Insights into Aurignacian daily life and camp organization: The open-air site of Régismont-le-Haut

Anderson, Lars; Lejay, Mathieu; Brugal, Jean‐Philip; Costamagno, Sandrine; Heckel, Claire; Igreja, Marina; Pradeau, Jean-Victor; Salomon, Hélène; Sellami, Farid; Théry‐Parisot, Isabelle; Barshay‐Szmidt, Carolyn; Mensan, Romain; Bon, François

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.04.034

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…It does, however, indicates that hunter-gatherers of the Aurignacian—more than during later phases of the Upper Paleolithic—arranged raw-material procurement in accordance with their commonly inhabited areas, and vice versa. Observations on site organization and inferred mobility patterns repeatedly suggest residential mobility for the central regions, with a lack of long-distance logistical camp sites (see [65] and references therein). The above mentioned outliers concern the Tisza region—where obsidian and radiolarite sources are located at the geographical midpoint between two CAs—and the north-central CAs (Figs 2 and 4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CAs with small population estimates (<80 persons) see unidirectional raw material import. The CA of the lower Rhône valley remains isolated, although evidence for economically relevant connections to the Narbonne area are now emerging [65]. On a longer perspective, the developments during the Gravettian period indicate a close relationship between this region and northern Italy, a social bond that might have already become established during the Aurignacian.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Population dynamics and socio-spatial organization of the Aurignacian: Scalable quantitative demographic data for western and central Europe

Schmidt

Zimmermann

2019

PLoS ONE

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Demographic estimates are presented for the Aurignacian techno-complex (~42,000 to 33,000 y calBP) and discussed in the context of socio-spatial organization of hunter-gatherer populations. Results of the analytical approach applied estimate a mean of 1,500 persons (upper limit: 3,300; lower limit: 800) for western and central Europe. The temporal and spatial analysis indicates an increase of the population during the Aurignacian as well as marked regional differences in population size and density. Demographic increase and patterns of socio-spatial organization continue during the subsequent early Gravettian period. We introduce the concept of Core Areas and Extended Areas as informed analytical spatial scales, which are evaluated against additional chronological and archaeological data. Lithic raw material transport and personal ornaments serve as correlates for human mobility and connectedness in the interpretative framework of this study. Observed regional differences are set in relation with the new demographic data. Our large-scale approach on Aurignacian population dynamics in Europe suggests that past socio-spatial organization followed socially inherent rules to establish and maintain a functioning social network of extremely low population densities. The data suggest that the network was fully established across Europe during the early phase of the Gravettian, when demographic as well as cultural developments peaked.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population dynamics and socio-spatial organization of the Aurignacian: Scalable quantitative demographic data for western and central Europe

Schmidt

Zimmermann

2019

PLoS ONE

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“…However, dominance of unidirectional patterns is also evident in some of these sites. Romaní, since it also exhibits a discrete distribution pattern in which most of the archeological record is clustered in hearth-related areas (Anderson et al 2018). One of these hearth-related areas was the centre of activities, showing the highest density of lithic remains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithic refitting and intrasite artifact transport: a view from the Middle Paleolithic

Vaquero

Romagnoli

Bargalló

et al. 2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The intrasite mobility of lithic artifacts is one of the most relevant issues that can be approached from the spatial study of refitting. In many sites, it has been found that some artifacts were abandoned at considerable distance from the place where they were produced. Once natural causes of post-depositional nature are discarded, the most likely hypothesis to explain these movements is intentional displacement by humans. However, the interpretation of such intentional movements is particularly difficult, since the intrasite mobility of lithic artifacts can be related to at least four different factors: a) refuse disposal strategies; b) functional complementarity between different activity areas; c) social relations between different domestic units; and d) recycling. Each of these factors has different implications concerning questions as important as the spatial organization within the campsites or the contemporaneity between activity areas. To address this issue, it is necessary to have a representative sample of transport episodes and to analyze aspects such as the connection length, the directionality of the movements, the kind of transported artifacts and the activities carried out both in the place of origin and in the place of destination. As an example, in this work we are going to analyze the long distance displacements identified in different Middle Paleolithic layers from the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain).

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“…These endscrapers were manufactured on primary flake products and on by-products of blade-making and were interpreted as proper tools (Bon 2002). Régismont-le-Haut, one of the oldest Aurignacian sites in Mediterranean Languedoc, is also characterized by high variability in endscrapers' shapes and forms (Anderson et al 2018;Bon 2002). Here, flakes and laminar flakes are used more often than blades.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scraping hide in the early Upper Paleolithic: Insights into the life and function of the Protoaurignacian endscrapers at Fumane Cave

Aleo

Duches

Falcucci

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Endscrapers are specialized tools that are usually recovered in great quantities in every Upper Paleolithic site in Europe. Although they make their first ephemeral appearance in the Middle–late Middle Paleolithic transitional technocomplexes, endscrapers commonly appear in toolkits from initial and early Upper Paleolithic traditions onwards. Nevertheless, endscrapers and, in general, domestic tools have attracted relatively little attention in debates revolving around the significance of technological change, tool function, and tool specialization after the end of the Middle Paleolithic. With the aim to overcome this paucity of information, here, we present the results of a techno-functional study performed on the large endscraper assemblage recovered from the early and late Protoaurignacian layers at Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy. We analyzed these artifacts using technological, morpho-metrical, typological, and functional approaches. Despite the large morphological variability, use-wear traces reveal functional consistency and high levels of specialization for these tools. Almost all the use-wear traces we recorded developed from hide working with transverse motion. Moreover, we find no evidence that endscrapers were involved in the production of bone and antler tools during the late Protoaurignacian. Macroscopic and microscopic wear on the lateral edges of tools point to a considerable number of hafted endscrapers, which implies systematic time investment and planning depth. Comparison with the few endscrapers from transitional industries that have been analyzed highlights marked differences in the production, morphology, and use of these tools and reinforces our view of the Aurignacian as a complex not directly related with preceding European traditions.

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Insights into Aurignacian daily life and camp organization: The open-air site of Régismont-le-Haut

Cited by 21 publications

References 38 publications

Population dynamics and socio-spatial organization of the Aurignacian: Scalable quantitative demographic data for western and central Europe

Population dynamics and socio-spatial organization of the Aurignacian: Scalable quantitative demographic data for western and central Europe

Lithic refitting and intrasite artifact transport: a view from the Middle Paleolithic

Scraping hide in the early Upper Paleolithic: Insights into the life and function of the Protoaurignacian endscrapers at Fumane Cave

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