{"id":2724,"date":"2024-04-05T12:36:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T10:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kernsverlag.com\/the-middle-paleolithic-of-the-cote-chalonnaise-chronology-technology-and-palethnological-elements\/"},"modified":"2024-08-19T20:26:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T18:26:58","slug":"the-middle-paleolithic-of-the-cote-chalonnaise-chronology-technology-and-palethnological-elements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kernsverlag.com\/de\/the-middle-paleolithic-of-the-cote-chalonnaise-chronology-technology-and-palethnological-elements\/","title":{"rendered":"The Middle Paleolithic of the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise: Chronology, Technology and Palethnological Elements"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nKlaus Herkert1,3<\/sup>, Ria Litzenberg1,2,3<\/sup>, Christian Thomas Hoyer1,2<\/sup>, Jens Axel Frick1,2<\/sup>, Harald Floss1,2,3<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/sup> Institute for Pre- and Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology, Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of T\u00fcbingen, Germany
\n2<\/sup> Projet collectif de recherche (PCR) \u201cLe Pal\u00e9olithique sup\u00e9rieur ancien en Bourgogne m\u00e9ridionale\u201d associated with UMR 6298 ARTeHIS at the Universit\u00e9 de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
\n3<\/sup> DFG CRC 1070 \u201cRessourcenKulturen\u201d B01, University of T\u00fcbingen, Germany<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Zusammenfassung<\/h2>\n

Dieser Beitrag untersucht das technologische und allgemeine Erscheinungsbild der mittelpal\u00e4olithischen Inventare aus mehreren Fundstellen im Gebiet der C\u00f4te Chalonnaise, Burgund, Frankreich. Ausgehend von mehreren charakteristischen Merkmalen innerhalb des stratifizierten Materials der Grotte de la Verpilli\u00e8re II (Germolles), konnten die aktuellen Forschungen kongruente technologische Muster f\u00fcr eine Reihe der umliegenden Fundstellen nachweisen.<\/p>\n

Die wichtigsten gemeinsamen Merkmale sind das Vorhandensein von Keilmessern, mit und ohne Schneidenschlag, sowie einheitliche Produktionsstrategien, die auf dem Levallois-Konzept basieren.<\/p>\n

Damit liefert die vorliegende Arbeit erste Anhaltspunkte f\u00fcr ein zusammenh\u00e4ngendes Fundstellencluster in der Region. Erste Datierungsergebnisse deuten auf einen chronologischen Kontext im sp\u00e4ten Mittelpal\u00e4olithikum hin.<\/p>\n

Die r\u00e4umliche Verteilung der Fundstellen und die Zusammensetzung der jeweiligen Inventare erlaubt es, eine erste Hypothese zur funktionalen Organisation zwischen den Fundstellen aufzustellen. Dar\u00fcber hinaus liefern k\u00fcrzlich durchgef\u00fchrte Feldforschungen und anschlie\u00dfende Analysen Belege f\u00fcr eine fundplatzspezifische Organisation, die den mikroregionalen \u00dcberblick \u00fcber das sp\u00e4te Mittelpal\u00e4olithikum im Zusammenspiel von Technologie, Chronologie und R\u00e4umlichkeit vervollst\u00e4ndigen.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Southern Burgundy has a long history of Paleolithic research, starting at the very beginning of archaeological research itself in the 1860s with sites such as Grotte de la Verpilli\u00e8re I, Grotte de la M\u00e8re Grand or Solutr\u00e9 (e.g., Combier 1959; Ferry and Arcelin 1868; M\u00e9ray 1869, 1876; Mortillet 1883). Over the decades, the region has also revealed a very dense Paleolithic occupation record, especially for Middle Paleolithic sites (Fig. 1) which constitute 42% of the known Paleolithic sites (Pautrat 2016). This is true for the wider Sa\u00f4ne-et-Loire Department as well as for the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise (Fig. 1).<\/p>\n

\"Distribution<\/a>
Fig. 1: Distribution of Middle Paleolithic sites. Above: Sa\u00f4ne-et-Loire department with sites attributed to the Middle Paleolithic. The frame highlights the research area in the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise. (Map and Data: carte arch\u00e9ologique, SRA Bourgogne). Below: C\u00f4te Chalonnaise research area. Yellow stars indicate Middle Paleolithic sites mentioned in the text. From north to south, these are: Grotte de la M\u00e8re Grand – Rully, Les Griffi\u00e8res – Fontaines, La Roche – Saint-Martin-sous-Montaigu, Saint-Sulpice – Germolles, En Roche – Germolles, Grottes de la Vepilli\u00e8re I&II – Germolles, Grotte des Teux Blancs – Saint-Denis-de-Vaux, La Cl\u00f4sure – Bissy-sur-Fley, La Rue Cataux – Chen\u00f4ves and Grotte de la Folati\u00e8re – Culles-les-Roches. Turquoise stars indicate Middle Paleolithic sites reported to the SRA Bourgogne. For raw material availability in the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise, dashed areas indicate deposits of argiles-\u00e0-silex (i.e., clays-with-flints), diamond symbols show the availability of various chert varieties (blue, turquoise and green), quartz (light blue) and distinct find spots of flint (violet). (Data: carte arch\u00e9ologique, SRA Bourgogne; DEM: IGN France; Raw material data: Siegeris; Map and mapping: Hoyer).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The topography of the region, featuring narrow corridors between the Jurassic cliffs (Burgundian cuesta) that allow passage from the Sa\u00f4ne Valley in the east to the elevated hinterland in the west, might be one reason for the dense occupation of the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise (Herkert et al. 2015; Hoyer et al. 2014a). Furthermore, there is abundant lithic raw material available in close proximity to the sites (Fig. 1). The dominant siliceous material is flint from the argiles \u00e0 silex<\/span> (FAS; clays-with-flint), which varies greatly in quality, and various varieties of Jurassic chert (chaille bathonienne<\/span> and chaille bajocienne<\/span>, CB), which are generally more coarse-grained than the flint. Quartz, quartzite and granite are also available in primary positions, as gravels on terraces or in riverbeds (Floss 2005b; Herkert et al. 2015, 2016b; Siegeris 2014, 2020; Siegeris and Floss 2015).<\/p>\n

Starting with the recent fieldwork carried out at Grotte de la Verpilli\u00e8re I and II in 2006 (Floss 2007, 2008, 2009a, 2009c; Floss et al. 2013a, 2013b, 2014, 2016, 2017; Frick 2014b, 2017; Frick and Steigerwald 2016a, 2016b; Hoyer et al. 2014b), research has been expanded to include a multitude of other sites in the region; these consist of cave sites, rockshelters and open-air sites (Table 1 and Fig. 1).<\/p>\n

All of the sites have yielded lithic artifacts attributable to the Middle Paleolithic, but the assemblages derive either from older excavations or from surface collections. In order to widen the focus, and to enable comparative studies, the various collections have been re-examined (Dutkiewicz 2011; Frick 2010; Herkert 2016, 2017; Herkert et al. 2016a, 2015; Macioszczyk and Donguy 2014; Sikner 2014) and some of this work is still ongoing (see Herkert and Frick 2020). Over the course of more than 150 years of research, which has been primarily based on typological criteria, the various assemblages in question have been interpreted quite differently and thus have been attributed to various classic Middle Paleolithic techno-complexes or facies (cf. Frick 2014a; Herkert and Frick 2020). To cite but a few examples, the material from Grotte de la M\u00e8re Grand in Rully has been identified as Micoquien final<\/span> (Combier and Ayroles 1976), La Roche at Saint-Martin-sous-Montaigu as Moust\u00e9rien type Quina<\/span> (Combier and Ayroles 1976) or as Moust\u00e9rien groupe Quina rhodanien<\/span> (Pouliquen 1983), and Saint Sulpice at Germolles as Moust\u00e9rien typique de faci\u00e8s levalloisien<\/span> (Colb\u00e8re 1979). The assemblage from Grotte de la Verpilli\u00e8re I has been ascribed to a Moust\u00e9rien de tradition acheul\u00e9nne<\/span> (Combier and Ayroles 1976; Desbrosse et al. 1976) and that from La Closure at Bissy-sur-Fley to a Charentien de type Ferrassie<\/span> (Desbrosse and Texier 1973; Parriat 1956).<\/p>\n

This diversity in attribution suggests a panoply of different Middle Paleolithic groups. However, as we will see, these different industries have much more in common than the given attributions might suggest. With this contribution, we are beginning to fill in the gaps in comparative analysis in the region, a lacuna that was already criticized 35 years ago: \u201cMalheureusement, pour l\u2019instant, le manque de travaux r\u00e9gionaux dans cette partie de la Bourgogne nous prive de r\u00e9f\u00e9rences sur les traits g\u00e9n\u00e9raux et particuliers des faci\u00e8s en pr\u00e9sence, avec leurs \u00e9ventuelles ramifications g\u00e9ographiques<\/q>\u201d (Pouliquen 1983: 206).<\/p>\n

\"table<\/a>
Table 1: Relevant Sites in the C\u00f4te Chalonnaise mentioned in the text. Research history and literature are only outlined and not exhaustive (see also: Herkert 2020 or Herkert et al. 2015).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Characteristics of Middle Paleolithic Assemblages<\/h2>\n

Raw materials used<\/h3>\n

With regard to the economic aspects of raw material supply and use strategy, we note that local flint predominates in all Middle Paleolithic assemblages. However, a significant amount of chert is always present (Fig. 2). For example, as regards artifacts from the recently excavated layer GH 3 of Verpilli\u00e8re II, 74% are made of flint from the argiles \u00e0 silex<\/span> while only 2% are of chert. In comparison, 85% of the artifacts from the open-air site of La Roche in Saint-Martin-sous-Montaigu are made of flint and 12% are made of chert. The highest proportion of chert recognized thus far comes from Grotte de la M\u00e8re Grand in Rully, which contains 32% chert artifacts compared to 67% flint artifacts when all pieces are taken into account; indeed, if only the strictly Middle Paleolithic pieces (n=145) are considered, chert use actually increases to 41%. All in all, an average of around 80% of the Middle Paleolithic artifacts are made of locally available flint, and raw material provisioning relies almost exclusively on local or regional sources within a maximum range of 25 km (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, certain specific pieces also suggest long distance imports to the sites. For example, at Verpilli\u00e8re II, at least four pieces can be attributed to raw material sources in the Mont-l\u00e8s-Etrelles region (Floss 2008, 2009a, 2009b) situated about 110 km to the north-east in the direction of south-western Germany and within the traditional range of the Keilmessergruppen<\/span> (Frick 2016a).<\/p>\n

\"Raw<\/a>
Fig. 2: Raw material used (percentage values) within the assemblages of Verpilli\u00e8re I, Verpilli\u00e8re II, En Roche, La Roche and La M\u00e8re Grand. Data for VPI: Dutkiewicz (2011); Data for VPII: Frick (2016a).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Assemblage characteristics<\/h3>\n

In the detailed analysis of recently excavated Late Middle Paleolithic stratified assemblages from Verpilli\u00e8re II at Germolles (e.g., Frick and Floss 2015), Frick (2016a: 657\u201358) concludes with a list of technological and general features that characterize the studied material:<\/p>\n