New data on the dolines of Velebit Mountain: An evaluation of their sedimentary archive potential in the reconstruction of landscape evolution

The first approach to the relationships between societies and physical environments on Velebit Mountain shows narrow correlations between spatial distribution of dolines, soil formation, hydric resources, vegetation and land occupation. In 2002, sediment cores have been obtained from different dolines of Velebit Mountain to evaluate the potential of their sedimentary archives in order to reconstruct the landscape history. On the littoral slopes and on the top parts of the mountain, the dolines were difficult to dig due to the presence of rocks in depth. Nevertheless, the cores have been sampled and soil analyses have been made (physical and chemical analyses: colour, grain size, pH, CaCO3, C, N, P, K, Mg, CEC). No dating materials were found. The first results attest to rather homogeneous pedologic processes in each area studied (Kamenica, Stinica, Baške Oštarije and Bilensko Mirevo), but they also indicate colluvial contributions. These contributions differ from one doline to another according to their location and morphology. Dolines reveal themselves to be not very good traps, as the representative nature of their sedimentary archives could be very local. However, the best profile has been obtained at Bilensko Mirevo, which shows a change in the soil nutrient content from an impoverishment in its middle part toward an increase of the soil nutrients in recent parts. Those environmental changes could not be precisely dated, but could be correlated with the 17th to 20th century phase of strong human impact on the Velebit environment and with the rural depopulation observed since the second half of the 20th century.Keywords: karst, dolines, Mediterranean soils, Velebit Mountain,Dinarides, Croatia

Études paléopaysagères sur le plateau des Dômes à l'Holocène récent : Montchâtre (Orcines) et puy des Gouttes (Saint-Ours-les-Roches)

Identifiant de l'opération archéologique : 125 Date de l'opération : 2006 (PT) En 2006, l’équipe du programme d’étude du plateau des Dômes a finalisé la méthode de modélisation des paysages passés, sur laquelle elle travaille depuis 2004 dans le secteur de « Montchâtre » (commune d’Orcines) (BSR 2005, p. 130 ; voir également BSR 2002, p. 129-130 ; BSR 2003, p. 116-117). Une dizaine de restitutions 3D retrace l’histoire de ce bassin versant depuis le second âge du Fer et un film a également ét..

Environmental Changes and Evolution of Settlement in the Limagne of Clermont-Ferrand (Massif Central, France)

This paper presents a geomorphological work realised in an interdisciplinary CNRS programme called Zone Atelier. Its purpose is to analyse the relationships between the hydrological constraint in its complexity and the evolution of settlement between the First Iron Age and Early Middle Ages in the swamp of Limagne (French Massif Central). This paleoenvironmental research has combined the results of geomorphological and paleohydrological studies with the data on land use collected by archaeologists. On the one hand, the geomorphological study has shown the evolution of humidity in space and time. The apparent homogeneity of the topography in the Limagne swamp, with a very even plain, actually disguises a mosaic of territories. Moreover, this humidity was linked to climatic variations, anthropogenic impacts and the possible subsidence of the plain. On the other hand, systematic fieldwalking conducted these last few years have revealed a density of population contradicting the idea of a marshland inhospitable to settlers in the protohistoric period and in Antiquity. The spatialisation of both geomorphological and archaeological data reveals the link between the evolution of the damp areas, forms and densities of settlement, and economic use of these territories

Clermont-Ferrand – 2 rue Teilhard-de-Chardin

Identifiant de l'opération archéologique : 2006/234 et 2007/249 Date de l'opération : 2007 (EX) L’opération de diagnostic archéologique a été menée préalablement à la construction d’un immeuble au numéro 2 de la rue Teilhard de Chardin à Clermont-Ferrand. L’intervention prend place en périphérie sud-est de l’agglomération gallo-romaine d’Augustonemetum, capitale de la cité des Arvernes. La parcelle concernée est cadastrée HS 147. L’emprise du projet, de 558 m2 , a été sondée au moyen de deu..

Biostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the Middle Palaeolithic and Chatelperronian occupations of La Tour Fondue site in Chauriat (Puy-de-Dôme, France)

This article presents results of the excavations carried out in 2004 on part of the rock shelter of La Tour Fondue at Chauriat (fig. 1). The aim of this intervention was to specify the chronological and stratigraphic position of the human settlements, to characterize them at a cultural level and to establish the local palaeoenvironment. The sedimentary deposits were more than 3.20 m deep (fig. 5 to 7). They yielded a large quantity of micromammals associated with macrofauna. Studying these provided a bioclimatic and palaeoenvironmental framework that can be divided into five stages, starting at the end of Isotope Stage 5 and ending between Isotope Stages 3 and 2. The Middle Palaeolithic human occupations found in the upper levels occurred during a temperate episode with a cold tendency in Isotope Stage 5 (“Chauriat 1” Stage) and lasted until the “Chauriat 4” Stage at the end of Isotope Stage 3. For their lithic industries, Middle Palaeolithic people used tertiary flints found next to the shelter without considering their quality. These materials were used to obtain flakes in Levallois and discoid production modes. The upper levels contain Chatelperronian and unspecified Upper Palaeolithic occupations. The Chatelperronian took place in a climate correlated with an interstadial at the limit between Stages 3 and 2 (“Chauriat 5” Stage). Chatelperronian people were different than their predecessors in favouring better quality raw materials, found about twenty kilometres from the site. The industries of the upper levels aimed at producing straight and short blades blanks knapped with a soft stone hammer for the Chatelperronians, and long and curved blades blanks knapped with a soft organic hammer for the last occupiers of the shelter

Evolution environnementale d’une zone humide et de son bassin versant depuis la fin de l’âge du fer : Le maar de Montchâtre (Massif Central, France)

Cet article présente l’étude interdisciplinaire des archives sédimentaires de la zone humide de Montchâtre située sur le Plateau des Dômes. Cet ancien maar se trouve au cœur d’un bassin versant attractif, bien exposé et qui offre des ressources en eau. Les données physico-chimiques (granulométrie, C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, N-NO3 et N-NH4) et paléoécologiques (pollens et autres micro-fossiles, bryophytes) obtenues sur la plus longue carotte extraite de la zone humide (MCH3 : 550 cm) montrent une pression humaine importante dès la fin de l’âge du Fer, qui s’intensifie à la fin de l’Antiquité romaine et atteint un maximum à la fin du Moyen Âge et à l’époque moderne. A l’échelle locale, il en résulte une forte mobilité paysagère de la zone humide sous l’effet de l’accélération des processus d’érosion dans le bassin versant et de la gestion des ressources en eau par les sociétés locales. A l’échelle régionale, le ruissellement à Montchâtre alimente le bassin versant du Bédat, lui-même affluent de la rivière Allier. Après les IVe-Ve siècles, l’accélération de l’érosion sur cette partie du Plateau des Dômes contribue aux déséquilibres hydrologiques enregistrés à l’aval dans la plaine de Limagne

Biostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the Middle Palaeolithic and Chatelperronian occupations of La Tour Fondue site in Chauriat (Puy-de-Dôme, France)

This article presents results of the excavations carried out in 2004 on part of the rock shelter of La Tour Fondue at Chauriat (fig. 1). The aim of this intervention was to specify the chronological and stratigraphic position of the human settlements, to characterize them at a cultural level and to establish the local palaeoenvironment. The sedimentary deposits were more than 3.20 m deep (fig. 5 to 7). They yielded a large quantity of micromammals associated with macrofauna. Studying these provided a bioclimatic and palaeoenvironmental framework that can be divided into five stages, starting at the end of Isotope Stage 5 and ending between Isotope Stages 3 and 2. The Middle Palaeolithic human occupations found in the upper levels occurred during a temperate episode with a cold tendency in Isotope Stage 5 (“Chauriat 1” Stage) and lasted until the “Chauriat 4” Stage at the end of Isotope Stage 3. For their lithic industries, Middle Palaeolithic people used tertiary flints found next to the shelter without considering their quality. These materials were used to obtain flakes in Levallois and discoid production modes. The upper levels contain Chatelperronian and unspecified Upper Palaeolithic occupations. The Chatelperronian took place in a climate correlated with an interstadial at the limit between Stages 3 and 2 (“Chauriat 5” Stage). Chatelperronian people were different than their predecessors in favouring better quality raw materials, found about twenty kilometres from the site. The industries of the upper levels aimed at producing straight and short blades blanks knapped with a soft stone hammer for the Chatelperronians, and long and curved blades blanks knapped with a soft organic hammer for the last occupiers of the shelter

Evolution géomorphologique et hydrologique dans les marais de Limagne au cours de la seconde moitié de l'Holocène (Massif Central, France)

International audienceIn the plain of the Grande Limagne of Clermont-Fd (french Massif central), the multitude of archaeological and historical studies, as well as the numerous sedimentological records, offers favourable conditions to study the relations between man and natural environment during Holocene. The influence of anthropisation on soils erosion and on relations between man - humid environment is largely focussed since 1960 (Gachon, 1963). It was particularly examined by J-P. Daugas and L. Tixier (1977, 1978). The recent construction of the motorway A710, through the lower points of the plain, was an occasion to explain geomorphological and hydrological evolution. Since Neolithic, the important anthropic pressure progressively perturbed natural environment. Since the end of Iron age or the beginning of roman period, erosion was observed on every slopes and hillsides. But colluvium only arrived in bed river at the end of Antiquity. Since this moment, a threshold was crossed. Processes and constraints are durably modified in Limagne swamps by the effects of soils occupation. Water table level was always high, stream overflow now covered fields with water and mud after each violent storm. Only rhythms and processes intensity give data on climatic, social and economic evolution

Evolution géomorphologique et hydrologique dans les marais de Limagne au cours de la seconde moitié de l'Holocène (Massif central, France) / Geomorphological and hydrological evolution in the Limagne swamps during the second part of the Holocene (Massif central, France).

In the plain of the Grande Limagne of Clermont-Fd (french Massif central), the multitude of archaeological and historical studies, as well as the numerous sedimentological records, offers favourable conditions to study the relations between man and natural environment during Holocene. The influence of anthropisation on soils erosion and on relations between man - humid environment is largely focussed since 1960 (Gachon, 1963). It was particularly examined by J.-P. Daugas and L. Tixier (1977). The recent construction of the motorway A710, through the lower points of the plain, was an occasion to explain geomorphological and hydrological evolution. Since Neolithic, the important anthropic pressure progressively perturbed natural environment. Since the end of Iron age or the beginning of roman period, erosion was observed on every slopes and hillsides. But colluvium only arrived in bed river at the end of Antiquity. Since this moment, a threshold was crossed. Processes and constraints are durably modified in Limagne swamps by the effects of soils occupation. Water table level was always high, stream overflow now covered fields with water and mud after each violent storm. Only rhythms and processes intensity give data on climatic, social and economic evolution.Grâce à de multiples études archéologiques et historiques et à l'importance de ses archives sédimentaires, la plaine de la Grande Limagne de Clermont-Ferrand (Massif central) offre des conditions favorables à l'étude des relations entre l'homme et le milieu naturel durant l'Holocène. L'influence de l'anthropisation sur l'érosion des sols et les liens existant entre l'homme et les zones humides, nombreuses dans la plaine, sont au cœur des problématiques paléoenvironnementales depuis les années 1960 (Gachon, 1963) et ont été particulièrement développés par les travaux de J.-P. Daugas et L. Tixier (1977). Récemment, la construction d'une bretelle autoroutière (A710) dans les points les plus bas de la plaine fut l'occasion de préciser l'évolution géomorphologique et hydrologique de deux bassins versants limagnais de rang inféneur, ceux des ruisseaux des Guelles (48 km2) et des Ronzières (33 km2). S'il est connu que l'érosion des versants de la région s'est emballée depuis le tournant de notre ère (Gachon, 1963), l'impact de la morphogenèse sur le système hydrologique et sur le drainage des zones humides n'avait jamais été mesuré. Or, l'accélération et l'extension de l'érosion à presque tous les versants depuis le début de la période gallo-romaine, voire peut-être dès la fin de La Tène, est enregistrée par le système fluvial à la fin de l'Antiquité. L'accroissement des débits solides crée des débordements récurrents dans les vallées et les marais limagnais, qui se sont poursuivis jusqu'au XXème siècle avec une intensité variable, plus particulièrement notable au cours du haut Moyen-Age et surtout de l'époque moderne.Ballut Christèle. Evolution géomorphologique et hydrologique dans les marais de Limagne au cours de la seconde moitié de l'Holocène (Massif central, France) / Geomorphological and hydrological evolution in the Limagne swamps during the second part of the Holocene (Massif central, France).. In: Quaternaire, vol. 12, n°1-2, 2001. Paléoenvironnements holocènes et géoarchéologie. pp. 43-51