The purpose of this paper is to present a classification of unknapped stone utensils : anvils, mortars, grindstones, hammerstones , pestles, etc. In contrast to flint tools, such artefacts have remained largely neglected by traditional prehistorical studies. This classification is founded upon the typology of percussion elaborated by A. Leroi-Gourhan. Theoretical criteria of identification allowing for a diagnosis of the way these objects were used is also suggested. In order to demonstrate the relevance of the proposed classification, each item-type is illustrated by means of examples drawn from both ethnographic material (principally Australia, East Africa and Mauritania), and archaeological data (collections from Isturitz, Pair-non-Pair, La Faurélie, Laussel, etc.).
Les fouilles menées par R. et S. de Saint-Périer dans les années 1920 à la grotte des Scilles (Lespugue, Haute-Garonne) ont livré un ensemble de vestiges attribués au Magdalénien. L'étude de cette collection ancienne offre désormais la possibilité de préciser cette caractérisation à la lumière de travaux récents sur cette période. La présentation des différentes catégories de vestiges (industries lithique et osseuse, faune, parure, art mobilier et lampe) permet d'appréhender l'ensemble des registres d'activités documentés sur le site. En particulier, cet article présente les éléments typotechnologiques qui fournissent des arguments pour rattacher l'occupation de cette cavité au Magdalénien inférieur. Une date 14 C par SMA situe cette période autour de 16000 BP (19400 cal. BP) à la grotte des Scilles. La mise en évidence de ce premier jalon pyrénéen conduit ensuite les auteurs à discuter du peuplement magdalénien à la fin du Dernier Maximum glaciaire dans le Sud-Ouest de la France et le Nord de l'Espagne. Abstract The excavations by R. and S. de Saint-Périer at the Grotte des Scilles (Lespugue, Haute-Garonne, France) in 1923-1924 yielded archaeological material attributed to the Magdalenian. The re-examination of this old collection now allows a more precise characterization of it, in the light of recent research on this period. This article presents the different artefact types found (lithic and bone tools, faunal remains, personal ornaments, portable art items and one sandstone lamp) in order to consider all activities documented on the site. Particular attention is given to typological and technological data, the analyses of which point to a Lower Magdalenian chronological attribution. An SMA 14C date shows that occupation of the Grotte des Scilles took place around 16000 BP (19400 cal. BP). The identification, for the first time, of a Lower Magdalenian presence in the Pyrenees raises new questions concerning Magdalenian occupation at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum in southwestern France and northern Spain.
This paper deals with some working techniques of nonflint stones, such as pecking, hammering, polishing with or without an abrasive agent. After having observed archaeological pieces with traces of theses techniques, we carried out experimentations on varying techniques and raw materials in order to evaluate the relative qualities of these different raw materials and the efficiency of the different tested techniques. A comparison with archaeological documents allows to conclude to a differentiated treatment of nonflint stones at the Upper Palaeolithic. Moreover, these experimentations give some insight on the question of the need of an intermediate abrasive agent for polishing operations ; or that of the distinction between traces of polish due to the fabrication and traces of polish due to the use. Résumé Il sera traité ici de certaines techniques de façonnage de roches peu aptes à la taille, telles que piquetage, martelage, émeulage et abrasion. Après observation de pièces archéologiques présentant des stigmates de ces techniques, nous avons entrepris des expérimentations en faisant varier techniques et matières premières afin d'estimer les qualités relatives de ces différentes matières premières et l'efficacité des différentes techniques testées. Une confrontation avec les documents archéologiques permet de conclure à un traitement différencié des roches autres que le silex au Paléolithique supérieur. En outre, ces expérimentations permettent de soulever une nouvelle fois différentes questions telles que celle de l'efficacité du recours à un agent abrasif intermédiaire lors d'opérations de polissage ; ou encore celle de la différenciation entre traces de polissage de fabrication et traces de poli d'usure.
This chapter provides a critical analysis of the evidence for technical activity specialization in the European Upper Paleolithic by sex. It reviews the arguments based on the kind of evidence researchers are likely to collect (e.g., direct, indirect, and analogical). Some hypotheses are based on suppositions generated by ethnographic comparisons, while others rely on direct or indirect indices (task diversification, activity zone locations, skill level identification, diversity of grave goods, and body evidence like handprints and skeletons). The aim of this chapter is to show that there was a reasoned distribution of activities within groups, accompanied by an emerging social hierarchy, but that it is very difficult to account exactly for what women and men did. And even if we suspect that some tasks were respectively performed by males or females, it is possible that there was also a certain amount of technical specialization that was not related to gender.
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