Savignac-de-Miremont – La Ferrassie

Lien Atlas (MCC) :http://atlas.patrimoines.culture.fr/atlas/trunk/index.php?ap_theme=DOM_2.01.02&ap_bbox=-0.923;44.949;0.973;44.982 La première année de l’opération triannuelle 2012-2014 consacrée à la partie ouest du site de la Ferrassie a apporté des données nouvelles et importantes pour la compréhension du site. Les stratigraphies des trois secteurs de fouille ont été unifiées, puis cette synthèse comparée aux observations faites par D. Peyrony (tableau ci-dessous). Industries Selon D. Pe..

Le Causse de Gramat

Lien Atlas (MCC) :http://atlas.patrimoines.culture.fr/atlas/trunk/index.php?ap_theme=DOM_2.01.02&ap_bbox=1.656;44.713;1.769;44.816 Durant l’année 2013, nous avons travaillé sur les trois volets du projet autorisé, soit sur la vallée de l’Alzou, la vallée du ruisseau de Théminettes et la recherche de remplissage archéologique dans plusieurs cavités de la Braunhie. Dans la vallée de l’Alzou, la visite de plusieurs cavités a permis de constater que la plupart d’entre elles renfermaient encore de..

Réflexions méthodologiques sur les études de matières premières lithiques

Vingt cinq ans d’expérience en études lithologiques nous ont paru suffisants pour mener à bien une réflexion sur la caractérisation des matières premières lithiques et l’identification de leurs origines. Dans ce travail, sont abordés la prospection et l’inventaire des gîtes, la cartographie, les méthodes d’identification. L’analyse critique des données nous permet de mettre en évidence les principales difficultés rencontrées et ainsi de fixer les limites des recherches menées. Pour les domaines qui nous ont semblé être essentiels, des propositions concrètes sont faites pour tenter de dépasser les points de blocage. Pour améliorer nos connaissances des ressources actuelles, notamment celles des alluvions (l’une des sources les plus fréquemment utilisées par les hommes préhistoriques mais parmi les plus mal connues), une approche est proposée et des résultats présentés. Cette méthode prend en compte la morphologie et la qualité des matériaux. L’accent est également mis sur le problème majeur qui est le transfert des données du référentiel actualiste (lithothèque) au matériel archéologique : comment, à partir des ressources actuelles, peut-on envisager celles dont disposaient le ou les fabricants des objets archéologiques étudiés. Quelques exemples archéologiques servent à aborder les problèmes d’accessibilité aux gîtes et à indiquer quelques axes de recherche.Twenty-five years of experience in lithologic studies seem sufficient to be able to characterize lithic raw material and to identify their origins. In this study, prospection and inventory of the deposits, their location and their description are considered. The critical analysis of data allows to underline the main difficulties and also to set up the limits of the present research concerning the main topics. In essential fields, concrete suggestions are made to improve our knowledge about ressources and especially alluvial deposits (one of the most frequent lithic supply for prehistorical men but also the less known). A method with its applications is presented, taking into account the morphology and the quality of lithic raw material. A major problem is introduced : the transfer of the related data (lithotheque) to the archaeological material. How can we know from today’s ressources what were the real ones available for the prehistoric toolmaker knapper ? Some archeological examples are used to approach the questions of deposits accessibility and to give some research issues

La percussion verticale au percuteur dur à « touche » rectiligne en Périgord dans l’industrie meulière historique et certains sites paléolithiques

La présence de stigmates de taille particuliers (fracture en split) dans des industries préhistoriques du Paléolithique inférieur et moyen du Périgord et dans les déchets de taille de fabrication de meule, nous a conduit à en rechercher les modalités d’obtention. L’analyse de la chaîne opératoire de production avec la collaboration des deux derniers facteurs de meules nous permet d’avancer que ces stigmates sont obtenus par une percussion directe verticale avec recherche systématique d’un contact rectiligne du percuteur sur la matière.The presence of split fractures in lithic industries of the Perigord Lower and Middle Paleolithic, as well as in the debris left over from the production of mill-stones, led us to search for experimental ways of obtaining them. The analysis of the “chaîne opératoire” of the production of mill-stones allows us to propose that such fractures are achieved through direct vertical percussion with a systematic intent to maintain a linear contact surface between the hammer and the nodule

The preparation of double-walled carbon nanotube/Cu composites by spark plasma sintering, and their hardness and friction properties

Double-walled carbon nanotube (DWCNT)/copper composite powders were prepared by a rapid route involving freeze-drying without oxidative acidic treatment or ball-milling. The DWCNTs are not damaged and are homogeneously dispersed in the matrix. Dense specimens were prepared by spark plasma sintering. The Vickers microhardness is doubled, the wear against a steel or an alumina ball seems very low and the average friction coefficient is decreased by a factor of about 4 compared to pure copper. The best results are obtained for a carbon loading (5 vol%) significantly lower than those reported when using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (10–20 vol%). Maximum Hertzian contact pressure data could indicate that the surface DWCNTs and bundles of them are deformed and broken, possibly resulting in the formation of a graphitized lubricating tribofilm in the contac

La percussion verticale au percuteur dur à « touche » rectiligne en Périgord dans l’industrie meulière historique et certains sites paléolithiques

La présence de stigmates de taille particuliers (fracture en split) dans des industries préhistoriques du Paléolithique inférieur et moyen du Périgord et dans les déchets de taille de fabrication de meule, nous a conduit à en rechercher les modalités d’obtention. L’analyse de la chaîne opératoire de production avec la collaboration des deux derniers facteurs de meules nous permet d’avancer que ces stigmates sont obtenus par une percussion directe verticale avec recherche systématique d’un contact rectiligne du percuteur sur la matière.The presence of split fractures in lithic industries of the Perigord Lower and Middle Paleolithic, as well as in the debris left over from the production of mill-stones, led us to search for experimental ways of obtaining them. The analysis of the “chaîne opératoire” of the production of mill-stones allows us to propose that such fractures are achieved through direct vertical percussion with a systematic intent to maintain a linear contact surface between the hammer and the nodule

Harold Lewis Dibble

Harold Année après année, au mois de juin, Harold Dibble arrivait en Périgord, dans sa maison de Carsac, pour fouiller, expérimenter ou préparer des publications. Pendant un ou deux mois, ses éclats de rire ponctuaient ses propos, son humour égayait les journées. En 2018, la maison est restée désespérément silencieuse et vide. Harold Dibble était décédé à Philadelphie, à 67 ans, quelques jours avant son départ programmé pour la France. Pour ses collègues et amis, ce fut la fin des années de..

Site formation histories and context of human occupations at the paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France)

The Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France) has contributed significantly to the understanding of Middle and Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, as well as Neanderthal skeletal morphology. Excavations at the site have spanned more than a century and uncovered rich archaeological assemblages associated with the Mousterian, Chatelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian technocomplexes. Renewed excavations exposed a sequence spanning both Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations in the Western Sector and low-density Mousterian deposits and Chatelperronian in the Northern Sector. Here, we report on an extensive geoarchaeological study of deposits at the western end of the site to reconstruct and interpret both the depositional history of the sediments and associated human occupations in this poorly documented part of La Ferrassie. Our results point to the nature of the site as originally a karstic cave, with the Western Sector located in what would have been the cave's mouth. The stratigraphic sequence comprises first fluvial deposition (Phase I) followed by soliflucted deposits and accretion cones that emanate from an elevated platform situated several meters above the modern road next to the site (Phase II) and, finally, spatially restricted channeling (Phase III). Most archaeological assemblages are associated with Phase II and reflect an interplay between occupations directly in this area and bones and artifacts sliding down the slope from the upper platform. Unlike in the Western Sector, in the Northern Sector - situated along the north wall and several meters inside the footprint of the cave - cold features dominate the entirety of the sequence; we interpret these as being linked to microenvironments specific to this location of the karst rather than to general (external) climatic conditions. Relevant is the identification of patterned ground formation in this area, which can be clearly linked to the "monticule" features first reported by Capitan and Peyrony and erroneously interpreted as anthropogenic in origin. Our geoarchaeological results point to a large and complex karst system, with distinct depositional sources and often locally independent sedimentary histories throughout its extent. These formation pathways have differently impacted the main occupation areas and resulted in distinct degrees of preservation of the archaeological assemblages throughout the different areas of the site.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contribución al conocimiento del primer poblamiento humano de Europa

En los últimos años numerosas investigaciones han contribuido a un mejor conocimiento de los primeros habitantes de Europa. Si en los años ochenta, Francia parecía situarse en el centro del debate con yacimientos como Chilhac, Soleilhac oVallonet; los hallazgos en la región del Caúcaso yOrienteMedio (Dmanisi yUbeidiya), la Península Itálica (Ceprano) y la Península Ibérica (Orce) en los años noventa, han desplazado el debate a las puertas deEuropa.La cuestión sobre las rutas alternativas de Gibraltar o Sicilia permanece abierta. Las industrias líticas descubiertas en los yacimientos del Pleistoceno Inferior de Barranco León y Fuente Nueva 3 de Orce (Granada) se sitúan actualmente en el corazón de este debate.An important number of researches about the first inhabitants ofEurope have been developed. If France was the centre of the debate during eighties through the sites of Chilhac, Soleilhac or Vallonet, during nineties the debate was displaced at the gates of Europe: The founds of the Caucasian region and theMiddleEast (Dmanisi andUbeidiya), the ItalianPeninsula (Ceprano) and the Iberian Peninsula (Orce). The questions about alternative routes, Gibraltar or Sicily, remains open. The lithic artefacts found at the Lower Pleistocene sites of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada) are now in the core of this debate

Provenance, modification and use of manganese-rich rocks at Le Moustier (Dordogne, France)

The use of colouring materials by Neanderthals has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Here we present a taphonomic, technological, chemical-mineralogical and functional analysis of fifty-four manganese rich lumps recovered during past and on-going excavations at the lower rockshelter of Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). We compare compositional data for archaeological specimens with the same information for twelve potential geological sources. Morphometric analysis shows that material from Peyrony’s excavations before the First World War provides a highly biased picture of the importance of these materials for Mousterian groups. These early excavations almost exclusively recovered large modified pieces, while Mn-rich lumps from the on-going excavations predominantly consist of small pieces, only half of which bear traces of modification. We estimate that at least 168 pieces were not recovered during early work at the site. Neanderthals developed a dedicated technology for processing Mn-rich fragments, which involved a variety of tools and motions. Processing techniques were adapted to the size and density of the raw material, and evidence exists for the successive or alternating use of different techniques. Morphological, textural and chemical differences between geological and archaeological samples suggest that Neanderthals did not collect Mn-rich lumps at the outcrops we sampled. The association and variability in Mn, Ni, As, Ba content, compared to that observed at the sampled outcrops, suggests that either the Le Moustier lumps come from a unique source with a broad variation in composition, associating Mn, Ni, As, Ba, or that they were collected at different sources, characterized either by Mn-Ni-As or Mn-Ba. In the latter case, changes in raw material composition across the stratigraphy support the idea that Neanderthal populations bearing different stone tool technologies collected Mn fragments from different outcrops. Our results favour a use of these materials for multiple utilitarian and symbolic purposes.publishedVersio