La méthode Orville : une invention badegoulienne ?

Abstract

During the Badegoulian and the start of the Magdalenian entirely new techniques of bladelet production were invented. The Orville technique was the first to be identified, followed by the Rocher-de-la-Caille, La Marche, Thèmes and Oisy techniques, and most recently the La Bertonne technique. At present, of these six recognized methods, only two are relatively well situated chronologically. These are the Oisy technique, dated to the Badegoulian, and the La Marche technique, dated to the Middle Magdalenian. The others have been attributed by deduction to the Badegoulian (La Bertonne), Early Magdalenian (Thèmes), or Middle Magdalenian (Rocher-de-la-Caille and Orville). In order to verify the reliability of their cultural attribution, and with the aim of developing new criteria to differentiate between the Badegoulian industries and those from the beginning of the Magdalenian, we have attempted to determine whether some of these techniques shared reduction concepts. This research has proved fruitful, the most marked similarities concerning the Oisy, La Bertonne and Orville techniques. In this paper we have chosen to present the results from a comparison of the Bertonne and Orville techniques. We conclude that the Orville technique probably did not appear during the Middle Magdalenian, but had existed since the Badegoulian.

Breaking bad? Discarding the solutrean norms: Chronology, evolution and geographical extent of the badegoulian phenomenon in Western Europe

“…On the edge: the issue of raclette-yielding Badegoulian (micro-)bladelet production Contrary to the shouldered point-yielding assemblages, the Late Badegoulian bladelet productions are essentially linked to ramified chaînes opératoires through the exploitation of thick flakes and, occasionally, robust blades. Three distinct schemas opératoires are currently recognized to be part of the Badegoulian technical palette: (1) flake-edge cores aka "notched burins" producing bladelets, microbladelets and robust lamellar flakes (Bodu et al, 2007;Bodu and Chehmana, 2008;Ducasse, 2010;; (2) "sur front dorsal" cores, aka "carinated enscrapers" producing microbladelets (see Ducasse and Langlais, 2007 for terminological information), and (3) "Orville/Bertonne" cores mainly producing specific bladelets with a "fluted-facet" (Ducasse and Langlais, 2008;Chehmana et al, 2010;Ducasse, 2010;Chehmana, 2011). While flake-edge cores sensu lato are almost systematically part of the Late Badegoulian assemblages, whatever the considered space of time and geographical area, the chronological distribution of the two other technical modalities are currently fueling specific issues that deserve further developments.…”

“…Thus, while the answer to the "why" has long been sought only in the effects of ancient migrations, sometimes giving rise to disruptive analogies (Cheynier, 1939, p. 395) or very questionable scenarios (Stanford and Bradley, 2002;O'Brien et al, 2014), the impact of past climatic and environmental variability is now preferred and is currently deeply explored, both to clarify its conjunction with-and possible role in-the "cultural" evolving processes and to discuss its effect on human dispersal and population dynamics (e.g. Banks et al, 2008;2011;Burke et al, 2014;2017). At the same time, the "where", sometimes strongly connected to the "when" and corresponding for decades to a major point of contention (e.g.…”