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Abstract: New investigations of finds from middle Rhone Valley sites (Le Figuier, Abri du Maras, Baume Flandin and Ranc Pointu 2) and from the mountainous southeastern area of the Massif Central (Sainte-Anne I, especially the unpublished data for unit J2) allowed assembly of new data on both chronological and environmental grounds for human occupation and consequently on Neanderthal subsistence strategies in this area. The southeastern Massif Central region makes it possible to examine Neanderthal occupation modes in an area linking medium altitude territories with the plains of the Rhone River corridor. This work aims to determine site occupation events and territory management strategies for these two environments. The variability of the site occupation types in the middle Rhone Valley supports the hypothesis of human groups who anticipated their land use strategies, and suggests a particular type of circulating model for these areas. The evidence suggests that the human presence consists of brief stopping-places, short-term regular camps (interspersed with some occupations by carnivores), or long-term residential camps. The types of occupation observed in the two mountain sites of Velay (Sainte-Anne I cave and Baume-Vallée rock-shelter) a priori do not indicate occupations specific to an environment at this altitude. On the contrary, they suggest the existence of short-term regular camps, probably seasonally utilised and exploited when good seasons favoured the expansion of accessible territories. The sites in the plains of the Rhone Valley corridor indicate a greater variety of occupation types, but still within the framework of strong seasonal mobility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from the Rhone Valley, in the South-East of France, increases our understanding of Neanderthal subsistence strategies and modes of territorial organisation by comparing a wide corpus of human occupations in limited chronological and geographical frameworks. The Neanderthal occupation modes may be examined using sites located in a reduced area, linking medium-altitude territories (Massif Central and the Alpine foothills) to the Rhone corridor. Through the combined analysis of the occupation levels of ten sites, all dated to between Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 7 and the beginning of MIS 3, we identify three types of occupation durations: (1) type 1 as long-term residential camps, (2) type 2 as short-term regular hunting camps and (3) type 3 as brief stopover camps. We discuss this variability of habitat types according to various parameters: site age, technical behaviour, environmental conditions, and site localisation and occupation seasons. The aim is to discern the underlying motivations behind Neanderthal group mobility. One of the main features of the Rhone Valley area is the great homogeneity of behaviours reflected within the sequences. This homogeneity, linked to the variability of the site occupations, supports the hypothesis of Neanderthal groups anticipating their land use requirements, and furthermore suggests that another type of circulating model was used in this area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Baume Flandin, located in the Middle Rhone valley, yielded in the 1950s an archaeological level attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic, with abundant elongated flakes. This feature is rare in southern Europe before MIS 4. The cave was totally excavated and little evidence existed to confirm the date of this level, which was attributed to the ‘Riss–Würm’ according to the fauna remains and the sediments. New fieldwork took place in 2005, in front of the cave entrance, on the terrace. The study of the archaeological level that has been discovered brings new information on the age of the sequence of this site. The human occupation took place in the latest interglacial, at the end of isotopic stage 5e. This date leads us to revive the debate on the first evidence of the laminar debitage between northern and southern Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]