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Research conducted at the Balma Abeurador and a complex of related Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in the western Languedoc and eastern Pyrenees region of France (Abri de Dourgne, Grotte Gazel, Balma Margineda) reveals the complex processes of cultural and economic development during the early Holocene at a time of significant environmental change. Mesolithic groups expanded their subsistence base into a veritable "broad spectrum" economy including the hunting of large mammals, small game and birds; seasonal fishing for salmonids; collecting terrestrial and marine molluscs; and the gathering of wild legumes, fruits and nuts. The identification at Abeurador of lentils, peas and chick peas morphologically indistinguishable from the early cultigens of Southwest Asia raises the question of incipient cultivation practices in the west Mediterranean as early as 10,000 b.p. The Balma Abeurador lies on the southern margin of the Massif Central, half-way between the Minervois plain (100-200 m) and the summit of the Montagne Noire (1231 m), about 50 km from the present-day Mediterranean coastline (Fig. 1). The cave opens at an altitude of 560 m out of the abrupt edge of a plateau of Middle Devonian limestones incised by deep gorges. The distinctive site environment combines montane characteristics on the one hand, with a clear dependence on the Mediterranean sphere on the other. The vegetation immediately surrounding the site belongs to the Quercus ilex series of the mesomediterranean stage. A mere 2 km to the south begin the vineyards of the Minervois plateau. Degraded associations of maquis and garrigue vegetation extend over schist and limestone substrata respectively.It is important to note the proximity of the supramediterranean Quercus pubescens series, and the presence of Pinus sylvestris and numerous individuals of Juniperus around the site itself. At higher altitudes, only 4 km to the north, begin the montane series of birch (Fagus) and fir (Abies). These vegetational associations bear a heavy mark of human impact on the environment from prehistoric until recent times, primarily as a result of sheep herding and the associated pastoral fires (Thiebault, Vernet and Krauss-Marguet, in press; Heinz 1983).Numerous small excavations, beginning in the 19th century and continuing spor-

RÉSUMÉ Des travaux de terrains récemment accomplis ou encore en cours sur divers sites des Pyrénées centrales permettent une approche nouvelle de la fin du Paléolithique supérieur de cette zone. Placés à l'intersection des approches paléoenvironnementales, chrono-culturelles et, sur le plus long terme, palethnologiques, les nouveaux résultats sont à l'origine, selon une organisation encore largement hypothétique, d'une nouvelle perspective sur la dialectique des rapports entretenus par le Magdalénien terminal, par l'Azilien pyrénéen dans ses diverses phases chronologiques, par les autres faciès aziliens tant ibé- riens qu'aquitains, et par les premières manifestations sauveter- riennes.