groups distinguished among the Blicquian knappers. This diversity of technical practices and technical traditions used by the Blicquians is discussed. As the data currently stands, it seems that this may result from both the mobility of neighbouring populations and the syncretism of certain traditions.
Journal of Lithic Studies, 2017
Cet article présente un état des lieux actualisé des origines, de la diffusion et de la variabilité de la technologie laminaire bipolaire durant le Néolithique précéramique B dans l’aile occidentale du Croissant fertile. Les recherches confirment que son apparition aux alentours de 8900-8800 cal. BCE dans la moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate marque un changement décisif dans les traditions lithiques locales et la technologie des projectiles. Sa large diffusion dans des contextes socio-économiques variés, utilisant des matières premières différentes, et sa variabilité régionale et spatiale croissante observée dans le Levant suggèrent que la technologie bipolaire n’a, à priori, pas exigée l’existence d’une infrastructure économique soutenant une forme de spécialisation artisanale. Il apparaît alors essentiel d’évaluer si, et dans quelles circonstances, la technologie bipolaire peut être considérée comme une production spécialisée. Le débat sur les conditions de diffusion de cette technologie laminaire (transfert de connaissances ou « colonisation » démographique) est loin d’être clos. Son expansion rapide à travers différents écosystèmes ainsi que son adoption tout aussi rapide par des communautés fondées sur différents modes de subsistance suggère que la diffusion de la technologie laminaire bipolaire ne constitue qu’un élément d’une diffusion culturelle majeure plutôt que la simple expansion d’une méthode de débitage efficace. Enfin, l’abandon de cette technologie s’est produit dans des circonstances et des chronologies différentes au sein du Levant, ce qui révèle un processus de « déconnexion » entre le nord et le sud du Levant, entre les différents écosystèmes du Proche-Orient et des divergences croissantes dans les développements culturels du Néolithique dans la région commençant entre 7200 et 6900 cal. BCE.
Analyse du débitage laminaire du site de Mezhyrich : habitations n°1, 2 et 3
Lozovski V., Lozovskaya O. 2014 Analyse du débitage laminaire du site de Mezhyrich : habitations n°1, 2 et 3. // l'Anthropologie. 2014. Vol. 118. P.495-503, 2014
This article presents the results of technological analyses of the laminar products from three bone dwelling structures from the Mezhyrich site (dated to Upper Palaeolithic; 15,000–14,500 years BP). More than 2500 blades and bladelets were studied from technological point of view. We find close similarity between the three dwellings, which reflects similar ways of preparation of core fracture zone (overhang reduction, butt abrading, and flaking surface isolation), as well as in the organization of the negative of the dorsal surfaces of the blades. The comparison with materials from the Kostenki 1 layer 1 site (upper layer, 22,000–24,000 years BP) shows some differences with the artefacts from Mezhyrich site, despite same technological methods. This could be explained by differences in cultural tradition and large time gap between these two sites. The complexes from Mezhyrich to follow the Kostenki 1/1 tradition but with their own particularities.
Ce travail présente un schéma de production d'éclats courts et normalisés identifiés dans des séries lithiques attribués aux premières phases du Magdalénien et au Badegoulien. Cette production s'effectue au moyen de séquences simples qui ne demandent que peu de mise en forme et qui ne concernent qu'une partie des nucléus. L'agencement de ces séquences indépendantes les unes des autres peur produire, à l'abandon, des nucléus qui ont souvent été dénommés discoïde. Mais une lecture technologique approfondie indique que cette convergence technologique n'est que superficielle et ne correspond pas aux mêmes schémas de production que ceux proposés pour le Paléolithique inférieur et moyen. A la suite d'une présentation générale et méthodologique, ce travail développe une série d'exemples archéologiques français et espagnols
In: M. Otte (dir.), Néandertal/Cro Magnon - La Rencontre : 31-59., 2014
Le Châtelperronien est l’un des technocomplexes marquant le passage du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur, du nord de l’Espagne au Centre-Est de la France. Ce n’est certes pas le seul faciès de cette dite “transition” du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur en Europe (autres contributions dans ce volume), mais il est depuis quelques décennies mis au-devant de la scène. Les hypothèses et les scénarios envisagés sur l’origine, la nature et le développement du Châtelperronien font âprement débat parmi la communauté scientifique. La présence de fossiles néandertaliens, d’industrie osseuse, de parures et de colorants dans de rares gisements châtelperroniens, tout comme les données sur la technologie lithique ou les datations radiométriques sont utilisées pour défendre ou évacuer les possibilités d’acculturation, d’évolution indépendante ou d’une évolution progressive du Paléolithique moyen vers le Paléolithique supérieur. L’objectif de cette contribution est de présenter des données actualisées sur le Châtelperronien et de discuter d’une possible rencontre entre deux groupes humains anatomiquement différents.
2012
Résumé La culture Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (Néolithique ancien, 4950-4650 avant notre ère) est née de la réunion des anciens groupes de Blicquy (Belgique) et de Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (moitié nord de la France). Au sein de cette culture, la circulation du silex tertiaire bartonien n’est désormais plus à prouver. En revanche, les modalités de sa circulation pouvaient être précisées au regard d’un corpus de sites considérablement étoffé depuis les premières propositions effectuées (Bostyn, 1994). Un examen des données bibliographiques tend à montrer que la majorité des sites ayant livré du silex tertiaire bartonien est localisée au cœur du Bassin tertiaire. Parmi ces habitats, deux groupes de sites se distinguent : des sites producteurs et des sites producteurs partiels (type 1). Pour les sites producteurs, l’intégralité de la chaîne opératoire du débitage laminaire en silex tertiaire bartonien s’est déroulée in situ. Pour les sites producteurs partiels (type 1), le début de la chaîne opératoire ne s’est pas effectué sur place. Les plaquettes n’arrivent pas brutes mais largement préparées pour être débitées dans les villages. Deux sites situés en dehors du Bassin tertiaire reçoivent des nucléus préformés (sites producteurs partiels de type 2). Le débitage semble s’être déroulé in situ, à la différence des autres sites VSG localisés en dehors du Bassin tertiaire qui ne reçoivent que des lames (sites receveurs). En outre, l’étude technologique des séries lithiques de Vasseny (Aisne) et de Tinqueux (Marne) met en évidence la coexistence de deux types de lames en silex bartonien : des petites lames et des grandes lames. Les données bibliographiques, confrontées aux quatre scénarios possibles pour expliquer cette coexistence, permettent d’envisager que ces deux types de lames résultent de deux productions disjointes. Les grandes lames en silex bartonien sont produites sur un nombre très restreint de sites producteurs alors que les petites lames correspondent à la production « courante » identifiée sur l’intégralité des sites. Il apparaît de surcroît que ces grandes lames sont prioritairement dévolues à entrer en circulation. Ainsi, un débitage de petites lames à caractère domestique s’oppose à une production de grandes lames, destinées à intégrer des réseaux de circulation. Cette production de grandes lames est exclusive à certains sites qui pourraient contrôler les meilleurs gîtes de matière première. Cette circulation se développe sur l’ensemble de l’aire d’extension de la culture BQ/VSG en excluant toutefois les marges de son extension sud-ouest. Le silex bartonien est clairement attesté sur les sites blicquiens à environ 200 km des gîtes. La reconnaissance de modalités de diffusion particulières vers ces sites (Bostyn, 2008) pose la question de la nature des contacts entretenus entre la sphère blicquienne et la sphère VSG. Mots-clefs : Bassin parisien, Néolithique ancien, industrie lithique, silex tertiaire Bartonien, réseaux de circulation Abstract The Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture is born from the combination of the ancient groups of Blicquy (Belgium) and Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (in the North of France). Chronologically speaking, the Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture follow the Linearbandkeramik and is dated between 4950 and 4650 BC. The circulation of Bartonian tertiary flint, in this culture, no longer has to be proven, but its patterns could be more precisely defined, because the number of sites has considerably expanded since the first theories have been made (Bostyn, 1994). The literature seems to show that the majority of sites delivering Bartonian tertiary flint are located inside the tertiary Basin. Among them, two groups of sites can be distinguished : producer sites and incomplete producer sites (type 1). For the first one, the whole of the chaîne opératoire of the laminar debitage takes place in situ, while the incomplete producer sites (type 1) lack the beginning of the chaîne operatoire. The tablets don’t arrive unretouched in the villages, but rather as initially preformed cores that are then exploited. Some sites located outside the tertiary Basin are also delivering Bartonian flint and can be broken down in two different groups. The first group is composed on two sites receiving preformed cores “ready for debitage” (incomplete producer sites of type 2). The laminar debitage there seems to be done in situ. On the contrary, the second group of sites just receives blades (receiver sites). Furthermore, the technological study of the flint assemblage from Vasseny (Aisne) and Tinqueux (Marne) has shown the coexistence of two types of Bartonian flint blades : short blades and large blades. The individualization of these two kinds of blades arises from the observation of a gap in the distribution of their lenght. But as this Bartonian blades circulate, it is difficult to determine if the gap marks the blades exported. Therefore, in order to to understand if these two types of blades have resulted from a single production or from two separate productions, we completed our study by examining the bibliographical data. First, four hypotheses can be offered to explain the coexistence of those two types of blades. First, we can suppose that the short blades are produced at the end of the exploitation of large cores. In other words, the short blades would result of the reduction of the core volume during its exploitation. Second, we can imagine that after the production of large blades, cores were partially or totally reshaping out for the debitage of short blades. There would be two steps in the chaîne opératoire and the reshaping out could explain the gap observed in the distribution. In the third hypothesis, it is possible to think that the short blades are produced alternately during the production of large blades. Finally, these two kind of blades can result of two separate productions. The analysis of bibliographical data most likely proves that they result from two separate productions, as described in the fourth hypothesis. Indeed, large cores/short cores, large crested blades/short crested blades and large under-crested blades/short under-crested blades can be found in the same time. This phenomenon invalidates the first hypothesis. It could be in accordance with the second one if the large cores were totally reshaping out before the production of short blades. But the lack of flakes coming from this step of reshaping out forbids the validation of the second hypothesis. Finally, there are not any negatives of removal on the large blades which can be compatible with the short blades, as could be expected in the third hypothesis were true. Henceforth, these different kinds of elements seem more relevant with the last hypothesis. Additionally, the short blades are mainly 6 to 10 cm long while the large ones are more between 14 to 19 cm in length. However, the pieces in circulation don’t seem to fill in the gap between the two kinds of blades but are closer in dimensions to the large blades. We can also add that these large blades were exclusively produced in a few producer sites whereas the short blades correspond to the “ordinary” production identified in all sites and in all the raw materials exploited for the laminar debitage. The siliceous elements circulating appear to be mainly large blades. Therefore, the production of short blades must be understood as a domestic debitage, as opposed to the production of large blades, which are involved in circulation networks. The fact that this large blades are exclusively recognized on a few producer sites, perhaps mean that those sites would control the best raw material deposits. The circulation is developed on the whole expansion area of the BQ/VSG culture excluding however the fringe of the South-West area. The tertiary Bartonian flint is clearly identified on the Blicquian sites localized nearly 200 km away from the outcrops. Specific distribution patterns towards these sites can be identified (Bostyn, 2008). Indeed, the BQ sites received initially preformed cores, as opposed to the VSG sites situated far from the sources which received blades. Accordingly, the arrival of mobile flint-knappers into the group of Blicquy (Belgium) may be considered. Moreover, the presence in the area of Hainaut of Ghlin flint debitage showing a level of expertise that is comparable to the one necessary for the production of large Bartonian blades (Cahen and Van Berg, 1979 ; Bostyn, 2008) implies that the circulation network at play do not meet a pressing need. Hence, the necessity to clarify the nature of the contacts that existed between the Blicquian and the VSG sphere. Keywords : Paris Basin, Early Neolithic, lithic industry, Bartonian flint, circulation networks
Historical processes leading to the demise of Neanderthals are still poorly understood. The lithic industries of the last Neanderthal populations provide insights into the technical traditions of these populations. A technological analysis of lithics from three Châtelperronian layers, preserved in sequence at the cave of Quinçay, allows for a determination of the origin and the significance of Châtelperronian technical system changes over a long time period. The method for blade production is characteristic. It consists of a unidirectional debitage of blades in sequence following a two-step rhythm on an angular flaking surface. Bladelet production is quite frequent and is carried out on prismatic bladelet cores with the retreat of the flaking surface oblique to the volume’s axis of symmetry. The goal of this bladelet production is similar to that of the Protoaurignacian, namely to obtain blanks for large Dufour bladelets. At Quinçay, the coherence of the lithic technical system from one layer to the next suggests little to no change through time. Thus, there is no evidence for a progressive evolution from the Châtelperronian to the Protoaurignacian. Alternatively, possible influences from the Protoaurignacian on the Châtelperronian must be considered. These two groups might have been in contact at places with a low degree of social intimacy, such as pathways, where only end-products were visible. In that case, the idea of projectiles and the concept of retouched bladelets could have diffused from one group to another.