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dAf 28

VITAL Joël

Protohistoire du défilé de Donzère

L'âge du Bronze dans la Baume des Anges (Drôme)

This study by Joël Vital makes accessible for the first time a whole range of remains from the mid-Rhone Valley in the Final Bronze Age. It has not proved possible to examine dwelling site organization nor stratigraphy for tbe Baume des Anges site, which originally spanned a period ranging from the Chalcolithic to the Final Bronze Age 3b: nevertheless, systematic analysis of the archaeological artefacts, mainly ceramic and metallic, has established both their dates and their geographical origins.

Statistical treatment of data indicates persistent geographic links with northern Italy during the Early and Late Bronze Ages, and with the northern Alpine regions in the Final Bronze Age. The new and definitive chronological framework established by this study reveals on one band a synchronization with the different stages of development of the Bronze Age in continental Europe, and on the other band the lengthening of that period. This last point has implications concerning the dynamics of spatial occupation which will have to be taken into account from now onwards.

Abstract

Abstract

1. The site in context

The study of the archaeological artefact? from the Baume des Anges in Donzère (Drôme) forms part of overall research into Rhône Valley Bronze Age cultures, and constitutes an avenue of approach to the subject. The Baume des Anges site, probably the most important stratified deposit in the Rhône Valley, was excavated between 1967 and 1974 using methods which did not allow of site planning or stratigraphy. Fresh examination of the excavation documents makes it clear that the stratigraphy included remains covering a period stretching from the Early Bronze Age to the Final Bronze Age 3b, with most numerous periods of occupation, apparently for dwelling-site purposes during the Final Bronze Age 1-2a.

2. The archaeological artefacts

The archaeological artefacts, mainly ceramics, were subjected to close study with the purpose of defining as precisely as possible their chronological and geographical origins, while avoiding the rather literary and imprecise character of the comparative method. Ceramic shapes were defined in sufficient detail to allow piece-by-piece comparisons over the whole of the Alpine and surrounding sectors. Occurrences were then counted per period and per region using a geographical framework which separates the western areas of France, the north (the Paris and Rhine basins), the centre (central and eastern France, Swiss plateau), Provence, the Languedoc, the mid-Rhône Valley and northern Italy. The information is synthesized on two graphs. A histogram showing frequency of geographical occurrence (fig. 56) gives the number of comparisons carried out between the area of reference and the Baume des Anges. A distance known as the « Link » (fig. 57) shows positive and negative divergences from the average, and by means of a khi2 metric calculation, quantifies occurrence credit or deficit for each region and each stage.

Several situations of balance between opposing geographical areas show up clearly on the histograms : between the centre and the Languedoc, the mid-Rhône Valley and Italy, and between the west and Italy. The oppositions bear out the inferences which can be made from the geographical position of a sample under study, which is moreover situated in a major zone of contact and exchange.

The Early Bronze Age (figs. 9-12) is characterized by the strong unity of ceramic production among the different western alpine regions, in contrast to the west and the north. The Link demonstrates the importance of the Italian element, which is confirmed by the positive Link with Provence, and the relative independence of the centre, the mid-Rhône Valley and the Languedoc. Nevertheless these Italian connections do not correspond to the elements of the Polada culture as described by Italian authors. The study confirm the absence of an overall unity in the Rhône culture and the necessity of renewing the critical examination of this concept and its practical value, in view of the vigorous transalpine Link.

The Middle Bronze Age (fig.13) is here represented by an intermediate stage, distinct from Middle Bronze Age 1, which is a prolongation of Early Bronze Age 3. The high level of local connections, mid-Rhône Valley and Languedoc, demonstrates a regionalization which is dual in origin. This distinct phase in development may represent both the reaction to the gradual emergence of a dual culture influence, both northern and Italian, which was destined to become a deep-seated phenomenon, and pressures brought to bear both within societies and on the environment (reduction of human influence). This regionalization is characterized by changes in the repertoire of ceramic forms and decoration, some of which is reminiscent of the Appennine groups of central Italy, with the invention of the St. Vérédème style.

Gathered under the heading of Late Bronze Age are those ceramic artefacts which cannot definitely be attributed to the Middle Bronze Age 3 or the Final Bronze Age 1 (figs. 14-17 and 30-35). A new discontinuity may be observed with increasing frequency of occurrence in the centre, Italy and the north. Conversely, a decrease is noted for the mid-Rhône Valley and Languedoc, possibly due to the deficit of complexes of the period in those regions. The Link shows the importance of Italian influence and the pre-eminence of relationships with the centre, the Jura and the Swiss plateau, even with Lower Austria. This new discontinuity suggests that cultural reaction to the external constraints of the Middle Bronze Age 2 was inadequate. All the metallic finds show affinities outside the region. The Donzère series show the cultural dynamism of the Final Bronze Age as finding its origins in the Late Bronze Age.

The Final Bronze Age 2 is divided into two stages for convenience and because of the limitations imposed by the comparative approach, although within the Rhône Valley there exist at least four facies of probable chronological value, of which two date from the Final Bronze Age 2b. During the Final Bronze Age 2a (figs. 18-28 and 30-35) the positive Links of the north and the centre are related to the groups of grooved ware from the Binningen stage of the Paris and Rhine basins. The negative Link of the mid-Rhône Valley and the Languedoc. should be weighted both for frequency, which corresponds to genuinely local production, and for the highly positive Link of the local element which should itself be related to the overall volume of Final Bronze Age 2a production. Connections with Italy are in sharp decline, although the rarity of complexes dating from this period in Piedmont and Lombardy does not suffice to explain this phenomenon.

During the Final Bronze Age 2b (figs. 37-40) the northern Link shows the impact of the Rhine-Switzerland- Eastern France group. The positive Link of the mid-Rhône Valley show the capacity to assimilate this influence by creating local styles among which grooved decoration is a noticeable feature. The positive Link and the frequent occurrences with the mid-Rhône Valley serve as weighting to a negative Link for the local element. The trend towards the disappearance of contacts with Italy becomes more marked, since there are few signs of the extension of the Rhine-Switzerland-Eastern France group in this region.

We may further note the absence of remains dating from the Final Bronze Age 3a, although these exist to the north, west and south of the Alps.

In the Final Bronze Age 3b (figs. 41 to 50) numerous comparisons can be made with the Languedoc, the west and the whole of the mid-Rhône Valley. More tenuous contacts with the north and the centre (including the Swiss plateau) show a negative Link. The rarity of contacts with northern Italy, where the Link is very negative, concords well with their exceptional nature. The Donzère series from the mid-Rhône Valley and the Languedoc thus constitute an autonomous group, with the trend towards regionalization probably associated with social phenomena (occupation of high ground, individual tombs covered with tumuli).

Finally, the independence of Provence may be noted for all phases of the Link graphs except for two periods : the Early Bronze Age with a significant positive Link, and the Final Bronze Age 2b with a negative Link arising from the low impact of the Rhine-Switzerland-Eastern France group.

3. Synthesis and future perspectives

An inventory of the ¹⁴Cdates calibrated for the western Alps allows us to postulate the following definitive chronological framework : Early Bronze Age : 2300-ca. 1750 ; Middle Bronze Age : ca. 1750-1400 ; Late Bronze Age : 1400-1300 ; Final Bronze Age : 1300-800 Be. The main consequences of this new framework are the lengthening of the Early Bronze Age, for which the slow rate of ceramics development remains to be explained, and synchronization with Central European chronology as well as contradictions with dendrochronology over the the transition between Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age.

On the basis of this proposed chronology the number of Bronze Age sites in the Drôme and the Ardèche may be counted for each period, making it possible to calculate a relative site representation index (SRI). This clearly indicates a contradiction in possible occupation densities, low in the Early Bronze Age and higher at later dates.

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