dAf 56
DELAGNES Anne et ROPARS Anne
Paléolithique moyen en pays de Caux (Haute-Normandie)
The excavations carried out on the lines of the A28 and A29 motorways have brought to light two sites from the Middle Palaeolithic (-300 000 – -30 000). The deposits at Pucheuil and at Etoutteville (Haute-Normandie) yielded important lithic series with numerous reassemblies of waste flakes. At Pucheuil two human occupations were observed in the context of a doline. They are individualised by their particular technological traditions which both stem from the same chain of production : the Levallois technique. This, in association with a volumetric conception of the nucleus which resembles those of the Upper Palaeolithic, characterises the laminar production of Etouiteville. The spatial analysis of the reassembled groups of material identify the site as a knapping workshop. These results, complemented by a presentation of the geomorphological and stratigraphical frameworks, represent a solid contribution to our knowledge of the Prehistory of north-west Europe.
Abstract
Abstract
1. The study framework
1.1. Introduction
A. DELAGNES, A. ROPARS
Excavations' in advance of construction work for the A28 and A29 motorways in Haute-Normandie have revealed two open air sites from the Middle Palaeolithic : Le Pucheuil and Etoutteville. The context of these finds, in a doline, was hitherto unknown and the potential was largely underestimated. Their study brings new data to our knowledge of ancient prehistory at a regional level as well as in the larger framework of north-west Europe.
1.2. The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in Haute-Normandie : the development of the research and the current state of the documentation
C. BILLARD
The Haute-Normandie is a region rich in palaeolithic deposits, understood since the works of F. Bordes. Recent research has consolidated the regional chronostratigraphical framework and allows us to envisage new spatial and technological approaches. The record of regional reference sites shows up considerable gaps in the documentation concerning our knowledge of both the oldest and the most recent phases of the Middle Palaeolithic.
1.3. Physical aspects of the Pays de Caux
A. HOUARI
The pays de Caux is characterised principally by a plateau with an average altitude of 100 to 150 m, the valleys marking the only relief from the monotony. Underlaid by a single lithological facies, the surface of the plateau is inscribed in the chalks of the Upper Cretaceous (from the Cenomanian to the Senonian). It is composed of formations which associate the following elements : a capping of clay with flints (the result of weathering of the chalks), tertiary deposits (sands, clays, sandstones, pudding-stones...) and thick formations of quaternary loess. This surface is considered to represent a topography fundamental with regard to levelling processes, the evolution of local relief and the genesis of superficial formations.
2. The site at Pucheuil, Saint- Saëns (Seine-Maritime)
2.1. Presentation of the intervention and the archaeological data
C. BILLARD, A. DELAGNES, A. ROPARS
For the first time, the silts of the Caux plateau yielded a dense stratigraphy in a doline. This depression, 7m deep, enclosed saalian silts which are rarely so well developed in Haute-Normandie. This situation or "trap" allowed the preservation of two abundant lithic series from the Middle Palaeolithic. The oldest of these dates from before the last saalien interglacial (contemporary with the laying down of the palaeosol), the most recent being immediately posterieur to this. The excavation of the doline has shed light on the following objectives : the singling out of the lithic sequences observed at the edge of the doline from a chrono-stratigraphical point of view and the detailing of the technological basis of the production systems.
2.2. The geomorphological and stratigraphical frameworks
H. HAIBOUT, J.-P.LAUTRIDOU
The site of Pucheuil lies at the very edge of the Caux plateau, at the limit of the pays de Bray. The pays de Caux is a glacis which slopes gently to the west, covered by a complex alteration of the secondary chalks (clay with flints) and by loess. At the border with the pays de Bray, which is in constant uplift, the periglacial denudation processes have eroded the bulk of the superficial formations. However, recordable sequences of middle Pleistocene loess, containing lithic material, have been conserved due to localised karstic subsidences of the chalk (dolines). The chrono-stratigraphical framework corresponds with those established near to Rouen(Saint-Pierre-lès-Elbeuf) and at Saint-Romain-de-Colbosc, further west.
2.3. The "B Series" lithic industry of Pucheuil
A. DELAGNES
The most recent of the Pucheuil lithic series is original in that it is composed of four distinct chains of production, well illustrated by reassemblies. Some of them call on methods of production new and therefore unpublished for these periods. They fit into a complex and branched-out structure of lithic production. At the heart of this structure, secondary production chains are grafted onto the principal Levallois process. These different forms of technical "production management" seem to go hand in hand with diverse modes of spatial and economic organisation of the knapping activities. Moreover, they seem to arise from different levels of technical elaboration, both from the technical and executive points of view. This raises the question of differing levels of competence amongst those who produced this industry.
2.4. The" A and C seriès" lithic industries of Pucheuil
A. DELAGNES
The A and C series from Pucheuil, though from distinct stratigraphical and topographical contexts, seem to belong to the same archaeological entity, divided during the formation of the doline. They are both characterised by a recurring unipolar Levallois technique. The choice of technique gives a fairly constant morphological and thus technical character to the Levallois flakes. These products seem to be conceived 50 as to have the morphological and functional attributes necessary for their use in an "unfinished" state. These series can be attributed to the early Middle Palaeolithic, singled out as a highly original toolkit which cannot be placed in any of the Mousterian typological facies.
2.5. Synthesis
A. DELAGNES, A. ROPARS, in collaboration with C. Billard and J.-P. Lautridou
The geometry of the deposits in the doline at Pucheuil results from five major phases of karstic subsidence and the filling in of the depression. Its is possible to propose an interpretive schema which reconstitutes the periods of human occupation within the chronology of the sediment dynamics. The subject of the possible choices for human settlement is also discussed. Finally, the comparative study of the lithic assemblages isolated at Pucheuil offers the possibility of a diachronical approach to the early Middle Palaeolithic within the same deposit. The two occupations present are the result of human groups with distinct technological traditions, even though they both stem from the same production system : the Levallois technique.
3. The site of Etoutteville (Seine-Maritime)
3.1. Overview of the site
A. DELAGNES
The site of Etoutteville is characterised by a single occupation level which fits into a chronological and stratigraphical sequence typical of this region. It corresponds with the beginning of the Weichselian glaciation. The archaeological deposit, fully excavated, allies homogenous technological and spatial characteristics which prove a very low level of perturbation.
3.2. Optical dating of quartz from Etoutteville
E.J. RHODES
The OSL method was applied to date quartz extracted from four sediment samples. The combined results obtained from the upper two samples (directly above the Kesselt glacis) give an estimated age of 38, 400 ± 6, 200, whilst the lower two samples (directly below the archaeological levels) indicate an age of 116, 000 ± 40, 000. These dates are earlier than those suggested by the regional chronological and stratigraphical data.
3.3. The geomorphological and stratigraphical framework
H. HALBOUT, J.-P. LAUTRIDOU
The archaeological deposit of Etoutteville is placed on the summit of the “laminated brown silts" which constitute the first part of a loessic periglacial cycle. The site includes numerous ruptures or gaps, notably those of the recent lower loess (pre-Kesselt) and of the Eemian inter glacial soil (Elbeuf 1). However, it is located at the edge of a karstic depression which is more recent than that of Pucheuil and in which was observed an expanded and exceptional sequence from the Weichselian, above the Eemian inter glacial soil.
3.4. The technical and spatial organisation of the laminar production at Etoutteville
A. DELAGNES in, collaboration with F. Kuntzmann
The lithic industry of Etoutteville is exclusively based on a laminar system of production. It relies on two conceptions of flint-working : on one hand, a Levallois based concept of knapping, on the other, a volumetric conception of nuclei comparable to the blade production of the Upper Palaeolithic. These two volumetric conceptions, put to use within the same production system, lead to the respective obtention of flat flakes and of blades with distinct characteristics of size and shape. The spatial analysis of the principal assemblages (after reassembly) revealed in certain cases ruptures in the spatial organisation of the knapping. These would indicate that the site was used as a workshop. The site at Etoutteville brings new data to our approaches to the phenomenon of Middle Palaeolithic laminar production.
4. Conclusion
A. DELAGNES
The Middle Palaeolithic industries of Haute-Normandie are typified by the strong specificity of each assemblage. This results from a probable discontinuity in the human occupation of this region. In addition, they possess the same generic characteristics as those which previously served to define the Levallois facies in northern France.
