Présentation
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Quarry works along the Celé River (South-West France) have allowed the discovery of a new Charentian Mousterian site, wich is located on the eastern margin of Aquitan Basin (Quercy). The access to archaeological levels is limited due to their position in the middle of an important detritic sequence, mostly sterile. Only limited rescue excavations have been possible which nevertheless permitted us to collect rich samples, sufficient to approach the prehistoric socio-economic behaviors. Thick detritic deposits are plugging up the base of a cliff and the exact palaeotopography of the site is not well understood : collapsed shelter, open air site, cliff foot ? The archaeological sequence is homogeneous : mostly debris flows with some rare gravitational scree. Geological processes have not strongly affected the levels although the material undergoes redistribution. Several archaeological « levels » have been noticed with one main level (level II). Radiometric dates (U/Th on bone) give a mean of 43 ± 1 ky BP, in agreement with the different studies showing a colder period of the Last Glacial, either the isotopic stade 4, or one cold period point from isotopic stage 3, if the U/Th dates are corrects. A severe palaeoenvironment characterized Espagnac and an open landscape under cold climate is suggested from floral and faunal (horse, reindeer, wild goat, bison) studies.
Source: Gallia préhistoire
Author: Jacques Jaubert
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2479877007