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14 results on '"Erwan Messager"'

1. Subsistence economy in the South Caucasus during the Early Chalcolithic period: bioarchaeological analysis of Bavra Ablari rock-shelter (Samtskhe-Javakheti region, Georgia)

Author

Alexia Decaix, Lucie Martin, Erwan Messager, Jwana Chahoud, Bastien Varoutsikos, Ana Mgeladze, Manana Gabunia, Tamar Agapishvili, and Christine Chataigner

Subjects
Georgia, South Caucasus, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, Chalcolithic, farming practices, Archaeology, CC1-960
Abstract

This paper examines the subsistence economy in the South Caucasus during the Early Chalcolithic (c.4700–4300 BC) through bioarchaeological analyses of the Bavra Ablari rock shelter site. This region, rich in biodiversity and characterized by a variety of climates and landscapes, has a history of agropastoral occupation dating back to the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. Up to now, archaeological studies have mainly focused on the valleys and lowlands, leaving the mountainous areas less explored. Recent excavations at Bavra Ablari, located at an altitude of 1,650 m, have enabled new bioarchaeological analyses to be carried out, providing data on the faunal and botanical assemblages of this period. These analyses reveal a mixed agro-pastoral exploitation, with a predominance of caprine (sheep and goats) rearing and cultivation of cereals, such as barley and einkorn. Faunal remains and evidence of hunting and fishing reveal extensive use of several biotopes. The study highlights the importance of pastoralism, attested to as far back as the Neolithic period, with herds moving seasonally to higher pastures in summer. Early Chalcolithic occupations, such as those at Bavra Ablari, show the persistence of pastoral activities in these mountainous regions despite severe winter conditions and suggest seasonal occupation of the site.

Published
2024
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2. Le site du Carreau du Temple (Paris) entre ' marais ' et ' marécages ' : indices géoarchéologiques et paléo-environnementaux

Author

Jérôme Brenot, Isabelle Caillot, Erwan Messager, Cristiano Nicosia, and Aline Emery-Barbier

Subjects
Paris, Middle Ages, enclos du Temple, vegetable gardens, geoarchaeology, Archaeology, CC1-960
Abstract

The excavations of the Carreau du Temple, Paris, France, undertaken in 2011, provided the opportunity to study a pedo-sedimentary sequence preserved in the ruins of an occupation that began in the twelfth century with the development of the “Enclos du Temple”. The site is located in an area of geomorphological transition between a relief characterised by shallow ancient dunes (the “Marais”, “swamp” in French) and a paleochannel of the right bank of the river Seine. The sediment sequence, which corresponds to a homogeneous organic horizon extending across the site, was the subject of a paleo-environmental study (sedimentology, micromorphology, paleobotany) aimed at determining both its origin and evolution. The principal results found no markers indicating a wetland environment; however, extensive evidence of intensive human activity related to agricultural practices from the Middle Ages was identified, including evidence for both cereal and more specifically, vegetable production. This result agrees with the archaeological remains identified at the site and confirms the pedo-sedimentary observations made in several places along the paleo-channel, and in particular in the Marais. The absence of wetland markers that would normally indicate a marshy right river bank calls into question the toponymy of the place - the Marais - which is a name usually associated with unsanitary, swampy conditions; the evidence found, in fact indicates that this was a zone of varied agricultural production.

Published
2013

3. Les processus taphonomiques en archéopalynologie

Author

Vincent Lebreton, Laurent Marquer, Erwan Messager, and Josette Renault-Miskovsky

Subjects
archéopalynologie, conservation différentielle, néotaphonomie, pollen, taphonomie, Archaeology, CC1-960
Abstract

L’effet de l’oxydation sur la préservation des grains de pollen est testé avec un protocole expérimental de laboratoire. Une sélection de taxons polliniques est soumise à des conditions oxydantes en variant l’intensité et la durée d’exposition. L’évolution des concentrations polliniques entre la situation initiale et finale reflète la perte d’information entre la pluie pollinique originelle et le spectre finalement enregistré. Les variations de la concentration sont paramétrées pour tester l’impact de ce processus taphonomique sur des spectres polliniques théoriques. Le modèle néotaphonomique apporte des nouveaux éléments de discussion de taphonomie pollinique pour valider et interpréter des spectres archéopalynologiques. En contexte archéologique, l’hypothèse de processus taphonomiques intenses menant à la conservation différentielle des taxons polliniques est fréquemment évoquée. Il est montré que l’oxydation, qui affecte fortement l’ensemble des grains de pollen, n’est pas le seul processus permettant d’expliquer la conservation différentielle.

Published
2009
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4. The place of millet in food globalization during Late Prehistory as evidenced by new bioarchaeological data from the Caucasus

Author

Catherine Longford, Mikheil Abramishvili, Aurélie Salavert, Roman Hovsepyan, Gela Giunashvili, Giorgi Bedianashvili, Elena Lebedeva, Erwan Messager, Nana Rusishvili, Bidzina Murvanidze, Liana Bitadze, Giorgi Gogochuri, Guy André, Marine Chkadua, Kakha Kakhiani, Estelle Herrscher, Françoise Le Mort, Vakhtang Licheli, Lucie Martin, Nikoloz Vanishvili, Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry]), Georgian National Museum, Institute of Archaeology, the Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow, Russia] (RAS), City College [International Faculty of the University of Sheffield], Tbilisi State University, ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien (Archéorient), Université Lumière - Lyon 2 (UL2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe-Afrique (LAMPEA), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Université de Genève = University of Geneva (UNIGE), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow] (RAS), Department of Archaeology [Sheffield], University of Sheffield [Sheffield], National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia [Yerevan] (NAS RA), ANR-12-JSH3-0003,ORIMIL,La culture du millet dans le Caucase pré- et proto-historique : Origine et développement(2012), Université de Genève (UNIGE), Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, ORIMIL Project, LIA program Gates, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), and Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Setaria, Plant domestication, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Science, [SHS.ANTHRO-BIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Biological anthropology, 01 natural sciences, Biochemistry, Article, law.invention, Prehistory, Globalization, Bronze Age, law, ddc:550, Early Bronze Age, 0601 history and archaeology, Radiocarbon dating, Domestication, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, 2. Zero hunger, Multidisciplinary, Panicum miliaceum, 060102 archaeology, biology, archaeological millet in the Caucasus, food, Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica, Middle Bronze Age (MBA), 06 humanities and the arts, biology.organism_classification, Archaeology, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Geography, Period (geology), Medicine, globalization
Abstract

International audience; Two millets, Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica, were domesticated in northern China, around 6000 BC. Although its oldest evidence is in Asia, possible independent domestication of these species in the Caucasus has often been proposed. To verify this hypothesis, a multiproxy research program (Orimil) was designed to detect the first evidence of millet in this region. It included a critical review of the occurrence of archaeological millet in the Caucasus, up to Antiquity; isotopic analyses of human and animal bones and charred grains; and radiocarbon dating of millet grains from archaeological contexts dated from the Early Bronze Age (3500-2500 BC) to the 1 st Century BC. The results show that these two cereals were cultivated during the Middle Bronze Age (MBA), around 2000-1800 BC, especially Setaria italica which is the most ancient millet found in Georgia. Isotopic analyses also show a significant enrichment in 13 C in human and animal tissues, indicating an increasing C 4 plants consumption at the same period. More broadly, our results assert that millet was not present in the Caucasus in the Neolithic period. Its arrival in the region, based on existing data in Eurasia, was from the south, without excluding a possible local domestication of Setaria italica. Today, there are many genetic, archaeobotanical or biochemical resources to track the domestication processes and diffusion of plants and animals. Among them, the millets, Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica, are two species that have their origins in China, but their path to Europe has been the subject of numerous studies for several years. Across Asia, researchers have looked at millets to describe the dispersal of peoples and languages 1 , to address the concept of food globalization 2 , to understand how these cereals have adapted to different environments 3,4 and to investigate the sedentary, semi-nomadic, or nomadic lifestyles of the early agropastoral communities 5,6. This article focuses on the Caucasus, a region that has hitherto not yet been explored

Published
2021
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5. Multi-proxy Archaeobotanical Analysis from Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Sites in South-west Ukraine

Author

Aurélie Salavert, Vincent Lebreton, Emilie Gouriveau, Dmytro Kiosak, Erwan Messager, Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Chrono-environnement - CNRS - UBFC (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC), Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Odessa National I.I.Mechnikov University, Laboratoire Chrono-environnement - CNRS - UFC (UMR 6249) (LCE), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, Linearbandkeramik, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Environmental Science (miscellaneous), Fraxinus, 01 natural sciences, forest-steppe, Late Mesolithic, Paleoethnobotany, 0601 history and archaeology, Neolithic, Charcoal, Mesolithic, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, 2. Zero hunger, 060102 archaeology, biology, Subsistence agriculture, 06 humanities and the arts, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, Archaeology, Deciduous, Geography, Phytolith, visual_art, [SHS.ENVIR]Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies, Period (geology), visual_art.visual_art_medium, Ukraine, archaeobotany
Abstract

International audience; This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical studies carried out on the Late Mesolithic layer at Melnychna-Krucha (6460-6100 cal BC) and the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) site of Kamyane-Zavallia (5295-4960 cal BC), close to the Southern Bug River. Despite the relatively modest dataset presented in this paper, these preliminary results provide new data for a region where the environmental setting and the uses of plant resources during the Early Atlantic period are poorly understood. The main taxa used for firewood are quite similar at Melnychna-Krucha and Kamyane-Zavallia, although they were occupied 1000 years apart. Fraxinus (ash) and Quercus (oak) dominate both charcoal assemblages. These taxa, as well as Ulmus (elm), could have grown together in the alluvial deciduous forest, probably on the Southern Bug riverbank, close to both sites. Carpinus (hornbean) was present but probably still not abundant around Kamyane-Zavallia at the end of the 6 th millennium. Macroremains and phytolith demonstrate that the plant production economy (cultivation, cereal processing) was well developed and very similar to other European LBK sites. At Melnychna-Krucha, plant macro-and microremains did not indicate a productive subsistence.

Published
2020
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6. Phytolith evidence of cereal processing in the Danube Delta during the Chalcolithic period

Author

Mihaela Danu, Laurent Carozza, Cristian Micu, Sylvie Philibert, Jean-Michel Carozza, Laurent Bouby, Patricia Anderson, Erwan Messager, Albane Burens, Université de Iasi, Université Ioan Cuza de Iasi (Université Ioan Cuza de Iasi), Université de Iasi-Université de Iasi, Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géographie de l'environnement (GEODE), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ICEM (ICEM), Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry]), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Phytoliths, Excavation, Chalcolithic, [SHS.ANTHRO-SE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Social Anthropology and ethnology, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, 01 natural sciences, Archaeology, Coring, law.invention, Geography, Phytolith, law, Danube delta, Period (geology), Cereals processing, Danube Delta, Radiocarbon dating, 5th millennium BC, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Earth-Surface Processes
Abstract

International audience; Recent excavations at Taraschina, south-eastern Romania, have revealed an extensive Chalcolithic settlement in the heart of the Danube Delta. Based on ceramic data, Taraschina was attributed to the Gumelniţa Culture and dated to the mid 5th millenium BC by radiocarbon dating. Phytolith analysis was conducted at Taraschina in order to reconstruct some activities carried out by the Chalcolithic populations in the Danube Delta. The study was undertaken on the site sediments, as well as on additional deposits sampled around the site by coring. The results show that phytoliths characterizing cereal processing are attested in archaeological deposits, as well as in the surrounding sequence. Our study highlights an important signal of cereal processing in the heart of the Danube Delta, 6000 years ago.

Published
2018
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7. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Dmanisi site (Georgia) based on palaeobotanical data

Author

C. R. Ferring, Pierre Voinchet, Erwan Messager, Eliso Kvavadze, and David Lordkipanidze

Subjects
Taxon, Pleistocene, Abundance (ecology), Ecology, Paleoclimatology, Biological anthropology, Biological dispersal, Context (language use), Vegetation, Archaeology, Geology, Earth-Surface Processes
Abstract

The first hominid expansions out of Africa date to the Lower Pleistocene. As environmental changes are widely thought to be correlated to important steps in hominids' history [DeMenocal, P.B., Bloemendal, J., 1995. Plio-Pleistocene subtropical African climate variability and the paleoenvironment of hominid evolution: a combined data-model approach. In: Vrba, E., Denton, G., Burckle, L., Partridge, T. (Eds.), Paleoclimate and Evolution with Emphasis on Human Origins. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 262–288; Potts, R., 1998. Environmental hypotheses of hominin evolution. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 41, 93–136], what kind of environments would they have encountered on their arrival in Eurasian areas? The site of Dmanisi (Lesser Caucasus, Georgia) is well-dated to the very beginning of Matuyama chron (ca. 1.77 Ma), and thus corresponds to one of the oldest dispersal events from Africa into Eurasia. New archaeological investigations of the lower Pleistocene sequences at Dmanisi yielded both human and faunal remains within a secure geochronological context. Although palaeoecological data, based primarily on faunal taxa are well-known, questions remain regarding the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic contexts of this site. These questions are addressed using multiproxy palaeobotanical analyses (i.e. phytoliths, pollen grains and carpo-remains) on the Dmanisi material. Focuses on several profiles help to reconstruct the distribution and evolution of vegetation at the site over time. The results show a composite temperate ecosystem with grass species being well-represented. In the mid-part of the sequence, evidence of enhanced aridity contemporaneous with hominid occupation is recorded. Although these reconstructed environments are similar to African savannah because of the abundance of grasses, arid conditions and the abundance of large mammal species, they differ with respect to the vegetation taxa, which are mostly composed of temperate plants.

Published
2010
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8. Fossil fruit identification by SEM investigations, a tool for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Dmanisi site, Georgia

Author

David Lordkipanidze, Erwan Messager, C. R. Ferring, and Brigitte Deniaux

Subjects
Archeology, Early Pleistocene, Pleistocene, biology, Excavation, Context (language use), biology.organism_classification, Archaeology, Paleontology, Taxon, Celtis, Genus, Assemblage (archaeology), Geology
Abstract

Archaeological excavations and multidisciplinary studies at the site of Dmanisi (Lesser Caucasus, Georgia) have provided an assemblage of lithic artefacts and numerous palaeontological and human remains in a volcano-sedimentary context dating to the early Lower Pleistocene. The sieving of archaeological sediments from Dmanisi also yielded mineralised botanical macro-remains that were analysed according to a particular protocol. The use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allowed the comparison between fossil fruit remains and modern specimens, leading to a precise identification of the earlier. Seed remains recognised by this method belonging to several taxa from the Boraginaceae family as well as to the genus Celtis L., of the Ulmaceae family. The ecological requirements of these taxa suggest the presence of xeric conditions, a result that is in accordance with data obtained by faunal and stratigraphic studies.

Published
2008
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9. First results of archaeobotanical analysis from Neolithic layers of Buran Kaya IV (Crimea, Ukraine)

Author

Laurent Crépin, Erwan Messager, Stéphane Péan, Simon Puaud, Aleksander Yanevich, Grégory Bayle, Giedre Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute, Aurélie Salavert, Vincent Lebreton, Masayoshi Yamada, Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), History Faculty/Department of Archaeology, Vilnius University [Vilnius], Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés (CITERES), Université de Tours-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Brest (ENIB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), ATM (MNHN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours, Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours (UT)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, Woodland, Environmental Science (miscellaneous), 01 natural sciences, South-Eastern Europe, [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences, Crimea Peninsula, Gymnosperm, Paleoethnobotany, Peninsula, 0601 history and archaeology, Neolithic, Charcoal, Holocene, Archaeozoology, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, 2. Zero hunger, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, 060102 archaeology, biology, 06 humanities and the arts, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, Archaeology, Vegetal use, Phytolith, visual_art, Paleobotany, visual_art.visual_art_medium, Woodland exploitation, Archaeobotany, Ukraine
Abstract

International audience; This paper contributes to understand the palaeoenvironment and the exploitation of vegetal resources during the Mid-Holocene in the southern Crimean Mountains. To address these questions, we apply a multi-proxy approach based on charcoal, seeds/fruits and phytoliths analyses from Neolithic layers (5800–5300 cal BC) of Buran-Kaya IV, a rock-shelter located in the south of Crimean Peninsula. Charcoal analysis shows that the Neolithic groups have exploited the Quercus petraeae forest belt composed mainly of Quercus, Carpinus and Acer. The identification of Fagus and a fragment of gymnosperm, which developed in upland areas, suggests the mobility of inhabitants of BK IV. According seed and phytolith analyses, it is more likely that the Neolithic groups did not practice agriculture on the site, and that their diet was not based on crop production. Furthermore, considering the probable absence of domestic animals in the layer 2, the economy may essentially be based on hunting-gathering at Buran Kaya IV.

Published
2015
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10. 40Ar/39Ar constraints on some French landmark Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene large mammalian paleofaunas: Paleoenvironmental and paleoecological implications

Author

Sébastien Nomade, Hervé Guillou, Jean-François Pastre, Michel Faure, Eric Delson, Pierre Voinchet, Erwan Messager, Evelyne Debard, Claude Guérin, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paléocéanographie (PALEOCEAN), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels (LGP), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), City University of New York [New York] (CUNY), Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement (LGL-TPE), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1), ToxAlim (ToxAlim), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Ecole d'Ingénieurs de Purpan (INPT - EI Purpan), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement [Lyon] (LGL-TPE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), and COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)

Subjects
Early Pleistocene, Pleistocene, ved/biology, Stratigraphy, ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species, Villafranchian, [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences, Geology, Biozone, 15. Life on land, Biostratigraphy, Neogene, Archaeology, Equus stenonis, Paleontology, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Quaternary, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS
Abstract

To improve the French Plio-Pleistocene biostratigraphy scheme based on mammal biozone boundaries or “Mammal Neogene/Quaternary Zones” (MNQ) we collected volcanic material that could be dated using the 40Ar/39Ar method in five exceptional mammalian paleofauna sites located in the Massif Central (France). We present 40Ar/39Ar ages that we obtained for Perrier-Les Etouaires, Roca-Neyra, Chilhac, Seneze and le Creux de Peyrolles. We show that the overall stratigraphic position of these sites based on faunal assemblages is valid from the relative point of view. However, we greatly improve both the accuracy and precision of the age of these mammalian paleofaunas. We obtained 40Ar/39Ar ages varying between 2.78 ± 0.01 Ma (1σ external) for Les Etouaires (Lower MNQ 16b) and 1.47 ± 0.01 Ma for the Creux de Peyrolles site (MNQ 19). Based on these new dates we estimate the duration of several biozones including MNQ 16b, 17a and 17b. We suggest that the first Late Villafranchian biozone (MNQ 18) starts as early as the Reunion subchron or just after. The first occurrence of Equus stenonis in Roca-Neyra (i.e. 2.60 ± 0.02 Ma) is close to or synchronous with the Gauss–Matuyama transition (i.e. 2.59 Ma) and the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. The chronological framework we build shows the very rapid increase of the large grazers community in French faunal assemblages at the beginning of MNQ 17 (i.e. 2.6 to 2.4 Ma). This rapid faunal turnover is probably associated with a general decrease of woodland habitat in the Massif Central contemporaneous with the onset of the Northern Hemisphere glaciations. The faunal assemblages in France, Spain, and Italy covering the period between 2.1 and 2.0 Ma suggest that favorable conditions for early hominin settlement (mainly savannah prairies, grassland with open forest patches) existed in southwestern Europe at least 200 ka before the first traces of Homo in Eurasia. This period also shows the arrival of taxa originating in Asia and Africa, suggesting dispersal events within southwestern Europe well before the Olduvai subchron and with no indication (as yet) of Homo as a “fellow traveler”.

Published
2014
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11. Direct 14 C Dating of Early and Mid-Holocene Saharan Pottery

Author

Christine Hatté, Jean-François Saliège, Antoine Zazzo, Jean Broutin, Lamia Messili, Erwan Messager, Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, 060102 archaeology, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, 06 humanities and the arts, 01 natural sciences, Archaeology, law.invention, Prehistory, law, General Earth and Planetary Sciences, 0601 history and archaeology, Radiocarbon dating, Pottery, Holocene, Geology, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Chronology
Abstract

The aim of this study is to directly radiocarbon date pottery from prehistoric rock-art shelters in the Tassili n'Ajjer (central Sahara). We used a combined geochemical and microscopic approach to determine plant material in the pottery prior to direct14C dating. The ages obtained range from 5270 ± 35 BP (6276–5948 cal BP) to 8160 ± 45 BP (9190–9015 cal BP), and correlate with the chronology derived from pottery typology. Our results document the transition from pre-Pastoral to Pastoral contexts, dated to the early-mid Holocene transition, and confirm that vegetal temper in pottery can provide reliable14C ages within Saharan contexts.

Published
2013
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12. Charcoal scarcity in Epigravettian settlements with mammoth bone dwellings: the taphonomic evidence from Mezhyrich (Ukraine)

Author

Stéphane Péan, Paul Haesaerts, Thierry Otto, Hélène Valladas, Vincent Lebreton, Laurent Marquer, Erwan Messager, Dmytro Nuzhnyi, Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (IRSNB), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM)

Subjects
Mammoth steppe, 010506 paleontology, Archeology, Taphonomy, 060102 archaeology, biology, Hearth, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, 06 humanities and the arts, Vegetation, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, 01 natural sciences, Archaeology, Archaeological science, Geography, visual_art, visual_art.visual_art_medium, 0601 history and archaeology, Charcoal, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Mammoth, Anthracology
Abstract

Fuel management during the Paleolithic periods is an important issue to understand past human subsistence. Numerous Palaeolithic sites relate an abundance of burnt bones in hearths and an absence or scarcity of wood charcoals, which leads studies to focus on burnt bone remains and the use of bones in hearths. Few works take into account the micro-residues of wood charcoals which can still be present in hearth areas and excavated sediments. We studied the Epigravettian site with mammoth bone dwellings of Mezhyrich (Ukraine) previously characterized by its high content of burnt bones and an “absence” of wood charcoal during the so-called mammoth steppe. The presence or absence and proportions of both wood charcoals and burnt bones were quantified in macro-, meso- and microscale sediment size fractions by an image analysis method. Our results show that excavations during field-works at Mezhyrich give only a partial image of the original anthracological record and that most charcoal materials are lost with standard archaeological and anthracological approaches. The scarcity of charcoals in this site was possibly due to an important mass reduction accentuated by the addition of bones in hearths. By applying our protocol we recovered a significant amount of wood charcoals which provides the first 14 C dates from charcoals at Mezhyrich. Numerous charcoals are identified contributing subsequent information about vegetation, environment and burning practices. They indicate, by comparison with pollen data already collected, the presence of forest patches in a mammoth steppe landscape, which might have influenced the collecting behavior of Epigravettian populations.

Published
2012
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13. Lower and Middle Pleistocene human settlements recorded in fluvial deposits of the middle Loire River Basin, Centre Region, France

Author

Sophie Robin, Salah Abdessadok, Marta Arzarello, Robert Sala, Jackie Despriée, Christophe Falguères, Laurent Marquer, Hélène Tissoux, Marie-Hélène Moncel, Gilles Courcimault, Pierre Voinchet, Simon Puaud, Erwan Messager, Jean Dépont, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), Centre régional de Recherches archéologiques, Laboratoires d'Analyses Industrielles, BioExigence, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici [Ferrare], Università di Ferrara, Area de Prehistoria (IPHES (Institut Catala de Paleoecologia humana i Evolucio Social)), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Les hominidés au quaternaire : milieux et comportements (HQMC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) (UNS), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Département de Préhistoire du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Università degli Studi di Ferrara (UniFE), and COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Archeology, Pleistocene, [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory, Drainage basin, Fluvial, Context (language use), Palaeocology, Structural basin, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, 01 natural sciences, [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences, Tributary, Middle Loire basin, Handaxes, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Human evolution, Palaeolithic, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, ESR dating, First human settlements, Global and Planetary Change, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, ESR dating, First human settlements, France, Handaxes, Human evolution, Middle Loire basin, Palaeocology, Palaeogeography, Palaeolithic, Pleistocene river deposits, Geology, Archaeology, 13. Climate action, Alluvium, France, Quaternary, Palaeogeography, Pleistocene river deposits
Abstract

This paper records the findings from c. 80 prehistoric sites that have been discovered in the alluvial deposits of the rivers Creuse, Cher, and Loir, tributaries of the middle Loire River, over the period since 1981. These deposits comprise river terrace aggradations formed during successive glacial–interglacial cycles which have recorded climate and environment during Quaternary time. The systematic dating of these river deposits by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) applied to optically bleached sedimentary quartz has resulted in the establishment of a chronological framework for the evolution of these rivers during Lower and Middle Pleistocene (between 1.7 Ma and 130 ka). Evidence for Early Palaeolithic (Mode 1) industries with an in situ context (workshops, soils) in the highest aggradations indicates that Hominins were present in the study area, near the geographical centre of France (47°N), around 1.1 Ma. Examination of the sites indicates that Human occupations were located along valley bottom sites during temperate episodes. Subsequently, after a gap of several hundred thousand years industries with handaxes appear in the Middle Loire Basin in the interval between 700 and 600 ka, and then continuously from 400 ka. These two phases of settlement produced industrial assemblages with clear differences in their responses to the supplies of raw materials and in the modes of making flakes.

Published
2011
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14. Timing of millet diffusion in the Alps from miliacin occurrence in lake sediments

Author

Pierre Sabatier, Charline Giguet-Covex, Elise Doyen, Jérôme Poulenard, Manon Bajard, Fabien Arnaud, Jérémy Jacob, Bernard Fanget, Emmanuel Malet, Anaëlle Simonneau, Erwan Messager, F. Renaud, David Etienne, C. Le Milbeau, Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327 (ISTO), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biogéosystèmes Continentaux - UMR7327, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry]), European Association of Organic Geochemists, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) (BRGM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])

Subjects
010506 paleontology, Setaria, Millet, [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes, Population, alps, 01 natural sciences, GEOF, Archaeological science, Prehistory, [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems, Bronze Age, [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry, Organic geochemistry, 0601 history and archaeology, education, Domestication, [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, 2. Zero hunger, education.field_of_study, Panicum miliaceum, 060102 archaeology, biology, [CHIM.ORGA]Chemical Sciences/Organic chemistry, sediments, 06 humanities and the arts, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, Archaeology, [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society, Geography, 13. Climate action, [SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy, [SHS.ENVIR]Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies
Abstract

International audience; Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) is considered as staple food for Europeans during prehistory. As a matter of fact, the Bronze Age was called Millet Golden Age by Marinval (1995). This cereal is distinct from those domesticated in the Fertile Crescent since its domestication was probably realised in Central Asia or China, and then its cultivation diffused towards the west thanks to population migrations or trades. The exact timing and routes of this diffusion, although documented by a large number of archaeological findings, remain to be precised. This would provide a more detailed picture of trading routes and migration pathways and pace of exchanges, with eventual relationships to climate changes.We have analysed miliacin, a molecular biomarker of millet (Jacob et al., 2008), in sediments from lakes Ledro (Utaly), Le Bourget, Paladru, Aiguebelette and La Thuile (France) in order to precise the timing of millet diffusion during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The first occurrence of miliacin in Ledro is dated back to 2400 BC. In Le Bourget, Paladru, Aiguebelette and La Thuile, the date of first miliacin appearance is remarkably synchronous around 1500 BC. Miliacin was also detected at low levels in all older sediments in La Thuile. This could result either from laboratory contamination or from the presence of an alternative miliacin source in the catchment. Indeed miliacin is found in low amounts in several other Poaceae (Bossard et al., 2013). In Aiguebelette, a single sample dated back to the Neolithic (~2300 BC) shows significant miliacin concentrations. Because this date is close to that found in Ledro, it could attest to an early attempt of millet cultivation, but would imply a rapid diffusion from the East.Finally, the evolution of millet concentration in sediments of Le Bourget, La Thuile and Aiguebelette allows us making several assumptions on the development of alpine populations during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Antiquity in the region, potentially linked to climate changes that affected the region at those times. ReferencesJacob et al., 2008. Millet cultivation history in the French Alps as evidenced by a sedimentary molecule. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 814–820.Marinval, 1995. Données carpologiques françaises sur les millets (Panicum miliaceum L. et Setaria italica L. Beauc.) de la Protohistoire au Moyen Age. In Hörrandner, E., editor, Millet. Actes du Congrès d'Aizenay (1990). Peter Lang, 31-61.Bossard et al., 2013. Distribution of miliacin (olean-18-en-3β-ol methyl ether) in broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), and other reputed potential sources. Consequences on the use of sedimentary miliacin as a tracer of millet. Organic Geochemistry 63, 48-55.

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