An open-air site from the recent Middle Palaeolithic in the Paris Basin (France): Les Bossats at Ormesson (Seine-et-Marne)

Abstract

The recent discovery (2009) and excavation of the open-air site of Ormesson (Seine-et-Marne e France) was initially intended to document a Gravettian occupation floor dated around 29,000 cal. BP and related to a preferential bison hunt. Whilst checking the thickness of the loess in which the Gravettian level was found, several other prehistoric settlements were discovered (Chatelperronian, Middle Solutrean) including two units attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic. One, level 4, seems to be particularly wellpreserved. It occurs between 1 and 3 m below the main Upper Palaeolithic occupation. The lithic industry from level 4 belongs to a single kind of reduction sequence: the Discoid method. The freshness of the material and the presence of bone fragments attributed in part to horse support a general good state of preservation of this occupation. The Mousterian remains seem to cover at least 500 m 2 , as currently estimated. Even more exceptional is the close spatial relationship between the discoid industry, the bone pieces, remains of fireplaces and especially the numerous fragments and nodules of red colouring materials. These were brought to the site where they were utilised by the Mousterians. The used surfaces show indisputable scraping traces and facets. These recent discoveries will certainly contribute to the debate on the cognitive capacities of nearly the last representatives of the Middle Palaeolithic, and the complex stratigraphy will allow comparisons between the different periods.

MTA-B or not to be? Recycled bifaces and shifting hunting strategies at Le Moustier and their implication for the late Middle Palaeolithic in southwestern France

“…While the association of backed pieces and elongated blanks at these sites appears incontestable, any potential support for a direct MTA-B e Châtelperronian affiliation is considerably weakened when archaeo-stratigraphic evidence is considered (see below). [Delporte, 1957], Vieux Coutet [Grigoletto et al, 2008], Grotte XVI [Lucas et al, 2003], Bast e [Chauchat and Thibault, 1968]), while, in 11 other cases, the underlying Mousterian is identified as 'Discoid' (Grotte du Renne [Leroi-Gourhan, 1961], Saint-C esaire [Thi ebaut et al, 2009], Piage [Bordes et al, 2008], Roc de Combe [Lorenzo Martinez et al, 2014], Cueva Morin [Maíllo Fernández, 2003], Gatzarria [Saenz de Buruaga, 1991], Bordes-Fitte [Aubry et al, 2012], Ormesson [Bodu et al, 2014]), 'Typical' (Grotte du Bison [Lhomme et al, 2005], layer J of Le Moustier [this study]), or a 'Ferrassie' (La Ferrasie [Gu erin et al, in press]). Importantly, reservations concerning the attribution of level C4 of Barbas III leave no instance of an MTA-B directly underlying a Châtelperronian level.…”

On the local Mousterian origin of the Châtelperronian: Integrating typo-technological, chronostratigraphic and contextual data

“…The reassessment here of claimed Châtelperronian sites did not alter its distribution significantly (cf. Soressi and Roussel, 2014); however, two recent finds incorporated here (Pasty et al, 2012;Bodu et al, 2014), do show the potential for the geographic distribution of Châtelperronian sites to expand east-and northwards (Fig. 2).…”

“…two sites in Yonne) and to the southwest (e.g. three sites in the Basque country) and recent discoveries have extended the distribution of the Châtelperronian further to the Paris Basin (Les Bossats; Bodu et al, 2014) and the Massif Central (La Tour Fondue; Pasty et al, 2012). Overall, the Châtelperronian is found over an area of around 150,000 km 2 that includes a range of topographic settings, from the foothills of the Pyrenees and Central Massif, to the river valleys of primarily the Seine, Loire and Dordogne catchments with one outlier in the Rhône basin (Germolles; Floss et al, 2013).…”

“…For example, in western France the assemblage of Saint-Brice-sousRânes, characterized by large quantities of small handaxes, has been TL dated to around 40.6 ± 2.2 ka (Cliquet et al, 2009). In northern France, the recently excavated Mousterian assemblage of Les Bossats, TL dated to 44.8 ± 3.4 and 49.9 ± 3.1 ka, is characterized by discoidal flaking and backed knives with discrete abrupt retouch (Bodu et al, 2014). In southeast France, the Neronian, characterized by the production of elongated and pointed blanks and lack of formal flake production, is observed at several sites between ca.…”

Les Bossats (Ormesson, Paris basin, France): A new early Gravettian bison processing camp

“…-two middle Palaeolithic occupations (Bodu et al, 2014); -one Chatelperonnian occupation; -a Gravettian occupation, 40 cm below the tillage horizon; -a Solutrean layer, discovered in 2012, in another part of the site.…”