Processus de formation des sites et concept du Tayacien : l’exemple de Fontéchevade (Charente, France)

Abstract: The Tayacian was first recognized early in the 20th century by the French archaeologist Denis Peyrony at the site of La Micoque, located in the Department of the Dordogne in SW France. Not long afterwards, later excavations at another site 80 km to the northwest, in the Charente, yielded an even larger assemblage of this type, which was more fully documented by the excavator. It was for this reason that this latter site, Fontéchevade, ultimately become the reference site for the Tayacian. Based on recent excavations at this site by the present authors, however, there are multiple lines of evidence that, taken together, strongly suggest that assemblage present in this cave is largely of natural, rather than anthropogenic, origin. This paper presents these results in the context of the history of the Tayacian and the cave of Fontéchevade itself. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]