Laure Dayet

International audienceThe “Chemin de l’Évangile 3” (CE3) site near Gron is located on an alluvial terrace on the left bank of the Yonne river, in the Paris Basin. Excavations carried out between 2001 and 2006, made it possible to identify two archaeological levels, the earliest occupation (level I) taking place during the Solutrean and the latest one (level P) during the Last Glacial Maximum.A horse tooth found in the sands that underlie level I provided a 14C age of ± 24500 cal. BP. The palaeosoil, which contained level P, was dated by three samples to 18-19000 BP, i.e. between 24161 and 21750 cal. BP. Level P is the subject of this article. It was excavated over an area encompassing 217 m2 corresponding to the total area preserved at the site.The outstanding preservation of the remains, which were rapidly covered by river deposits, make it possible to carry out a complete analysis of the activities that took place at the site and to understand its functioning. The site was occupied during a rather short period of time in late winter or early spring. The remains of six animals (three horses, two reindeers and one bovine animal) were scattered across the site and in parts served as fuel to feed three fireplaces located in the northern part of the site. The vestigial remains were arranged around two fireplaces located 2 m away which concentrated most of the activities related to the processing of game as well as numerous activities related to flint working. These remains included waste stemming from the resharpening of burins, which were widely used in this area for the scraping and cutting of bone or wood. This sector appears to have played a central role in the organisation of the site. It also provided evidence of the preparation of flint projectiles and their possible replacement on a bone shaft. Ochre was brought to the site, then processed by crushing and grinding and was most likely used to produce an adhesive for micro-points. Large blanks were produced at peripheral locations at the site where they were used as bladelet cores or transformed into tools.In the southern part of the site mainly bone remains (horse and reindeer) were preserved and this area may have been a waste zone. All the fossil shells, over 60 remains in a poor state of preservation, were recovered in this area of the site. Given that the remains mirror the structuring of space, the question arises as to a possible organisation of this space around shelters. Bioturbation partially altered the distribution of the remains but did not totally disrupt their spatial organisation. The alignment of some lithic remains suggests wall effects. The duration of an occupation and the contemporaneity of the activities that took place are concepts which are particularly difficult to understand for the Palaeolithic periods. This period of time could correspond to the season of slaughter, which corresponds in Gron to the end of the winter and the early spring. The composition of the fauna does not show a discontinuity in time and the occupation could therefore have existed for a rather short time.The functional analysis reveals the complexity of the activities carried out : hunting, butchery, working of fresh and dry skins, exploitation of hard animal materials, and crushing/grinding of ochre. The use of bones as fuel makes it rather unlikely that distinct portions of carcasses were exported from the site. The processing of dry skins, if these are the skins of animals brought back to the site, takes some time and involves an occupation of several days. CE3 may be described as a "residential camp" in the sense of L. Binford (Binford, 1980).The organisation of space according to activity areas is known from Magdalenian sites such as Étiolles, Pincevent, and Verberie in the Paris basin. As is the case in CE3, domestic activities as well as distinct knapping activities were concentrated around hearths and links could be established with the peripheral areas. In contrast, CE3 encompassed a smaller area and may have been closer to what is called a "residential unit" that could be identified in the Upper Magdalenian sites.The lithic industry recovered at Gron is original compared to the known industries of the Last Glacial Maximum. From a technical point of view, distinct characteristic features of the Badegoulien in northern France are either lacking or rare in Gron, in particular the production of short flakes, used as blanks for so called small sidescapers (“raclettes”). The same is true for the transversal burins specific to the Badegoulien of the northern half of France, which are also rare in Gron. Equally, the production of micro-points at Gron has no counterparts so far and therefore is an utterly singular characteristics of this industry. Despite these peculiarities, Gron is not totally isolated among the material cultures of the Last Glacial Maximum in Western Europe. Many assemblages do not contain backed bladelets (Bodu et al., 2007) and…

ABSTRACT Usually referred to in archaeological contexts simply as ‘ochre’, ferruginous rocks were commonly used during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in South Africa. While ochre use by early modern humans has often been interpreted as reflecting complex behaviours, related procurement strategies and selection criteria remain poorly documented. Eight ochre sources from the surroundings of Diepkloof rock shelter in South Africa and 28 ochre pieces from the site's MSA levels were studied by XRD, ICP–OES and ICP–MS. Mineralogical and geochemical data demonstrate that ochre was both locally procured and transported to the site from more distant sources. Here, we investigate the reasons underlying the choice of particular local and non-local ochre sources exploited at Diepkloof, emphasizing differences in their physico-chemical properties. Regardless of the motivations behind ochre selection, our data shed new light on the behavioural complexity of MSA societies and suggest that ochre procurement strategies may be independent of subsistence concerns.

A number of ochre pieces were found from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in southern Africa, leading to recent debates about the use of this material. The relevant question behind such a debate lies in the role of ochre in early modern human societies. Technical, socio-economical and symbolic aspects might be associated with ochre processing and use. Ochre pieces showing signs of use-wear found on MSA sites are the main witnesses of such activities. That is why our work has focused on the study of ochre pieces, especially on the issue of the raw material selection. The relevance of non-destructive methods in order to determine the mineralogical nature of ochre is discussed here. Scanning electron microscopyenergy- dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were used. Based on careful considerations of the association of different features, such as the elementary composition or the fabric, we showed that under certain conditions surface analyses are very ...

Paint technology, namely paint preparation and application procedures, is an important aspect of painting traditions. With the expansion of archaeometric studies and in situ non-destructive analytical methods, a renewal of technological studies is being observed in rock art. In situ analyses have several limitations that are widely discussed in the literature, however. It is not yet clear whether they provide accurate information on paint technology, except under certain conditions. Here, we evaluated digital microscopic and pXRF in situ analyses for the characterisation of a large set of red and yellow paintings from the El Castillo cave, Cantabria, Spain. We have set experiments and used statistical methods to identify differences between paint components and determine factors impacting pXRF measurements. We found that the compositional heterogeneity of the paintings’ environment, especially variations in secondary deposits, was responsible for most of the differences observed bet...

In southern Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. The Middle Stone Age sequence from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, on the West Coast of the region, preserves archaeological proxies that help unravelling the cultural processes at work. This unit yields one of the oldest abstract engraving so far discovered in Africa, in the form of a rhomboid marking on the cortical surface of an ungulate long bone shaft. The comprehensive analysis of the lithic artefacts and ochre pieces found in association with the engraved bone documents the transport of rocks over long distance (>20km), the heat treatment of silcrete, the coexistence of seven lithic reduction strategies (including the production of bladelets and the manufacture of unifacial and bifacial points), the use of adhesives an...

Abstract The red disks from El Castillo Cave are among the earliest known cave paintings. Here, we combine the morphometric and technological study of red disks from two areas located at the end of the cave with the microscopic, elemental, and mineralogical analysis of the pigment and compare the results obtained with observations derived from experimental replication. Ergonomic constraints imply that a number of disks were made by adults, and the differences in pigment texture and composition suggest that they correspond to an accumulation through time of panels made by different persons who shared neither the same technical know-how nor, very possibly, the same symbolic system.

In this paper, we introduce a recently initiated research project conducted at Bushman Rock Shelter, on the northeastern edge of the Highveld plateau in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Previous excavations carried out at the site during the 1960s and 1970s exposed a deep and well-stratified sequence of c. 7 metres of archaeological deposits associated with Later and Middle Stone Age occupations (LSA and MSA). Owing to the lack of contextual information, Bushman Rock Shelter remains poorly studied despite recording cultural and palaeoenvironmental data that are key for the understanding of the South African Stone Age. Here, we propose a synthesis of the 1967–1976 excavations led by Hannes Eloff and provide general background information that will serve as a reference for future research. Our synthesis is based on previous publications by Ina Plug, as well as on Eloff ’s field diaries, which were thought to be lost. We complement these observations with data from our own 2014 field se...

En Afrique Australe, plusieurs sites attribues au Middle Stone Age (MSA) ont livre de grandes quantites de blocs " d'ocre ", suggerant une longue tradition d'exploitation, bien avant l'occurrence des premieres peintures rupestres. Les indices sur la fonction de ce materiau et le but pour lequel il a ete utilise sont rares, ce qui a conduit a plusieurs hypotheses. Certains auteurs leur ont associe des comportements symboliques tandis que d'autres ont montre qu'une utilisation " utilitaire " etait possible. La question de la fonction et du role qu'occupait l'ocre est par ailleurs centrale dans le contexte du MSA, etant donnee l'emergence de plusieurs innovations, production de perles, de motifs graves et technologies de taille specifiques. Le site de Diepkloof Rock Shelter apparait particulierement propice pour tenter de comprendre les comportements associes a l'exploitation de l'ocre, du fait de sa longue sequence fouillee r...

Gruta do Caldeirão features a c. 6 m-thick archaeological stratification capped by Holocene layers ABC-D and Ea, which overlie layer Eb, a deposit of Magdalenian age that underwent significant disturbance, intrusion, and component mixing caused by funerary use of the cave during the Early Neolithic. Here, we provide an updated overview of the stratigraphy and archaeological content of the underlying Pleistocene succession, whose chronology we refine using radiocarbon and single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating. We find a high degree of stratigraphic integrity. Dating anomalies exist in association with the succession’s two major discontinuities: between layer Eb and Upper Solutrean layer Fa, and between Early Upper Palaeolithic layer K and Middle Palaeolithic layer L. Mostly, the anomalies consist of older-than-expected radiocarbon ages and can be explained by bioturbation and palimpsest-forming sedimentation hiatuses. Combined with palaeoenvironmental inferences deriv...

Naturally occurring and deeply coloured iron-bearing materials were exploited very early on by human populations. The characterization of these materials has proven useful for addressing several archaeological issues, such as the study of technical behaviors, group mobility, and the reconstruction of cultural dynamics. However, this work poses some critical methodological questions. In this paper, we will review ochre studies by focusing on the analytical methods employed, the limits of non-invasive methods, as well as examples of some quality research addressing specific issues (raw material selection and provenience, heat treatment). We will then present a methodological approach that aims to identify the instrumental limits and the post-depositional alterations that significantly impact the results of the non-invasive analysis of cohesive ochre fragments from Diepkloof rock Shelter, South Africa. We used ochre materials recuperated in both archaeological and geological contexts, ...

In southern Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. The Middle Stone Age sequence from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, on the West Coast of the region, preserves archaeological proxies that help unravelling the cultural processes at work. This unit yields one of the oldest abstract engraving so far discovered in Africa, in the form of a rhomboid marking on the cortical surface of an ungulate long bone shaft. The comprehensive analysis of the lithic artefacts and ochre pieces found in association with the engraved bone documents the transport of rocks over long distance (>20km), the heat treatment of silcrete, the coexistence of seven lithic reduction strategies (including the production of bladelets and the manufacture of unifacial and bifacial points), the use of adhesives an...

Neanderthal material culture patterning in Western Europe has been primarily approached from retouched stone tools and associated flake production methods. While considerable effort has been devoted over the past decade to better characterize Middle Palaeolithic lithic techno-complexes (LTCs) in this region, the extent to which they reflect cultural groups still remains unclear. In this respect, integrating other forms of archaeological evidence could provide valuable insights on the cultural significance of late Middle Palaeolithic industrial variability. The site of Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) has yielded consistent evidence of mineral pigment use throughout the upper part of the sequence. Here we explore whether mineral pigments might be embedded with an indexical meaning and if changes in pigment exploitation potentially reflect cultural changes. We combined a microscopic use-wear approach with SEM-EDS, pXRF, and XRD analyses of 73 pigment fragments from layers 26 to 11 in order to reconstruct the different stages of their acquisition and use (provenance, selection, processing, function). Our results show manganese oxides to have been used in the lower layers of the Quina LTC, while red and/or yellow iron oxide pieces were employed during the Discoid and Discoid/Levallois LTCs. This decrease in manganese oxide use correlates with a change in lithic technology and may represent some form of cultural change.

and depictive representations produced by drawing-known from Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia after 40,000 years ago-are a prime indicator of modern cognition and behaviour. Here we report a cross-hatched pattern drawn with an ochre crayon on a ground silcrete flake recovered from approximately 73,000-year-old Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Our microscopic and chemical analyses of the pattern confirm that red ochre pigment was intentionally applied to the flake with an ochre crayon. The object comes from a level associated with stone tools of the Still Bay techno-complex that has previously yielded shell beads, cross-hatched engravings on ochre pieces and a variety of innovative technologies. This notable discovery pre-dates the earliest previously known abstract and figurative drawings by at least 30,000 years. This drawing demonstrates the ability of early Homo sapiens in southern Africa to produce graphic designs on various media using different techniques.

Beads and pigments represent compelling evidence that humans decorated their bodies and used them to convey complex social messages. While the manufacturing process of ostrich eggshell and marine shell beads is firmly established, their common association with pigment residues still remains poorly understood. Here, we focus on various types of beads from the early Holocene of Bushman Rock Shelter (Limpopo, South Africa), namely ostrich eggshell, giant land snail (Achatina sp.) shell and marine shell (Nassarius kraussianus) beads. We propose a new approach combining a technological and use-wear study of the beads with chemical analyses (SEM-EDS and Raman analyses) of the coloured residues they bear. Together with the discovery of marine beads, of particular interest since they originate more than 240 km away from the site, our detailed study of the beads and associated pigment residues demonstrates a complex system of ornamental representation. We identified a minimum of two types of red compound 'recipes', with evidence that one was employed as adhesive while the other one might be consistent with the production of a pigment. Non-local minerals were recognised in adhesive recipes, namely chromite and ilmenite in one case, and graphite in the other. We further discuss ornamental traditions, their social implications and their increasing importance at the onset of the Holocene in southern Africa.

The red disks from El Castillo Cave are among the earliest known cave paintings. Here, we combine the morphometric and technological study of red disks from two areas located at the end of the cave with the microscopic, elemental, and mineralogical analysis of the pigment and compare the results obtained with observations derived from experimental replication. Ergonomic constraints imply that a number of disks were made by adults, and the differences in pigment texture and composition suggest that they correspond to an accumulation through time of panels made by different persons who shared neither the same technical know-how nor, very possibly, the same symbolic system.

Archaeological indicators of cognitively modern behaviour become increasingly prevalent during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). Although the exploitation of ochre is viewed as a key feature of the emergence of modern human behaviour, the uses to which ochre and ochre-based mixtures were put remain ambiguous. Here we present the results of an experimental study exploring the efficacy of ochre as a topical photoprotective compound. This is achieved through the in vivo calculation of the sun protection factor (SPF) values of ochre samples obtained from Ovahimba women (Kunene Region, Northern Namibia) and the Palaeozoic Bokkeveld Group deposits of the Cape Supergroup (Western Cape Province, South Africa). We employ visible spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and granulometric analyses to characterise ochre samples. The capacity of ochre to inhibit the susceptibility of humans to the harmful effects of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is confirmed and the mechanisms implicated in the efficacy of ochre as a sunscreen identified. It is posited that the habitual application of ochre may have represented a crucial innovation for MSA humans by limiting the adverse effects of ultraviolet exposure. This may have facilitated the colonisation of geographic regions largely unfavourable to the constitutive skin colour of newly arriving populations.

Abstract: Procurement strategies and use of ochre during the Middle Stone Age in South Africa. Although no paintings has been recovered yet before the end of the Middle Stone Age, hundreds of ochre pieces were discovered on numerous southern African sites suggesting a lasting tradition of ochre use from at least 160 ky. What was the purpose of such use remains however uncertain: while uses involving symbolic behaviors are often assumed, archaeological and ethnographic evidence suggests that it could also have utilitarian functions. In this work the raw material selection criteria have been investigated by studying the raw and processed pieces found in archaeological deposits which represent the best preserved remains of past activities involved in ochre exploitation. The site of Diepkloof Rock Shelter offers a unique opportunity to discuss this issue over a long recently excavated MSA sequence. Our study is based on an original methodology involving macroscopic observations on one h...