Investigating relationships between technological variability and ecology in the Middle Gravettian (ca. 32–28 ky cal. BP) in France

Vignoles, Anaïs; Banks, William E.; Klaric, Laurent; Kageyama, Masa; Cobos, Marlon E.; Romero-Álvarez, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106766

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 72 publications

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“…in northern areas during Heinrich Event (HE) 3, which occurred during Greenland Stadial (GS) 5.1 [1]. Perhaps such changes exerted a non-negligible (but not exclusive) influence on the behaviors and adaptations of Middle Gravettian human groups [6,36]. A cautious position at present is to consider that the Rayssian (in Northern Aquitaine) is contemporaneous with the Pyrenean Noaillian and that they are contemporaneous cultural expressions during the second half of the Middle Gravettian.…”

Section: French Middle Gravettianmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Hierarchical Bayesian Examination of the Chronological Relationship between the Noaillian and Rayssian Phases of the French Middle Gravettian

Banks,

Vignoles,

Lacarrière

et al. 2024

Quaternary

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Issues of chronology are central to inferences pertaining to relationships between both contemporaneous and successive prehistoric typo-technological entities (i.e., archaeological cultures), culture–environment relationships, and ultimately the mechanisms at play behind cultural changes observed through time in the archaeological record. We refine the chronology of Upper Paleolithic archaeological cultures between 35–18 calibrated kiloanni before the present in present-day France by incorporating recently published radiocarbon data along with new 14C ages that we obtained from several Gravettian archaeological contexts. We present the results of a Bayesian age model that includes these new radiometric data and that, more importantly, separates Gravettian contexts in regions north of the Garonne River into two successive cultural phases: The Northern Noaillian and the Rayssian, respectively. This new age model places the beginning of the Noaillian during Greenland Stadial 5.2. The appearance of contexts containing assemblages associated with the Rayssian lithic technical system occurs immediately prior to the termination of Greenland Interstadial 5.1, and it is present throughout Heinrich Event 3 (GS-5.1) and into the following GI-4 climatic amelioration. Despite the Rayssian’s initial appearance during the brief and relatively weakly expressed Greenland Interstadial 5.1, its duration suggests that Rayssian lithic technology was well-suited to the environmental conditions of Greenland Stadial 5.1.

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Section: French Middle Gravettianmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Hierarchical Bayesian Examination of the Chronological Relationship between the Noaillian and Rayssian Phases of the French Middle Gravettian

Banks,

Vignoles,

Lacarrière

et al. 2024

Quaternary

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Was fire use a cultural trait of the Gravettian? New micro-archaeological data from Fuente del Salín cave (Val de San Vicente, Cantabria)

Alzate-Casallas,

Sánchez-Carro,

Barbieri

et al. 2024

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Micro-archaeological data from sites located in central and eastern Europe show that, in comparison with other Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, Gravettian foragers used fire more intensively and for a wider range of purposes. At these sites, this shift in pyrotechnology overlaps with the onset of periglacial conditions. Gravettian occupations of non-periglacial regions have been poorly investigated with micro-archaeological methods, and it remains to be further demonstrated whether these foragers also made a similar intensive and multipurpose use of fire. To further investigate this topic, we studied the sequence preserved at the cave of Fuente del Salín, in Cantabria, where previous excavations unearthed potential fire residues of Gravettian age. Using micromorphology, µ-X-ray fluorescence, and Scanning Electron Microscopy we reconstructed multiple phases of human visits to the site. Our results show that, during the main Gravettian occupation, foragers made intensive use of fire, as indicated by abundant heated bones and seashells, charcoals, amorphous char, fat-derived char, and in situ remains of potential stacked open hearths as well as burnt grass beddings. The intensive burning, systematic reuse of combustion features, and multiple purposes of the fires at Fuente del Salín are comparable with Gravettian sites from central and eastern Europe, indicating that these fire-use behaviors probably do not reflect a regional adaptation to periglacial environments but a cultural trait of the Gravettian tradition across Europe.

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Analyzing Trends in Material Culture Evolution—a Case Study of Gravettian Points from Lower Austria and Moravia

Maier,

John,

Linsel

et al. 2023

J Paleo Arch

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Identifying, analyzing, and explaining trends in the development of material culture is one of the major concerns in prehistoric archaeology. The traditional recording of data in typologies, however, is not optimal for answering the question of diachronic change because typological data capture variability poorly and are often incompatible with multivariate statistics. To overcome these problems, we present PyREnArA (Python-R-Environment for Artifact Analysis), a trait-based tool that allows for a systematic recording of diversity and variability in a way that is applicable to quantitative analysis and multivariate statistics. Using Gravettian assemblages from Lower Austria and Moravia as a case study, we analyze changes in the morphology as well as the design of lithic projectiles and statistically determine the amount of variation that correlates with the progression of time. We identify a slow trend towards slenderer and more pointed projectiles and a shift from laterally to latero-frontally hafted implements. Most of the analyzed traits, however, appear not to experience selective pressure and seem to be unrelated to the passage of time. We discuss these results with regard to different scales of selection, in particular individual choice vs. macroevolutionary group selection over longer periods of time and thus beyond the realm of individual intend, and we raise questions for future research.

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Investigating relationships between technological variability and ecology in the Middle Gravettian (ca. 32–28 ky cal. BP) in France

Cited by 5 publications

References 72 publications

A Hierarchical Bayesian Examination of the Chronological Relationship between the Noaillian and Rayssian Phases of the French Middle Gravettian

A Hierarchical Bayesian Examination of the Chronological Relationship between the Noaillian and Rayssian Phases of the French Middle Gravettian

Was fire use a cultural trait of the Gravettian? New micro-archaeological data from Fuente del Salín cave (Val de San Vicente, Cantabria)

Analyzing Trends in Material Culture Evolution—a Case Study of Gravettian Points from Lower Austria and Moravia

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