The early phases of Neolithic expansion in the Central and Western Mediterranean are relatively poorly understood with regards to the diversity in the subsistence economy and the degree of interaction with indigenous hunter-gatherers. Recent analysis of pottery manufacturing techniques also points to a surprisingly diverse range of practices across the region. Here, we explore the use of pottery during the early phases of the Neolithic in the Northwestern Mediterranean, through analysis of organic residues absorbed in the pots of the Pendimoun rock-shelter (Impresso-Cardial complex) in Southeastern France. Using molecular and single-compounds stable carbon isotopes analyses, our study reveals that the majority of pots were used for processing wild or domesticated ruminant carcase fats, although lipids derived from cereals and wild non-ruminant fats, such as hares, cannot be excluded. In addition, a few of the earlier Impressa vessels showed the presence of beeswax and porcine fats. Correlations between the contents of the vessels and their volume were found, suggesting that vessels were manufactured for specific uses. Only one vessel from the Cardial phase showed evidence of dairy fats strengthening the notion that milk was not heavily or systematically exploited by the earliest Neolithic populations of the Mediterranean. Overall, however, our study calls for more detailed regional investigations to fully understand the transition to farming according to the local landscape and environmental context.
PDF HAL : https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03041190/document
EDITEUR : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X20304739?via%3Dihub
Emilie Guillaud, Philippe Béarez, Camille Daujeard, Alban Defleur, Emmanuel Desclaux, Eufrasia Rosello-Izquierdo, Arturo Moraes-Muniz, Marie-Hélène Moncel. Neanderthal foraging in freshwater ecosystems: A reappraisal of the Middle Paleolithic archaeological fish record from continental Western Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, Elsevier, 2020, pp.106731. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106731). (hal-03070896)
The prevalence of large game found in association with Middle Paleolithic tools has traditionally biased our ideas of Neanderthal subsistence practices. Studies document the exploitation of small mammals, birds, and plants by Neanderthals, whereas data on aquatic resources are still scarce and data on fish are almost non-existent. This article presents a review of fish remains from 11 Middle Palaeolithic fish bone assemblages from well contextualized sites in Belgium, France and Spain. It explores the nature of the evidence in order to determine whether Neanderthal fished and if so, whether fishing was a casual, opportunistic activity or a systematic practice. The first issue to address is whether archaeological fish remains at any given site represent human activity or not. Our study tests that assertion while enhancing our understanding of the diversity of food alternatives available to Neanderthals at any given site, and their ability to adapt to them. Methodological protocols include quantification, body mass and length estimations, and, whenever possible, spatial distribution of fish remains, taphonomic analyses and inference of the season of death. This methodology constitutes an analytical protocol to assess the contribution of fish to the human diet during the Paleolithic and set apart human-generated fish deposits from those generated by alternative fish accumulators. The evidence gathered so far points essentially to circumstantial fishing by Neanderthals, and the question must necessarily remain open for the moment. Nevertheless, some of the evidence, in particular the presence of large (>1 kg) fish in anthropogenic deposits and the absence of animal digestive traces and gnawing marks on fish bones in such deposits, seems compelling and suggests that Neanderthals could have played a role in the accumulation of some of these remains.
Article : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105291
This paper presents novel insights into the archaeology of food in ancient South Asia by using lipid residue analysis to investigate what kinds of foodstuffs were used in ceramic vessels by populations of the Indus Civilisation in northwest India. It examines how vessels were used in urban and rural Indus settlements during the Mature Harappan period (c.2600/2500–1900 BC), the relationship between vessels and the products within them, and identifies whether changes in vessel use occurred from the Mature Harappan to Late Harappan periods, particularly during climatic instability after 4.2 ka BP (c.2100 BC). Despite low lipid concentrations, which highlight challenges with conducting residue analysis in arid, seasonally-wet and alkaline environments, 71% of the vessels yielded appreciable quantities of lipid. Lipid profiles revealed the use of animal fats in vessels, and contradictory to faunal evidence, a dominance of non-ruminant fats, with limited evidence of dairy processing. The absence of local modern reference fats makes this dataset challenging to interpret, and it is possible that plant products or mixtures of plant and animal products have led to ambiguous fatty acid-specific isotopic values. At the same time, it appears that urban and rural populations processed similar types of products in vessels, with limited evidence for change in vessel use from the urban to the post-urban period. This study is a systematic investigation into pot lipid residues from multiple sites, demonstrating the potential of the method for examining ancient Indus foodways and the need for the development of further research in ancient organic residues in South Asia.
Elysandre Puech, Marion Bamford, Guillaume Porraz, Aurore Val & Isabelle Théry-Parisot. Quaternary International https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.11.018
En Afrique australe, les projets de recherche préhistoriques intègrent de plus en plus l’étude des charbons de bois préservés sur les sites archéologiques car ils fournissent de précieuses informations paléoécologiques et paléoethnobotaniques. Cependant, si la région bénéficie d’une préservation particulièrement bonne des restes archéobotaniques, les études anthracologiques restent sous-exploitées et le cadre méthodologique doit encore être développé et adapté aux divers contextes écologiques de la région. Les auteurs présentent une revue des principaux fondements et méthodes de la discipline au regard de leurs applications aux contextes de l’Afrique australe. La question de la taille de l’échantillon et de sa représentativité à l’égard à la fois du dépôt et de l’environnement n’a pas été explorée et aucune méthode normalisée n’a été développée pour la région. Ces questions méthodologiques ont été testées sur le riche assemblage de charbon de bois conservé dans les niveaux Later Stone Age du site de Bushman Rock Shelter (Afrique du Sud). Dans cette article méthodologique, les auteurs proposent une stratégie d’échantillonnage prenant en compte les spécificités de la région et une réflexion sur les différentes étapes de l’étude du terrain jusqu’au laboratoire. Enfin les résultats permettent de discuter de la pertinence d’appliquer des méthodes classiques de l’anthracologie pourtant initialement développées pour des contextes européens.
Consulter l’article (en anglais) : https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1c86F3ic-FNaKA
Juan Manuel López-García, Gloria Cuenca-Bescós, Maria Ángeles Galindo-Pellicena, Elisa Luzi, Claudio Berto, Lebreton Loïc and Emmanuel Desclaux. Rodents as indicators of the climatic conditions during the Middle Pleistocene in the southwestern Mediterranean region: implications for the environment in which hominins lived. Journal of Human Evolution, Elsevier, 2021, 150, pp.102911. ⟨10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102911⟩. ⟨hal-03029826⟩
Rodents are a very useful tool in reconstructing the environment of the past, especially owing to their rapid response to climate change, their small home range, and their restricted habitat requirements. They are a highly diverse group of mammals, which have high reproduction rates and as a result can evolve rapidly. The abundance of their microfossil remains in archaeological and paleontological sites permits robust statistical analyses to reconstruct the past climate and environment. Recently, a number of studies have affirmed the need to deepen the climatic characterization of the European Quaternary, the Middle Pleistocene being an important stage for ascertaining how our hominin ancestors lived. The aim of this study is to characterize the climatic conditions in which hominins lived in southwestern Mediterranean Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. To reconstruct these climatic conditions, we apply the bioclimatic model to rodent assemblages from Middle Pleistocene sites with human remains (Caune de l’Arago, Sima de los Huesos, Aroeira cave, Visogliano, Trinchera Galeria, and Mollet cave). Based on the percentage distribution of the species in different climate types and applying multiple linear regressions, we estimated the mean annual temperature, the mean temperature of the coldest month, and the mean temperature of the warmest month. We compared these estimates with data collected over the last 30 years from nearby meteorological stations to obtain the differences with current climate and observe the fluctuations. The climatic conditions obtained from the results of this study show that, while in Iberia mild climatic condition prevailed, in southern France and northeastern Italy harsher weather conditions were indicated.
Article sur le site de l’éditeur : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aae.12168
HAL : https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03042019
In order to understand the role of water resources in the establishment and long‐term evolution of settlements investigated by the French Archaeological Mission in the UAE in the oasis of Masāfī, wells and springs of all periods, identified at the surface and in stratified contexts, were mapped and studied thanks to a multidisciplinary approach combining archaeology, geomorphology, geoarchaeology and ethnography. Our study demonstrates that:
- The Masāfī oasis was located in a specific geological setting entailing the accumulation of groundwater resources at reachable depth.
- The groundwater resources remained rather stable from the mid‐second millennium BC to the second half of the twentieth century AD. In this respect, the apparent abandonment of the oasis during some periods cannot be explained by water depletion.
- The groundwater resources have decreased sharply since the second half of the twentieth century AD, due to the introduction of new water extraction technologies, motor pumps and then drillings, as a result of the modernisation and industrialisation of UAE economy.
Our study also stresses the importance of well and spring irrigation in the development of the sedentary settlements in south‐eastern Arabia, technologies that have often been neglected in the regional archaeological literature in favour of the qanāt.
Le gisement de Hălăbutoaia – Ţolici (Neamț County, Roumanie), fouillé sous la direction de O. Weller (Trajectoire – UMR 8215 ), témoigne d’une exploitation des sources d’eau salée dès le Néolithique ancien et jusqu’à la fin du Chalcolithique (env. 6000-3500 av. n. è.). L’analyse phytolithique montre que les graminées ont eu un rôle très important dans production du sel, soit comme combustible principal, soit comme moyen de contrôle de la température ou même comme allume-feu. On note en particulier l’utilisation probable de déchets du traitement des céréales, et notamment des panicoïdées (« millets »).
Consultez l’article en Open Access chez Springer
Numerous ocher remains were found in cultural layers 6, 2G, and 2B of the Paleolithic site Kovrizhka IV on the Vitim River, in the Baikal-Patom Highlands (Eastern Siberia). These layers are dated by radiocarbon to the interval of ~19.2–18.3 ka cal BP. In cultural layers 2B and 2G, ocher colored the living floors and combustion areas. Stratigraphic observations indicate that this was done at the very beginning of the occupation. In layer 6, traces of ocher were present on an anthropomorphic figurine made of mammoth ivory, and pieces of ocher were found near the head of another such figurine. In layer 2B, a large piece of ocher was unearthed at the edge of the hearth. Ocher residues were also detected by use-wear analysis on certain artifacts. This variety of patterns suggests different functions of ocher, possibly both symbolic and utilitarian. The mineral composition of ocher was assessed by X-ray diffraction analysis. In all three layers, hematite is associated with quartz. In layer 2G, an additional type of ocher was identified, containing impurities, such as calcite and chlorite. Known sources of ocher are located in the distribution areas of magnetite and hematite ores, over 500 km southwest and southeast of Kovrizhka IV. The importance of ocher in the life of these societies is discussed in light of the archaeological evidence and the long- distance raw material acquisition patterns of ocher.
Lien: https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/1017#
Alternative agro-ecological solutions based on scientific research arise worldwide in order to find a sustainable balance between productivity, biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty. These are often drawn from age-old practices that have been passed down by Indigenous knowledge through centuries. The goal of this special issue is to provide a historical-ecological perspective of agricultural systems in the tropics. We invite submission of original research that focus on indigenous horticultural, agricultural, and agroforestry systems of all time periods in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: plant and animal domestication and the development of agriculture; farming techniques including irrigation, earthworks, soil improvement; vulnerability and resilience of food systems; adaptation to climate change; and long-term impact of agricultural systems on landscapes.
De Boko Haram à la guerre en Centrafrique, les insécurités constituent un facteur majeur de recomposition des sociétés dans le bassin du lac Tchad (Cameroun, Centrafrique, Niger, Nigeria, Tchad). Peu connus, difficiles d’accès, les espaces de conflits et de violences de cette région se prêtent difficilement aux analyses des chercheurs et des acteurs du développement. D’où l’intérêt des enquêtes de terrain longues et approfondies présentées dans cet ouvrage, qui permettent de proposer une lecture des conflits fondée sur l’étude des dynamiques locales et du vécu des populations, par le prisme de diverses disciplines des sciences humaines et sociales. Il montre la diversité des insécurités – de la violence ordinaire à la guerre –, leur profondeur historique, ainsi que les enjeux économiques et politiques qui les sous-tendent. L’ouvrage présente également la question de la lutte contre les insécurités, qu’elle relève du militaire, du politique ou du développement. Chercheurs, décideurs, acteurs du développement et tous lecteurs concernés par les insécurités en Afrique de l’Ouest et centrale y trouveront informations et analyses originales sur les risques, les violences et les conflits du circum tchadien.
Prix : 29 €
ISBN : 978-2-7099-2828-1
Pour l’acquérir : https://www.editions.ird.fr/produit/577/9782709928281/Conflits%20et%20violences%20dans%20le%20bassin%20du%20lac%20Tchad
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