3 research outputs found
Insights into the Late Mesolithic toolkit: use-wear analysis of the notched blades. Case-studies from the Iberian Peninsula
During the last decades we have gained a considerable amount of data about the Mesolithic lithic toolkit in the Western Mediterranean. A large set of instruments probably existed for a variety of pur-poses: foraging practices (both hunting and fishing), food processing, crafting activities, etc. Dispos-able tools, scarcely elaborated, coexisted with formal and more complex instruments, often com-posed of multiple parts and realized on a variety of raw-materials (e.g. stone, shell or bone inserts; bone or wood hafts, etc.). In this paper we will consider one particular type of tool that appears in the Western Mediterranean starting from the Seventh-Sixth millennia BC: the notched and denticulated blades. We will consider and interpret from a functional viewpoint materials from five different Late Mesolithic contexts: the Cocina Cave and Vallmayor IX in the NE of the Peninsula, Artusia rock-shel-ters in Navarre and Atxoste and Mendandia rock-shelters in the Basque country
Standardisation des productions céramiques au Ve millénaire avant notre ère. Analyse des assemblages du site de Los Cascajos (Los Arcos, Navarre)
Publié aux Actes de la séance de la Société préhistorique française de Paris, Proceedings of the session n° XXXIV-2 of the XVIII° UISPP World CongressInternational audienceAfter a first phase restricted to coastal areas, the neolithisation of the North-Western Mediterranean basin expanded towardsthe hinterlands, before reaching its full agricultural potential characterized by the Middle Neolithic. However, the transition period ofthe mid Vth millennium BC remains poorly documented. Even so, many transformations are interpreted as the genesis of a socio-economicalremodelling, the real impulse of which dates to around 4200 BC. Generally, so-called transitional horizons underline a consolidatedproduction economy, based on more and more diversified environments. Settlements become more deeply rooted in their respectiveterritories. Simultaneously, interregional diffusion and interactions accentuate in various areas such as lithic raw materials andstandardised pottery décor. These changes highlight the establishment of vast exchange networks, paving the way for the development régioofmetalworking. All these characteristics evoke a structural mutation in Vth millennium BC societies, which is sometimes interpretedas the result of a growing demography.The site of Los Cascajos is a Neolithic settlement located in Los Arcos in Navarra (Spain). The settlement has two main occupationphases from the end of the sixth millennium to the second half of the fifth millennium BC. The abundant pottery assemblages providean ideal framework for observing the evolution of its production. Its study highlights the existence of a common base for both occupationphases, but also a normalisation of practice that leads to a standardisation of production. On the one hand, there are features that arestable and indicate that the manières de faire were transmitted. On the other, some features are new and they correspond to the mainmarkers of the Middle Neolithic, which supposes a diffusion process. The decline in the variability of pottery production highlights astandardisation mechanism, observed in the technicity and the décor, the size and form of the pottery as well as the regularity of itsshaping. This criterion is considered as an important marker of the specialisation phenomenon.Après une première phase restreinte au littoral, de 5 700 à 5 200 cal. BC, la néolithisation du bassin nord-occidental de la Méditerranée a poursuivi son expansion vers les arrière-pays pour aboutir au panorama pleinement agricole qui caractérise le Néolithique moyen. Cependant, la période de transition du milieu du V e millénaire reste peu documentée, bien qu'elle témoigne d'un certain nombre de transformations amorçant un remodelage socio-économique qui prend son essor à partir de 4 200 cal. BC. D'une manière générale, les horizons ou faciès dits de transition témoignent de la consolidation de l'économie de production par une exploitation de milieux de plus en plus diversifiés. L'implantation humaine devient plus intense et plus ancrée dans son territoire. Simultanément, les phénomènes de diffusion et d'interactions interrégionales s'accentuent dans divers domaines (matières premières lithiques, standards ornementaux des céramiques). Ces changements traduisent la mise en place de vastes réseaux d'échanges qui verront leur apogée au Néolithique moyen et également une certaine forme de spécialisation artisanale. Toutes ces caractéristiques évoquent ainsi une mutation structurelle des sociétés du V e millénaire, parfois interprétée comme le résultat d'une emprise démographique croissante. Le site de Los Cascajos est un vaste gisement de plein air situé sur la commune de Los Arcos en Navarre (Espagne). Deux principales périodes d'occupation sont reconnues de la fin du VI e millénaire jusqu'à la seconde moitié du V e millénaire. La richesse des assemblages céramiques offre le cadre idéal à l'observation de l'évolution des productions dans un contexte de renouvellement technique et stylistique encore mal défini. L'approche globale du document céramique, analysé sous l'angle techno-stylistique dans la perspective d'une confrontation diachronique, met en évidence l'existence d'un fonds commun entre les deux périodes d'occupation, mais également une homogénéisation des manières de faire qui aboutit à la standardisation de la production. Ce phénomène permet d'aborder différents mécanismes moteurs de changement, différentes modalités d'organisation de la production, notamment l'émergence d'un artisanat spécialisé, révélant ainsi le processus de complexification sociale qui caractérise les communautés agro-pastorales du V e millénaire et qui va croître tout au long du Néolithique
Insights into the Late Mesolithic toolkit : use-wear analysis of the notched blades. Case-studies from the Iberian Peninsula
International audienceDuring the last decades we have gained a considerable amount of data about the Mesolithic lithic toolkit in the Western Mediterranean. A large set of instruments probably existed for a variety of purposes: foraging practices (both hunting and fishing), food processing, crafting activities, etc. Disposable tools, scarcely elaborated, coexisted with formal and more complex instruments, often composed of multiple parts and realized on a variety of raw-materials (e.g. stone, shell or bone inserts; bone or wood hafts, etc.). In this paper we will consider one particular type of tool that appears in the Western Mediterranean starting from the Seventh-Sixth millennia BC: the notched and denticulated blades. We will consider and interpret from a functional viewpoint materials from five different Late Mesolithic contexts: the Cocina Cave and Vallmayor IX in the NE of the Peninsula, Artusia rock-shelters in Navarre and Atxoste and Mendandia rock-shelters in the Basque country.Durante l'ultimo decennio, la nostra conoscenza dello strumentario litico Mesolitico nel Mediterraneo Oc-cidentale si è considerabilmente arricchita. Sappiamo che esistevano una varietà di strumenti utilizzati per scopi diversi: l'ottenimento di alimenti (sia attraverso la caccia, che la pesca), l'elaborazione di tali alimenti, la produzione di artefatti, etc. Strumenti di natura speditiva, scarsamente elaborati, coesisterono con strumenti formali, più complessi, spesso costituiti di più parti e di materie prime diverse (es. inserti in pietra, conchiglia, osso, manici in legno od osso, etc.). In questo articolo ci concentriamo su un particolare tipo di strumento che compare nel Mediterraneo Occidentale tra il VII-VI millennio a.C.: le lame a incavi e dentico-late. Consideriamo i materiali provenienti da cinque diverse siti del Mesolitico recente: la Grotta Cocina e il sito di Vallmayor IX nel nord-est della Penisola Iberica, il riparo sottoroccia di Artusia in Navarra e i siti di Atxoste e Mendandia nei Paesi Baschi e ne proponiamo un'interpretazione funzionale