Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistoc... more Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistocene sites in the Pyrenees. The cave contains a long stratigraphic sequence including over twenty archaeological levels, which have yielded abundant bone and lithic remains, including nearly 100 hominid remains. The vast quantity of lithic material is comprised of diverse raw materials, including quartz, quartzite and flints, from both local and distant sources. This raw material diversity makes it possible to establish links between the mechanical properties of the different rock types, the distances separating the sources from the site, technological behaviour and tool types. Moreover, the long chronological sequence reflecting climatic fluctuations and different assemblage types makes Arago cave a privileged site for assessing the influence of environmental factors and assemblage types on certain aspects of prehistoric Man's behaviour during the Middle Pleistocene.
This paper presents the results of an experimental programme investigating the effects of product... more This paper presents the results of an experimental programme investigating the effects of production processes on stone tools and their interference with use-related features. In the first part of the experimental programme, a series of flint flakes was retouched with different kinds of hammers in order to assess the extent and nature of percussion residues. After careful environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) observation and energydispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, the retouched flakes were thoroughly cleaned and the underlying flint deformation was recorded. The second part of the experimental programme involved selecting several uncleaned retouched pieces for use in short woodworking, hideprocessing and butchery experiments. These pieces were observed and analysed before, during and after use. Some of the percussion features proved to be surprisingly resistant to use, and in some cases turned out to be strikingly similar in appearance to use-generated features.
Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistoc... more Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistocene sites in the Pyrenees. The cave contains a long stratigraphic sequence including over twenty archaeological levels, which have yielded abundant bone and lithic remains, including nearly 100 hominid remains. The vast quantity of lithic material is comprised of diverse raw materials, including quartz, quartzite and flints, from both local and distant sources. This raw material diversity makes it possible to establish links between the mechanical properties of the different rock types, the distances separating the sources from the site, technological behaviour and tool types. Moreover, the long chronological sequence reflecting climatic fluctuations and different assemblage types makes Arago cave a privileged site for assessing the influence of environmental factors and assemblage types on certain aspects of prehistoric Man's behaviour during the Middle Pleistocene.
Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistoc... more Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistocene sites in the Pyrenees. The cave contains a long stratigraphic sequence including over twenty archaeological levels, which have yielded abundant bone and lithic remains, including nearly 100 hominid remains. The vast quantity of lithic material is comprised of diverse raw materials, including quartz, quartzite and flints, from both local and distant sources. This raw material diversity makes it possible to establish links between the mechanical properties of the different rock types, the distances separating the sources from the site, technological behaviour and tool types. Moreover, the long chronological sequence reflecting climatic fluctuations and different assemblage types makes Arago cave a privileged site for assessing the influence of environmental factors and assemblage types on certain aspects of prehistoric Man's behaviour during the Middle Pleistocene.
One of the peculiarities of the Caune de l'Arago cave site is the large variety of rock types... more One of the peculiarities of the Caune de l'Arago cave site is the large variety of rock types used by hominids for the manufac-ture of stone tools. To date, 20 different types of flint, comprising about 10% of the overall lithic assemblage, have been identified. Core drilling within the 14 m thick deposits has revealed 26 dis-tinct archaeological levels, of which 16 have been the subject of excavation over the past 40 years. Although the use of flint re-mains restricted in all archaeological levels, compared to other raw materials some differences in flint exploitation have been observed. Hominid circulation and territorial exploitation varied according to the different periods of the cave's occupation and the same flint sources were not necessarily exploited in each level, in spite of a constant mineralogical environment. The iden-tification and analysis of these flint types therefore helps to char-acterise different occupation levels. The location of ancient flint sources ...
HAL - hal.archives-ouvertes.fr, CCSd - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Direct. Accueil;... more HAL - hal.archives-ouvertes.fr, CCSd - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Direct. Accueil; Dépôt: S'authentifier; S'inscrire. Consultation: Par domaine; Les 30 derniers dépôts; Par année de publication, rédaction, dépôt; Par type de publication; ...
Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistoc... more Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistocene sites in the Pyrenees. The cave contains a long stratigraphic sequence including over twenty archaeological levels, which have yielded abundant bone and lithic remains, including nearly 100 hominid remains. The vast quantity of lithic material is comprised of diverse raw materials, including quartz, quartzite and flints, from both local and distant sources. This raw material diversity makes it possible to establish links between the mechanical properties of the different rock types, the distances separating the sources from the site, technological behaviour and tool types. Moreover, the long chronological sequence reflecting climatic fluctuations and different assemblage types makes Arago cave a privileged site for assessing the influence of environmental factors and assemblage types on certain aspects of prehistoric Man's behaviour during the Middle Pleistocene.
This paper presents the results of an experimental programme investigating the effects of product... more This paper presents the results of an experimental programme investigating the effects of production processes on stone tools and their interference with use-related features. In the first part of the experimental programme, a series of flint flakes was retouched with different kinds of hammers in order to assess the extent and nature of percussion residues. After careful environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) observation and energydispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, the retouched flakes were thoroughly cleaned and the underlying flint deformation was recorded. The second part of the experimental programme involved selecting several uncleaned retouched pieces for use in short woodworking, hideprocessing and butchery experiments. These pieces were observed and analysed before, during and after use. Some of the percussion features proved to be surprisingly resistant to use, and in some cases turned out to be strikingly similar in appearance to use-generated features.
Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistoc... more Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistocene sites in the Pyrenees. The cave contains a long stratigraphic sequence including over twenty archaeological levels, which have yielded abundant bone and lithic remains, including nearly 100 hominid remains. The vast quantity of lithic material is comprised of diverse raw materials, including quartz, quartzite and flints, from both local and distant sources. This raw material diversity makes it possible to establish links between the mechanical properties of the different rock types, the distances separating the sources from the site, technological behaviour and tool types. Moreover, the long chronological sequence reflecting climatic fluctuations and different assemblage types makes Arago cave a privileged site for assessing the influence of environmental factors and assemblage types on certain aspects of prehistoric Man's behaviour during the Middle Pleistocene.
Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistoc... more Arago cave at Tautavel (Pyrénées-Orientales, France) is one of the earliest known Middle Pleistocene sites in the Pyrenees. The cave contains a long stratigraphic sequence including over twenty archaeological levels, which have yielded abundant bone and lithic remains, including nearly 100 hominid remains. The vast quantity of lithic material is comprised of diverse raw materials, including quartz, quartzite and flints, from both local and distant sources. This raw material diversity makes it possible to establish links between the mechanical properties of the different rock types, the distances separating the sources from the site, technological behaviour and tool types. Moreover, the long chronological sequence reflecting climatic fluctuations and different assemblage types makes Arago cave a privileged site for assessing the influence of environmental factors and assemblage types on certain aspects of prehistoric Man's behaviour during the Middle Pleistocene.
One of the peculiarities of the Caune de l'Arago cave site is the large variety of rock types... more One of the peculiarities of the Caune de l'Arago cave site is the large variety of rock types used by hominids for the manufac-ture of stone tools. To date, 20 different types of flint, comprising about 10% of the overall lithic assemblage, have been identified. Core drilling within the 14 m thick deposits has revealed 26 dis-tinct archaeological levels, of which 16 have been the subject of excavation over the past 40 years. Although the use of flint re-mains restricted in all archaeological levels, compared to other raw materials some differences in flint exploitation have been observed. Hominid circulation and territorial exploitation varied according to the different periods of the cave's occupation and the same flint sources were not necessarily exploited in each level, in spite of a constant mineralogical environment. The iden-tification and analysis of these flint types therefore helps to char-acterise different occupation levels. The location of ancient flint sources ...
HAL - hal.archives-ouvertes.fr, CCSd - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Direct. Accueil;... more HAL - hal.archives-ouvertes.fr, CCSd - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Direct. Accueil; Dépôt: S'authentifier; S'inscrire. Consultation: Par domaine; Les 30 derniers dépôts; Par année de publication, rédaction, dépôt; Par type de publication; ...
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