This paper describes an interdisciplinary study of the Neolithic causewayed enclosure of Bellevue (Chenommet, France). Geophysical investigations and archaeological excavations were used alternately in order to optimize the acquisition of accurate data at different spatial scales: mapping of major structures was obtained by magnetic prospection of the whole site, while excavation identified small features weakly expressed in the prospecting results. Measurements of magnetic susceptibility and total magnetic field anomalies were also recorded during the excavation in order to identify the source of the magnetic signal of the ditches. This mutual transdisciplinary contribution is also methodological: the geophysics reveals archaeological information invisible to the eye of the archaeologist and, in turn, the excavation allows refinement of the interpretation of the geophysical data by identifying the sources of signal variations. This article presents the results of the first comprehensive magnetic mapping of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure in the west of France.

This article focusses on an original magnetic survey protocol and its data processing chain. The use of a high sensitive magnetometer combined with a motorized total station permits production of a magnetic map with a high spatial resolution and a high precision of magnetic and positional measurements. The data processing enhances the final magnetic map by the removal and restoring the outlier values, measurement errors and magnetic disturbances. The magnetic survey was undertaken on the Neolithic site of Le Pontet at Saint-Nazaire-sur-Charente (French Atlantic coast, between Bordeaux and La Rochelle). The site was chosen for geographical and archaeological characteristics such as its settlement period, the topography and the presence of different magnetic disturbances (proximity to roads and residential area). The data processing is mainly made on ungridded data and the gridding is the second to last step. The last step is to correct the relative height variation of the sensors between the prospecting lines (tracks) induced by the topography and operators. The use of a motorized total station allows accurate height determination of the sensors and an upward continuation is performed to correct the slight magnetic intensity variation induced by the relative height variation of the sensors. The results of the magnetic map bring out several causewayed enclosures, pits and postholes. This map will serve as a working basis for interdisciplinary studies and future archaeological studies of this site.

Peterborough Ware is now recognized as the dominant ceramic tradition of the middle Neolithic in southern Britain during the period 3400-2800 BC, part of a wider north European family of Impressed Wares. Drawing on an extensive inventory of 600 recorded assemblages constructed by enriching previous lists with the results of development-driven research carried out over the last 20 years or so, this paper reviews the production, distribution and use of Peterborough Ware. Support is found for the traditional sub-division of the Peterborough Ware series into three sub-styles: Ebbsfleet, Mortlake and Fengate Wares on the basis of the materials used, forms, and the decorative schemes preferred in each. The overall distribution of Peterborough Ware focuses on south-eastern Britain although there are important assemblages from areas to the west and north, especially those composed of Mortlake Ware. The range of contexts in which Peterborough Ware was deposited is wide, but suggests a backward-looking attitude in which the users of this style of pottery were trying to connect with their past.

HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives| 4.0 International License Enfin des traces d'habitat à l'intérieur d'une enceinte du Néolithique récent du Centre-Ouest de la France: premiers résultats et perspectives des fouilles du site de Bellevue (Chenommet, Charente)

Summary Pottery is generally used as the main basis for characterizing Neolithic cultural identities: archaeologists tend to define groups and cultures in time and space on the basis of typological classification. This paper proposes a different approach to the study of pottery that takes into account the various steps of the chaîne opératoire of manufacture, particularly the methods used to form and finish the pots, in order to characterize the cultural landscape of the Late Neolithic II period in west‐central France (3400−2900 BC). This cultural landscape has hitherto been poorly defined and subject to endless debate since the 1950s, largely because the pottery is fairly homogeneous in shape and is mostly undecorated. The technological study presented here, based on the examination of 23 ceramic assemblages and focusing on a variety of stages in the chaîne opératoire, has allowed the definition of three technical traditions. The main characteristics and diagnostic features of these traditions are outlined below, together with their interrelationships.