Influence of porosity on lipid preservation into the wall of archaeological pottery

International audiencePorosity of archaeological pottery is a key parameter used to assess its ability to trap lipids during the use of the pot and to preserve them over time. Mercury intrusion porosimetry and gas chromatography were used to study the distribution of porosity and the preservation of lipids in different chrono-cultural contexts. The data obtained show that the porosity pattern, related to the raw materials and the savoir-faire of the potters, influences the amount of lipids accumulated in the pottery. A significant overall porosity together with a high level of small pores is generally favourable for the preservation of lipids, but variations related to the environmental context are observed

Eclogite or jadeitite: The two colours involved in the transfer of alpine axeheads in western Europe

During the 5th and 4th millennia BC, the Neolithic extraction of stone around Mont Viso and in the Mont Beigua massif in the north Italian Alps resulted in the production of large polished axeheads in ecologite, omphacitite, jadeitite and amphibolite - raw materials which were not only rare but which also have remarkable mechanical and aesthetic properties. These axeheads circulated around western Europe over great distances and in particular, between the Alps, the Atlantic and the North Sea. Among these Alpine jades, research suggests a tendency for different raw materials to be represented in different geographic areas. Axeheads and other items made from dark-coloured rocks from the family of eclogites and omphacitites tend to predominate in the Paris Basin, in Germany and in Great Britain and Ireland. This paper documents the manufacture, circulation and deposition of different types of Alpine axeheads over time. More specifically, it discusses observed trends in relation to variability in the supply of raw materials and finished objects, the nature of regional traditions and long-distance transfer, and ultimately, the changing significance of axeheads as socially valorized artefacts

On-site data cast doubts on the hypothesis of shifting cultivation in the Late Neolithic (c. 4300-2400 cal. BC): Landscape management as an alternative paradigm

This article brings together in a comprehensive way, and for the first time, on- and off-site palaeoenvironmental data from the area of the Central European lake dwellings (a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site since 2011). The types of data considered are as follows: high-resolution off-site pollen cores, including micro-charcoal counts, and on-site data, including botanical macro- and micro-remains, hand-collected animal bones, remains of microfauna, and data on woodland management (dendrotypology). The period considered is the late Neolithic (c. 4300–2400 cal. BC). For this period, especially for its earlier phases, discussions of land-use patterns are contradictory. Based on off-site data, slash-and-burn – as known from tropical regions – is thought to be the only possible way to cultivate the land. On-site data however show a completely different picture: all indications point to the permanent cultivation of cereals (Triticum spp., Hordeum vulgare), pea (Pisum sativum), flax (Linum usitatissimum) and opium-poppy (Papaver somniferum). Cycles of landscape use are traceable, including coppicing and moving around the landscape with animal herds. Archaeobiological studies further indicate also that hunting and gathering were an important component and that the landscape was manipulated accordingly. Late Neolithic land-use systems also included the use of fire as a tool for opening up the landscape. Here we argue that bringing together all the types of palaeoenvironmental proxies in an integrative way allows us to draw a more comprehensive and reliable picture of the land-use systems in the late Neolithic than had been reconstructed previously largely on the basis of off-site data

Résumé de synthèse : Clairvaux et le “Néolithique Moyen Bourguignon” (Abstract and synthesis: Clairvaux and the "Burgundy Middle Neolithic")

Cet ouvrage dirigé par Pierre et Anne-Marie Pétrequin, est une monographie archéologique de trois villages néolithiques du lac de Clairvaux (Jura), replacés dans le contexte social, culturel et chronologique de la première moitié du IVe millénaire av. J.-C. au nord-ouest des Alpes

Les villages palafittiques de Chalain et de Clairvaux-les-Lacs

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Masses, sphéroïdes et haches de pierre à perforation transversale

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La néphrite pyrénéenne

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Les néphrites alpines et pyrénéennes. Prospections, référentiels et reconnaissances spectroradiométriques

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