Early human occupations at the westernmost tip of Eurasia: The lithic industries from Menez–Dregan I (Plouhinec, Finistère, France)

Ravon, Anne-Lyse

doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2019.06.001

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Handaxes are a particularly visible component of a suite of technological and behavioural innovations that mark the appearance of the Acheulean in Europe. Certainly from 500 ka and possibly earlier there are glimpses of the working of bone and wood, more efficient hunting, skilled butchery, hide‐working and fire‐use (Warren, 1911; Thieme, 1997; Roberts and Parfitt, 1999; Gowlett et al ., 2005; Preece et al ., 2006; Roebroeks and Villa, 2011; Schoch et al ., 2015; Zutovski and Barkai, 2016; Milks et al ., 2019; Ravon, 2019; Pope et al ., 2020). A broader view has been suggested where handaxes are sometimes, but not always, a component of Acheulean technology and therefore assemblages without bifacial technology can be considered as coming under the umbrella of the Acheulean (Ashton, 2015; Moncel et al ., 2015; Moncel and Ashton, 2018; Davis and Ashton, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The considerable variation in European Acheulean assemblages through time and space, including variation in core reduction strategies, tool blank production, flake tool types and handaxe morphology (e.g. Ollé et al ., 2013; Moncel et al ., 2015; White, 2015; Hérisson et al ., 2016; Moncel and Ashton, 2018; White et al ., 2018; Davis and Ashton, 2019; Shipton and White, 2020), has been interpreted as representing the flexibility of Acheulean technological behaviour in adapting to local circumstances (Moncel et al ., 2015; Ravon, 2019), which may lead to the development of local traditions of production and manufacture (Ashton, 2018; Davis and Ashton, 2019; Ashton and Davis, submitted).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

Davis

Ashton

Hatch

et al. 2021

J Quaternary Science

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The Early and early Middle Pleistocene archaeological record in Britain from c. 900 to 500 ka marks a critical shift in human occupation of northwest Europe, from occasional pioneer populations with simple core and flake technology to more widespread occupation associated with the appearance of Acheulean technology. Key to understanding this record are the fluvial deposits of the extinct Bytham River in central East Anglia, where a series of Lower Palaeolithic sites lie on a 15 km stretch of the former river. In this paper we present the results of new fieldwork and a reanalysis of historical artefact collections of handaxes and scrapers to: 1) establish the chronostratigraphic context of the Bytham archaeological record; 2) examine variability in lithic artefact typology and technology through time; and 3) explore the implications for understanding variation in lithic technology in the European record. Six phases of occupation of Britain are identified from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 to MIS 13, with the last three phases characterised by distinctive lithic technology. We argue that this relates to the discontinuous occupation of Britain, where each phase represents the arrival of new groups derived from different European populations with distinctive material culture.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

Davis

Ashton

Hatch

et al. 2021

J Quaternary Science

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“…Alongside this has been continued interest in temporal patterning in the archaeological record and whether spatially and temporally discrete variation in lithic technology can be attributed to cultural differences or ecological and/or behavioural situational circumstances (e.g. Davis & Ashton, 2019;Moncel et al, 2015;Ravon, 2019;Shipton & White, 2020;White et al, 2018White et al, , 2019. Our understanding of these issues is gained from a record that provides a range of resolutions, from the brief moments in time that represent single events of past human behaviour, sites in primary context that represent human occupation of a specific place over a limited time period, to the time-averaged lithic assemblages found in secondary context in fluvial gravels, which may represent the aggregate of human technological behaviour in a river valley across tens of thousands of years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower and Early Middle Palaeolithic of Southern Britain: the Evidence from the River Test

et al. 2021

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Fluvial terrace sequences of Pleistocene rivers provide a chronological framework for examining broad patterns of change in the Palaeolithic record. Collections of artefacts recovered from individual terraces represent a time-averaged sample of the range of lithic technology discarded in a river valley over thousands of years. These can be compared and contrasted with other terraces to identify the timing of the appearance of key technological innovations and chronological variation in lithic technology. In Britain, the punctuated nature of human presence during the Pleistocene means that archaeological variation across a river terrace sequence is likely to relate in part to successive phases of occupation by human groups derived from populations in mainland Europe. This paper presents an analysis of the Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic record of the River Test, Hampshire, which was a tributary river of the former River Solent. The timing of the first appearance of handaxes and Levallois technology is established, and chronological patterning in handaxe typology and technology is identified. The Test record is placed in its regional context, and its implications for understanding the human occupation history of northwest Europe during the Middle Pleistocene are discussed.

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“…These observations, in conjunction with data from other Armorican coastal deposits (Menez-Dregan I and Pen Hat), lead us to propose a change of paradigm concerning the so-called "Colombanian". Its current definition as a local variant of the "Acheulean" (Monnier & Molines 1993;Ravon 2017bRavon , 2019) is obsolete since it does not reflect the variability of the technical system of these technocomplexes of extreme western Europe. The comparison of technologies (Table 3) shows the difference in results between a morphological classification (Monnier & Le Cloirec 1985;Ravon 2017b) and a techno-structural classification.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pointe de Saint-Colomban site (Carnac, France): redefinition of the Colombanian culture, in the framework of the European Acheuleans

Guibert¹,

Bon²,

Forestier³

2022

Comptes Rendus Palevol

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The technocomplexes of the European Lower Palaeolithic are often attributed to the so-called Acheulean. Through several prehistoric sites located in the South Armorican coast, a distinct and contemporary Acheulean cultural facies was proposed at the end of the 1980s. Based on the study of lithic industries at the Pointe de Saint-Colomban site in Carnac, it is called “Colombanian” and is characterised by the coexistence of macro-tools on pebbles and a variety of small tools on flakes. As is often the case, the presence or absence of handaxes is a determining criterion to qualify a lithic assemblage as “Acheulean”. However, this categorial attribution loses all meaning when a technological analysis is conducted. Consequently, we used a techno-structural approach to illustrate the technological and functional variability of lithic artefacts from the early occupations of the Pointe de Saint-Colomban site (layers 5, 6 and 7). The application of the “chaîne opératoire” principle allowed us to reveal the processes and objectives of the lithic production system and to establish a homogeneous reading grid among the different pieces of the assemblage. We present here the data from our study which clearly shows that the “Colombanian” is no longer valid and that we need to initiate a change of definition. The lithic industry of the Pointe de Saint-Colomban site is dominated by the concept of flaking (débitage) represented by numerous cores and flake tools. The concept of shaping (façonnage) is illustrated by only two sandstone pebble tools. All this highlights the diversity and originality of the lithic technical systems of the Lower Palaeolithic of the Atlantic Armorican coastline.

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Early human occupations at the westernmost tip of Eurasia: The lithic industries from Menez–Dregan I (Plouhinec, Finistère, France)

Cited by 16 publications

References 25 publications

Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

Lower and Early Middle Palaeolithic of Southern Britain: the Evidence from the River Test

The Pointe de Saint-Colomban site (Carnac, France): redefinition of the Colombanian culture, in the framework of the European Acheuleans

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