Holocene landscape and human modesof occupation in the Kura Valley (Azerbaijan)

International audienceGoy Tepe, 291 where they are dated to the Neolithic. This similarity between the two periods contributes to the discussion on the heritage of Neolithic populations to Chalcolithic ones in our area. The main raw material used is bone. Quite often people extracted this material from domesticated animals (ovi-caprines) at hand, but large ruminants , wild or domesticated, were also used. The selections, probably oriented by technical advantages , are quite systematic: metapods of small ruminants for awls, scapulae of big mammals for shovels. The main characteristics of the tools demonstrate a will to produce in a quick but efficient way: quite often tools are made on plain bones only lightly shaped, while rapid techniques are frequently used (percussion, abrasion). Part of the blanks obtained by percussion are probably the result of a proper, well controlled débitage: the blanks are fairly long and regular. We cannot exclude that others, with more random shapes, were collected from kitchen wastes. As has been observed on grinding materials 292 and in several areas of the site, ochre is quite often attested on bone tools. It would be useful to analyse this red material found on stones and bones and to determine, through a joint study by specialists, its possible uses and the links between two industries. Similarly, the discovery of bone shovels that were possibly used to work the earth needs further cross studies and experimentations. Part IV: Studies concerning the three areas of the Middle Kura Valley Bertille Lyonnet and Barbara Helwing With this section of our work we enter into the studies dealing with the three geographic areas of the Middle Kura Valley. In this part of the project, our specialists study and compare the material culture, or the landscape and geomorphology of the three places in order to detect differences and similarities and the chronological development. This phase of our research is just at its very beginning, and most of the time it was possible to work on only two areas and not yet on all the collections. Nevertheless , the project gives a hint at the potential of such studies, which will aid in a better determination of the local cultures, of their local development, and of their relations between themselves and/or with other regions further away. We will first present the results concerning the general landscape and environmental conditions, and then comparative studies on the material culture

Datations radiométriques de l'extinction des grandes faunes pléistocènes au Pérou.

International audienceThe discovery in northern Peru of fossil deposits belonging to large mammals allows the dating of the extinction of this fauna. The method based on desequilibrium within the uranium family (230Th/234U) was used. The extinction occurred at the end of the Pleistocene (15-16 Kyrs Cal BP) and is contemporaneous with the beginning of the deglaciation. Moreover, this dating, compared with the results of excavations of palaeo-indian "Paijan" sites, indicates that human groups in Peru did not play a significant role in the extinction of this large fauna.Les restes osseux découverts dans les gisements paléontologiques à grands mammifères du Pérou ont pu être datés par la méthode fondée sur les déséquilibres de la famille de l'uranium (230Th-234U). L'extinction de cette grande faune coïncide avec la fin du Pléistocène et le début de la déglaciation (15-16 Ka Cal BP). La chronologie et les fouilles menées dans les gisements paijaniens montrent que les groupes humains préhistoriques au Pérou ne semblent pas avoir joué un rôle significatif dans cette extinction qui semble être la conséquence de changements climatiques importants dans cette région

Contrasted morphosedimentary activity of the lower Kert River (northeastern Morocco) during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. Possible impact of bioclimatic variations and human action

International audienceFrom field observations in the lower Kert valley and 16 radiocarbon dating measurements, six alluvial units (UF1 to UF6) deposited since about 30,000 years BP have been identified, comprising 18 lithofacies and separated by six incision stages resulting in three alluvial terraces (T1 to T3). While the Late Pleistocene is mainly marked by sedimentary accretion (UF1 forming part of T1), the Holocene is marked by the alternation of major incision (I2, I3 and I4) and accretion (UF2 and UF3) stages, with roughly similar height ranges, between the current river level and polyphased T1 surface. During the Lower and Middle Holocene, this complex morphosedimentary evolution could have been the result of contrasted bioclimatic trends that did not appear during the Late Pleistocene. Human activities modified the earth surface conditions, intermittently during the Middle Holocene, and during the Upper Holocene, inducing new responses from the fluvial geosystem to the environment

Etude Archeothanatologique De La Sepulture Protohistorique Du Monument Funeraire Mbii (Boulmane, Moyen Atlas, Maroc)

The Moudmane Boulama site is a funeral structure located at 10 km South West of the city of Boulmane (Middle Atlas). It is a necropolis made of approximately twenty tumuli implanted on a hill. The MBII funeral monument is a tumulus built on the top of this hill, which culminates at 1970 m. It is an oval formation made of stack of stones and blocks. The funeral space is delimited in its West part by a low wall made of a sharpened stone alignment. The digs undertaken in June 2013 brought to light the burial place of a H3 adult and some remains of another adult as well as an immature subject. The skeleton of the most complete H3 individual is a male adult, buried in a lying dorsal position, oriented towards East West, head towards West and feet East. He is in a hyper contracted position and lays on an oval plane pit with a diameter of less than a meter. The calvarium and the mandible were subjected to a rotation and lay on the right side. The superior members are folded on themselves and laid on the thorax. The inferior members are also flexed. The skeleton is characterised by the maintaining of the connection of a number of labile elements which allows the characterisation of the burial place as being primarily in clogged space. This funeral monument has probably been used at first for the reception of the two individuals (H1 and H2) and then for the burial of the H3 individual in a sepulchral pit. The reuse of the monument could be explained by the three individuals belonging to the same family and that the last buried subject H3 has a more important familial and possibly social role. This tumulus has also released funeral furniture made of a few bones of domestic fauna. They were the object of a radiometric dating, which allowed the attribution of 2290 ± 35 years old to this tumulus14C B.P (GifA15085/ Sac A 41509)

Unsupervised host behavior classification from connection patterns

International audienceA novel host behavior classification approach is proposed as a preliminary step toward traffic classification and anomaly detection in network communication. Though many attempts described in the literature were devoted to flow or application classifications, these approaches are not always adaptable to operational constraints of traffic monitoring (expected to work even without packet payload, without bidirectionality, on highspeed networks or from flow reports only...). Instead, the classification proposed here relies on the leading idea that traffic is relevantly analyzed in terms of host typical behaviors: typical connection patterns of both legitimate applications (data sharing, downloading,...) and anomalous (eventually aggressive) behaviors are obtained by profiling traffic at the host level using unsupervised statistical classification. Classification at the host level is not reducible to flow or application classification, and neither is the contrary: they are different operations which might have complementary roles in network management. The proposed host classification is based on a nine-dimensional feature space evaluating host Internet connectivity, dispersion and exchanged traffic content. A Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) clustering technique is developed that does not require any supervised learning step to produce a set of statistically established typical host behaviors. Not relying on a priori defined classes of known behaviors enables the procedure to discover new host behaviors, that potentially were never observed before. This procedure is applied to traffic collected over the entire year 2008 on a transpacific (Japan/USA) link. A cross-validation of this unsupervised classification against a classical port-based inspection and a state-of-the-art method provides assessment of the meaningfulness and the relevance of the obtained classes for host behaviors

Etude des enregistrements sédimentaires holocènes des paléoméandres du Rhône dans le secteur des basses terres (Ain, Isère, France)

Cet article présente les résultats de l’analyse du remplissage sédimentaire de plusieurs paléoméandres holocènes conservés à la surface de la plaine alluviale du Rhône dans le secteur des Basses Terres, secteur situé à 70 km en amont de Lyon. L’objectif est d’identifier les fluctuations paléohydrologiques du Rhône et d’en déterminer les causes (contrôles locaux, anthropiques, climatiques). Les premiers résultats montrent une parenté certaine des modes d’alluvionnement entraînant le colmatage des paléoméandres, avec une succession de dépôts alluvionnés par décantation ou par des courants tractifs (suspensions uniformes), ainsi que le développement de séquences organo-minérales dans la partie supérieure du remblaiement. On observe néanmoins une grande diversité de détail dans la nature des dépôts et leur répartition au sein des sondages (limons massifs ou microlaminés, limon organique, tourbe, tuf). Les vitesses d’alluvionnement distinguent deux ensembles de paléoméandres, avec des taux de l’ordre de 2,5 mm/an (Atlantique récent et Subboréal) et 6,5 mm/an (Subboréal et Subatlantique). Dans le paléoméandre des Marais, la confrontation des données issues de la susceptibilité magnétique, de la palynologie et de l’analyse granulométrique met en évidence deux périodes de forte activité hydrologique, centrées sur le début de l’Epoque romaine et le Haut-Moyen-Age.This paper points out the results on the sedimentary fill of a set of former wandering meanders that have been preserved in the Upper Rhône river alluvial plain (Basses Terres floodplain), 50 km upstream from Lyon. The objective is to attempt the reconstruction of the hydrosedimentary fluctuations of the river and their origin. Modes of sediment fills vary from one palaeomeander to the other but common features can be found. Fine silt deposits occur during the first phases by processes of mineral decantation in an open area or by tractive currents (uniform suspension). Organic layers are interstratified with silty layers in the infill’s upper part. Nevertheless, detailed stratigraphical studies specify the diversity of palaeomeander fills (homogeneous or micro-laminated silts, organic silt, gyttja, peat, tufa). Accumulation rates within the cutoffs vary from 2,5 mm yr-1 (recent Atlantic and Subboreal palaeomeanders) to 6 mm yr-1 (Subboreal and Subatlantic palaeomeanders). Informations given by magnetic susceptibility, palynology and grain-size characteristics of sediments analysis in the Marais palaeochannel point out two phases of high fluvial activity, during the beginning of the Gallo-Roman period and during the Dark Age

ETUDE ANTHROPOLOGIQUE ET COMPARATIVE DES MANDIBULES HUMAINES DE LA CITE DES PIERRES (MOYEN ATLAS) A CELLES DE TAFORALT

The CPSI funeral monument is located In the North-West of the Middle Atlas, in the region of Adar Ouawine, approximately ten kilometres away from the town of Boulmane. It is a sandstone slab with an internal cavity in a scree zone that gave way to the remains of three individuals, one man and two women. They are buried in a lateral decubitus positions. The orientation of their body is North-South, the heads towards the North. The three mandibles exhumed are complete and in a very good state of conservation. The origin of the builders of the funeral monuments of North Africa in the protohistoric periods is debated. The results of the historic searches, ethnologic and linguistic on the subject oppose two theses. Gabriel Camps’s defends an oriental origin of the Protomediterranneans, assuming a progressive replacement of the existing local population and of other researchers who support the idea of a local anthropologic evolution of the Iberomaurusian population. We have based our approach on an anthropologic, as morphologic as morphometric and statistic, of the physic characteristics of the human remains found in the CPSI monument to define and compare them to the morphotype of Taforalt known to represent the Iberomaurusian population of Morocco. The morphometric and the statistical analysis of these mandibles showed that they presented physical characteristics consistent with the mandibles of the Men of Taforalt, particularly with H1’s mandible. The ACP showed that the CPSI and Taforalt individuals belong to two different populations. This distinction is explained by the slenderisation of the CPSI individuals who nevertheless keep morphological characteristics specific to the Mechta type. The morphological fit and the slenderisation allow us to establish a possible filiation between Berber populations, builders of the monuments of the Middle Atlas, and the oriental Moroccans in Taforal. This acknowledgment supports the thesis of local anthropological evolution during the protohistoric periods and weakens the thesis of the oriental origin of the Protomediterraneans

Type regions F-zg and F-r, the northen slope of the Pyrenees

From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees form the westernmost mountain chain of E-W orientation in the south of western Europe. We can distinguish two regions : an Atlantic zone and a Pyrenean zone. The Pyrenean chain shows in each of these zones a great diversity of local climatic characteristics. This paper attempts to illustrate the methodological approach we need to reach a palaeoecological synthesis. Five or six studied sites in different vegetation belts of the Chaîne des Hurtières are presented

Discontinuités longitudinales des dynamiques sédimentaires holocènes dans les petites vallées de l'Ouest du Bassin Parisien, l'exemple de la Mue (Basse Normandie)

Les recherches géomorphologiques et paléoenvironnementales entreprises dans la vallée de la Mue contribuent à la connaissance de l'évolution des dynamiques de fonds de vallée dans la Plaine de Caen et plus généralement de la partie sédimentaire de la Basse-Normandie restées à l'écart des études récentes sur l'Holocène. Elles soulignent l’ampleur, l’hétérogénéité et l'originalité des remplissages sédimentaires postglaciaires. L'inventaire systématique du remplissage de cette vallée de 24 km de long s’est appuyé sur la réalisation de sondages ainsi que sur des carottages dans les secteurs clefs. La sédimentation tardiglaciaire apparaît absente comme dans de nombreuses vallées normandes mais la sédimentation holocène est particulièrement dilatée atteignant 4 à 15 m. Elle obéit à un dispositif longitudinal marqué par la succession de plusieurs tronçons aux caractéristiques morphologiques et sédimentaires différentes. La succession de formations tufacées, tourbeuses, détritiques ou mixtes révèle la complexité du fonctionnement du système fluvial en même temps qu'elle offre un potentiel intéressant pour les analyses multiparamètres. Les analyses sédimentologiques, malacologiques et palynologiques appuyées sur la réalisation de 21 datations radiocarbones permettent de reconstituer la chronostratigraphie des 9 derniers millénaires et d'apprécier le rôle des facteurs paléohydrologiques et anthropiques dans la mutation des milieux sédimentaires. La sédimentation qui s’amorce au début de l'Holocène (9000 14C BP) se caractérise par la mise en place de formations tufacées parfois très dilatées (de 7 à 13 m) qui sont à l’origine de la construction de véritables seuils dans le fond de vallée. Ce n’est qu’au cours de l’Atlantique et du début du Subboréal (6500-4500 14C BP) que le remplissage sédimentaire, principalement tourbeux se généralise, en particulier en arrière des seuils à sédimentation carbonatée. Le diachronisme de ces séquences sédimentaires souligne le poids des conditions locales. A partir de l’âge du Bronze (3500 14C BP), les formations détritiques résultant de l'érosion des tufs et des sols limoneux des plateaux se développent puis prennent de l’ampleur au cours de l’Âge du Fer et de l’époque gallo-romaine attestant l’emprise croissante des hommes sur les milieux. Cet article souligne l'intérêt d'étendre les recherches dans les trois dimensions des systèmes fluviaux afin de prendre en compte les discontinuités spatio-temporelles des systèmes hydro-sédimentaires holocènes, même dans des vallées de faible ordre.Geomorphologic and palaeoenvironmental researches conducted in the Mue valley allow improving the valley bottom sedimentation knowledge in the Plain of Caen and more generally in the sedimentary area of Lower Normandy, both poorly known areas of the Paris basin. They underline the extent, the heterogeneity and the originality of the Postglacial infilling. The systematic geomorphologic survey in this valley bottom, 24 km long, is based on boreholes and core drillings in the key areas. The Lateglacial filling is missing like in most of the valleys of Normandy while the Holocene sedimentation is 4 to 15 m thick. Its longitudinal arrangement is characterized by sections with different morphologic and sedimentary features. The succession of tufaceous, peaty, detritic or mixed deposits illustrates the fluvial system complexity and offers opportunity for multi-proxy analyses. To establish the Holocene chronostratigraphy and to determine the role of the palaeohydrologic and anthropogenic control in the sedimentary changes, sedimentologic, malacologic, pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating (21) have been undertaken. The filling begins around 9000 14C BP with tufaceous deposits. Locally, they are very thick (7 to 13 m) and form barriers in the valley bottom. From the Atlantic and Sub-Boreal periods (6500-4500 14C BP) peat deposits become widespread, in particular behind the tufa barriers. Nevertheless, the onset of the alluvial aggradation is diachronic along the valley bottom and the alluvial sedimentation has a high variability in relation with the valley morphology and the local geological controls. Since the Bronze Age (3500 14C BP) and mainly during the Iron Age and Gallo-Roman period, the spread of detritic alluvial sedimentation derived from the erosion of tufaceous deposits and loamy soils testifies the increase of land use changes within the river basin. However the spatial variability of landscapes and sedimentation is also strongly controlled by local human activities. The research underlines the necessity of longitudinal studies to take into account the spatial and time discontinuities of the Holocene hydro-sedimentary systems even in small order valleys in sedimentary basin

A massive dissolved inorganic carbon release at spring tide in a highly turbid estuary, Geophys

[1] In September 2003, the highly turbid Loire estuary (France) showed drastic oxygen depletions (down to 11% of saturation), high pCO 2 (up to 3740 matm) and high CO 2 fluxes (280 ± 100 mmol.m . A rapid rise in Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) was observed when the tidal amplitude increased from 3.8 m to 5.8 m. In two days, average concentrations in the 0.1 -25 salinity range increased by 106 ± 17 mmol.kg À1 for DIC, by 80 ± 14 meq.kg À1 for Total Alkalinity (TA) and by 684 ± 142 matm for pCO 2 . In parallel, oxygen decreased by 65 ± 12 mmol.kg À1 . These changes in concentrations were attributed in majority to a massive fluid mud resuspension in the estuarine turbidity maximum. At spring tide, this DIC input was 30% higher than the river input. When averaged over the neap-spring period, resuspension contributed to only 10% of the atmospheric CO 2 flux from the estuary, but to 60% to the net TA production in the estuary. INDEX TERMS: 423