- IRAMAT-CRP2A UMR5060
Université Bordeaux 3
Maison de l'Archéologie
Esplanade des Antilles
F-33607 Pessac Cedex - +335 57 12 15 89
Christelle Lahaye
Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, IRAMAT-CRPAA, Faculty Member
- Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, UFR Humanités, Faculty Memberadd
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Des datations par thermoluminescence (TL) ont ete entreprises sur une serie de silex presentant des traces de chauffe recueillis au cours des fouilles preventives du seul ensemble mousterien du site de plein air des Forets, sur le trace... more
Des datations par thermoluminescence (TL) ont ete entreprises sur une serie de silex presentant des traces de chauffe recueillis au cours des fouilles preventives du seul ensemble mousterien du site de plein air des Forets, sur le trace de l'autoroute A89 (Bordeaux -Perigueux). Le couplage de la TL avec la Resonance Paramagnetique Electronique a permis d'evaluer l'histoire thermique des materiaux et d'affiner la methodologie de la datation en vue de l'obtention d'une plus grande exactitude des mesures. Deux silex se sont averes suffisamment chauffes pour mener a bien la datation. Les resultats obtenus sont les suivants : 90.3′5.0 ka (BDX 5177 - J8B#2) et 97.0+6.9 ka (BDX 5178 - L12C#1).
Research Interests: Paleobiology and Biology
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The origin of funerary practices has important implications for the emergence of so-called modern cognitive capacities and behaviour. We provide new multidisciplinary information on the archaeological context of the La Ferrassie 8... more
The origin of funerary practices has important implications for the emergence of so-called modern cognitive capacities and behaviour. We provide new multidisciplinary information on the archaeological context of the La Ferrassie 8 Neandertal skeleton (grand abri of La Ferrassie, Dordogne, France), including geochronological data -14C and OSL-, ZooMS and ancient DNA data, geological and stratigraphic information from the surrounding context, complete taphonomic study of the skeleton and associated remains, spatial information from the 1968–1973 excavations, and new (2014) fieldwork data. Our results show that a pit was dug in a sterile sediment layer and the corpse of a two-year-old child was laid there. A hominin bone from this context, identified through Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and associated with Neandertal based on its mitochondrial DNA, yielded a direct 14C age of 41.7–40.8 ka cal BP (95%), younger than the 14C dates of the overlying archaeopaleontological la...
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Current archaeological paradigm proposes that the first peopling of the Americas does not exceed the Last Glacial Maximum period. In this context, the acceptance of the anthropogenic character of the earliest stone artefacts generally... more
Current archaeological paradigm proposes that the first peopling of the Americas does not exceed the Last Glacial Maximum period. In this context, the acceptance of the anthropogenic character of the earliest stone artefacts generally rests on the presence of projectile points considered no more as typocentric but as typognomonic, since it allows, by itself, to certify the human character of the other associated artefacts. In other words, without this presence, nothing is certain. Archaeological research at Piauí (Brazil) attests to a Pleistocene human presence between 41 and 14 cal kyr BP, without any record of lithic projectile points. Here, we report the discovery and interpretation of an unusual stone artefact in the Vale da Pedra Furada site, in a context dating back to 24 cal kyr BP. The knapping stigmata and macroscopic use-wear traces reveal a conception centred on the configuration of double bevels and the production in the same specimen of at least two successive artefacts...
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Research Interests: Archaeology and Paleo
The position of the corpse of Regourdou 1 has never been discussed on the basis of available documents related to its 1957 discovery and the subsequent 1961-64 excavations. Considering new data (Bordes’ field notes, 2 unpublished... more
The position of the corpse of Regourdou 1 has never been discussed on the basis of available documents related to its 1957 discovery and the subsequent 1961-64 excavations. Considering new data (Bordes’ field notes, 2 unpublished drawings, 1957 and 1961 photographs, new human remains, labels or texts written on the bones, distribution of the1961 spatially recorded objects), we assume that the 1957 human remains were in square G2 of Bonifay’s 61-64 excavation grid, while the lower limb extremities were in square G3. Following the anatomical logic of the human body, we assume that Regourdou 1 was lying flat, perhaps on his left side, the head to the west. This hypothesis is different from that previously proposed. The question as to whether there is a Neandertal intentional burial at Regourdou is discussed.
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A function named analyse baSAR() was written using the statistical programming language R and its code is now available within the R package ’Luminescence’. The function allows the application of the Bayesian hierarchical model ’baSAR’... more
A function named analyse baSAR() was written using the statistical programming language R and its code is now available within the R package ’Luminescence’. The function allows the application of the Bayesian hierarchical model ’baSAR’ proposed by Comb`es et al. (2015) and comes with additional features to analyse luminescence data in a straight forward way. Example scripts are provided showing the possible numerical and graphical outputs.
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In this study we compare different infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals for dating archaeological deposits. The IRSL and the more recently developed post-IR IRSL (pIR-IR) methods were investigated using polymineral fine grains... more
In this study we compare different infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals for dating archaeological deposits. The IRSL and the more recently developed post-IR IRSL (pIR-IR) methods were investigated using polymineral fine grains extracted from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic western excavation area in the site of La Ferrassie (SW France). The IRSL data measured at 50 °C (IR50) are compared to those obtained with the elevated pIR-IR signals measured for two stimulation temperatures, 225 °C (pIR-IR225) and 290 °C (pIR-IR290). The signals are documented in terms of bleaching and fading rates. In addition, comparisons of the IR50 ages corrected either with the H + L method (Huntley and Lamothe, 2001) or with the dose rate correction method (DRC, Lamothe et al., 2003) are presented. Results show that the polymineral fine grains give a reasonable estimate of the burial age of the samples. The IR50 and pIR-IR225 provide the most reliable ages when they are corrected using the DR...
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Neanderthal material culture patterning in Western Europe has been primarily approached from retouched stone tools and associated flake production methods. While considerable effort has been devoted over the past decade to better... more
Neanderthal material culture patterning in Western Europe has been primarily approached from retouched stone tools and associated flake production methods. While considerable effort has been devoted over the past decade to better characterize Middle Palaeolithic lithic techno-complexes (LTCs) in this region, the extent to which they reflect cultural groups still remains unclear. In this respect, integrating other forms of archaeological evidence could provide valuable insights on the cultural significance of late Middle Palaeolithic industrial variability. The site of Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) has yielded consistent evidence of mineral pigment use throughout the upper part of the sequence. Here we explore whether mineral pigments might be embedded with an indexical meaning and if changes in pigment exploitation potentially reflect cultural changes. We combined a microscopic use-wear approach with SEM-EDS, pXRF, and XRD analyses of 73 pigment fragments from layers 26 to 11 in order to reconstruct the different stages of their acquisition and use (provenance, selection, processing, function). Our results show manganese oxides to have been used in the lower layers of the Quina LTC, while red and/or yellow iron oxide pieces were employed during the Discoid and Discoid/Levallois LTCs. This decrease in manganese oxide use correlates with a change in lithic technology and may represent some form of cultural change.
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The newly reported California discovery of mastodon remains possibly altered by humans more than 130 ka is unprecedented and potentially transformational. It calls for a concerted effort in North and South America to investigate other... more
The newly reported California discovery of mastodon remains possibly altered by humans more than 130 ka is unprecedented and potentially transformational. It calls for a concerted effort in North and South America to investigate other such ancient contexts that substantially predate the commonly accepted late-glacial timing of the first peopling of the New World.
The site of La Quina Amont, located in the Charente region, is one of the most important sites in southwestern France for studying major changes in human behaviors from the Middle Paleolithic (MP) to the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP).... more
The site of La Quina Amont, located in the Charente region, is one of the most important sites in southwestern France for studying major changes in human behaviors from the Middle Paleolithic (MP) to the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP). Extensively excavated over the past 50 years, numerous dating studies have been focused on the Upper Paleolithic deposits using radiocarbon on bone collagen and thermoluminescence (TL) on heated flints; however, the Mousterian levels remain undated due to the scarcity of suitable materials. Our investigations aimed to provide for the first time a chronological framework for the site using luminescence dating methods on different minerals contained in the sediments. Coarse grains of quartz were dated using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique, and polymineral fine grains were dated using both infrared (IRSL) and post-infrared (pIR-IRSL) stimulated luminescence signals. OSL, IRSL and pIR-IRSL results were combined with available TL and r...
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Current archaeological paradigm proposes that the first peopling of the Americas does not exceed the Last Glacial Maximum period. In this context, the acceptance of the anthropo-genic character of the earliest stone artefacts generally... more
Current archaeological paradigm proposes that the first peopling of the Americas does not exceed the Last Glacial Maximum period. In this context, the acceptance of the anthropo-genic character of the earliest stone artefacts generally rests on the presence of projectile points considered no more as typocentric but as typognomonic, since it allows, by itself, to certify the human character of the other associated artefacts. In other words, without this presence, nothing is certain. Archaeological research at Piauí (Brazil) attests to a Pleisto-cene human presence between 41 and 14 cal kyr BP, without any record of lithic projectile points. Here, we report the discovery and interpretation of an unusual stone artefact in the Vale da Pedra Furada site, in a context dating back to 24 cal kyr BP. The knapping stigmata and macroscopic use-wear traces reveal a conception centred on the configuration of double bevels and the production in the same specimen of at least two successive artefacts with probably different functions. This piece unambiguously presents an anthropic character and reveals a technical novelty during the Pleistocene occupation of South America.
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Within the framework of the studies focusing on the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas, our French-Brazilian team has undertaken a pluridisciplinary research on different archaeological sites, inside and in the neighborhood of the Serra... more
Within the framework of the studies focusing on the Pleistocene peopling of the Americas, our French-Brazilian team has undertaken a pluridisciplinary research on different archaeological sites, inside and in the neighborhood of the Serra da Capivara National Park, in Brazilian Nordeste. The present study regards an archaeological site, Vale da Pedra Furada, situated in the Piauí state in Brazil. The results of technological and functional studies suggest the existence of different successive human occupations during the Pleistocene in this region. Moreover, the geological and geomorphological studies shed new light on our understanding of sedimentary processes and confirm that the levels were not subject to any significant post-depositional processes. This is also confirmed by macro-and micro-analysis of quartz artefact surfaces. The chronological study has recently been completed employing both radiocarbon and lumi-nescence techniques; radiocarbon dates were obtained on charcoal, multi-grain and single-grain OSL ages on sedimentary quartz grains. The results obtained with the different methods are consistent with each other: the most recent archaeological level is dated to around 8 ka and the oldest to 24 ka, indicating the open-air site of Vale da Pedra Furada to be a succession of human occupations beginning from OIS 2. These results are discussed in the context of some archaeological sites studied in the Serra da Capivara National Park of the last few decades.
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new excavations have focused on the northern part of the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião (TJBA-N) rockshelter, which is located on the edge of the Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil. Ten sediment samples were dated by... more
new excavations have focused on the northern part of the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião (TJBA-N) rockshelter, which is located on the edge of the Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil. Ten sediment samples were dated by multigrain quartz OSL and three samples by feldspar IRSL. Multigrain OSL ages on quartz were assessed using the Central Age Model (CAM) and a Bayesian model built with the R BayLum statistics package. Ages are in good stratigraphic agreement and ages from quartz and feldspars, when available, are internally consistent. Furthermore, we produced a Bayesian model (BayLum) based on OSL ages obtained for the six sediment samples of the main stratigraphy that included stratigraphic constraints and a covariance matrix of errors. Two gaps in sedimentation were detected and can be correlated with climatic changes during the MIS 3 and during the MIS 3 to MIS 2 transition. Finally, our results provide a chronological framework for a new important Pleistocene-Holocene sequence in the region.
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When and how did the first human beings settle in the American continent? Numerous data, from archaeological researches as well as from palaeogenetics, anthropological and environmental studies, have led to partially contradictory... more
When and how did the first human beings settle in the American continent? Numerous data, from archaeological researches as well as from palaeogenetics, anthropological and environmental studies, have led to partially contradictory interpretations in recent years, often because of the lack of a reliable chronological framework. The present study contributes to the establishment of such a framework using luminescence techniques to date a Brazilian archaeological site, the Toca da Tira Peia. It constitutes an exemplary case study: all our observations and measurements tend to prove the good integrity of the site and the anthropological nature of the artifacts and we are confident in the accuracy of the luminescence dating results. All these points underline the importance of the Toca da Tira Peia. The results bring new pieces of evidence of a human presence in the northeast of Brazil as early as 20,000 BC. The Toca da Tira Peia thus contributes to the rewriting of the history of the peopling of the American continent.
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We present evidence of Middle Pleistocene activity in the central Aegean Basin at the chert extraction and reduction complex of Stelida (Naxos, Greece). Luminescence dating places ~9000 artifacts in a stratigraphic sequence from ~13 to... more
We present evidence of Middle Pleistocene activity in the central Aegean Basin at the chert extraction and reduction complex of Stelida (Naxos, Greece). Luminescence dating places ~9000 artifacts in a stratigraphic sequence from ~13 to 200 thousand years ago (ka ago). These artifacts include Mousterian products, which arguably provide first evidence for Neanderthals in the region. This dated material attests to a much earlier history of regional exploration than previously believed, opening the possibility of alternative routes into Southeast Europe from Anatolia (and Africa) for (i) hominins, potentially during sea level lowstands (e.g., Marine Isotope Stage 8) permitting terrestrial crossings across the Aegean, and (ii) Homo sapiens of the Early Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian), conceivably by sea.
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Cet article présente une synthèse des données chronologiques du site des Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, Charente, France). Le gisement se caractérise dans son locus est par un remplissage de près de quatre mètres d'épaisseur ayant livré... more
Cet article présente une synthèse des données chronologiques du site des Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, Charente, France). Le gisement se caractérise dans son locus est par un remplissage de près de quatre mètres d'épaisseur ayant livré des dépôts de la fin du Paléolithique moyen dans lesquels une industrie moustérienne de type Quina est associée à une faune abondante largement dominée par le renne. Durant les fouilles conduites par B. Maureille et A. Mann entre 2001 et 2013, les données chronologiques obtenues pour ce locus ont été peu nombreuses : une datation par thermoluminescence (TL) sur un silex chauffé et une autre par U-Th sur un spéléothème situé dans la partie inférieure de la séquence. Plusieurs datations par le radiocarbone ont été également réalisées sur des ossements provenant du sommet du remplissage, mais se sont révélées partiellement infructueuses en raison de l'ancienneté des vestiges. Ces données constituent des jalons importants permettant d'esquisser une chronologie préliminaire de cette séquence, sans toutefois donner une attribution chronologique précise aux vestiges découverts. Dans le cadre d'un projet pluridisciplinaire visant à établir des jalons chronologiques fiables pour l'évolution des cultures néandertaliennes du Sud-Ouest de la France, nous avons entrepris la datation des dépôts sédimentaires de la séquence
Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter’s overhang. The bottom set, slightly more than... more
Sítio do Meio, discovered in the 1990s, showed a sedimentary sequence clearly composed of two sets of deposits separated by a zone of large rockfall from the massive collapse of the shelter’s overhang. The
bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end
scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the midUpper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic
sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we
observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, forexample behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.
bottom set, slightly more than 60 cm thick, was trapped between the bedrock (upon which it rested) and the lower part of the roof fall (reaching more than 1 m in the excavation area), and yielded some charcoal without other archaeological material. New excavations, however, have revealed the presence of artifacts, additional charcoal, and an alignment of sandstone blocks providing clear boundaries for the artifact concentration. The typological and technological composition of the artifacts is classic, with tools made by shaping high-quality quartz pebbles and tools made on shaping chips or on chips obtained by bipolar percussion of quartz blocks. Quartzite was also used, but only in the manufacture of larger tools, of certain types. The toolkit is made of several convergent pieces, denticulates, rostres, scrapers, and end
scrapers. Radiocarbon dating results indicate a Pleistocene age, corresponding to the end of the midUpper Pleistocene (MIS3). These dates confirm that Sítio do Meio is the seventh Pleistocene stratigraphic
sequence known from a 20-km-radius zone, coming from different sedimentary horizons, testifying to a human presence that extends from MIS3 until the middle Holocene, in this region of Piauí. Particularly, we
observed that this occupation still has periodic gaps, with phases of occupation occurring in either short or long periods. With the new data, we are able to consider the cultural specificities of each set in the context of climate data to better understand the diversity of occupation within a single territory, forexample behavioral variation in the management of space, adaptive responses to environmental pressures, or potentially both at the same time.
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This paper is a chronological data complement of the results obtained in the site of La Folie at Poitiers. This Mousterian occupation was discovered and revealed during a preventive archaeological excavation. The primary results were a... more
This paper is a chronological data complement of the results obtained in the site of La Folie at Poitiers. This Mousterian occupation was discovered and revealed during a preventive archaeological excavation. The primary results were a purpose of a first publication in the same review in 2002, which are resumed at this time. For more information we send back the reader at this contribution more substantial.The thermoluminescence dating on a heated flint from the Mousterian site of La Folie enables to situate in time its Neandertalian occupation in early interpleniglacial (about 58000 years). Moreover its cultural attribution to the Moustérien de Tradition Acheuléenne features by F. Bordes is confirmed. The existence of a structured open-air Mousterian settlement close to those known for the superior Palaeolithic is attested by this study. In effect, this occupation delivered many entropic remains bury at more than 2m depth in overflowing mud of the Clain river. This fast covering ma...
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Research Interests: Archaeology and Antiquity
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Archaeological research of late Pleistocene sites in northeastern Brazil has rarely analyzed site formation processes from a geoarchaeological perspective. This has contributed to the longheld debate over the reliability of Pleistocene... more
Archaeological research of late Pleistocene sites in northeastern Brazil has rarely analyzed site formation processes from a geoarchaeological perspective. This has contributed to the longheld debate over the reliability of Pleistocene ages and the anthropic origin of stone tools and combustion features. In this work, we combine high-resolution geoarchaeological methods to study the formation processes of the Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião North site (TJBA-North), located in a surface karst about 12 km northeast of the classical site of Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Serra da Capivara, Piauí). The site contains stone tools and megafauna remains in sedimentary levels that have been dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) as more than 20,000 years ago up to the early Holocene. Using micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), micro-FTIR on the micromorphology thin sections, and magnetic analyses, we carried out a comprehensive study of the climatic conditions during the late and terminal Pleistocene and investigated the depositional history of the site.