Papers by Pierre Voinchet
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2021
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2009
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Apr 9, 2022
Palaeolithic sites associated with the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) are very rare in NW Europe, a... more Palaeolithic sites associated with the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) are very rare in NW Europe, and especially in Northern France, where their preservation is restricted to very specific geological contexts, in association with carbonated tufa (Caours) or peat deposits (Waziers). In order to check the reliability of ESR/U-series method to date teeth recovered from archaeological levels in such specific geological environments, teeth were sampled on these two Middle Palaeolithic sites and systematic in situ dosimetry was performed using portable gamma spectrometer. The ESR/U-series ages obtained on the Caours site are very homogeneous allowing the calculation of a mean age equal to 125 ± 11 ka, in agreement with the geological age, mammal's association and other available geochronological data (U-series on tufa carbonate, TL on burnt flints, OSL on sediments), despite a relatively heterogeneous dosimetric environment (gamma dose rate ranging between ca 200-450 μGy/a). At Waziers, reducing (water logging) environment linked to the peat leads to very specific U-series data of the analysed teeth (U content lower than 0.1 ppm in all the dental tissues, evidence of leaching in some tissues), but the mean ESR/U-series age, 129 ± 4 ka, is also in agreement with the available geological and palaeoenvironmental data indicating that the dated teeth were associated with Late Glacial deposits prior to the climatic interglacial optimum. These two case studies then confirm the reliability of ESR/U-series method to date with good reliability and accuracy the archaeological levels linked to such relatively short climatic events (ca 10 ka).
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2021
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Apr 1, 2019
International audienc
ADLFI. Archéologie de la France - Informations. une revue Gallia, Sep 8, 2020
Quaternaire, 2020
A la faveur d'une operation de sondages puis de fouilles de sauvetage organisees par des equi... more A la faveur d'une operation de sondages puis de fouilles de sauvetage organisees par des equipes de recherche CNRS et MNHN en 2016 et 2017 il a ete possible de redecouvrir le site historique de Moulin Quignon. Ce site majeur, sur lequel le fondateur de la Prehistoire Jacques Boucher de Perthes avait decouvert les premieres " haches taillees " en silex dans les annees 1840-1860, avait ete totalement discredite puis oublie depuis plus de 150 ans a la suite d'une supercherie resultant de l'introduction d'une mâchoire d'homme moderne (17e siecle) dans les sables et graviers qui livraient alors les bifaces. Le nouvel assemblage archeologique decouvert en 2017 sur le site de Moulin Quignon actuellement situe dans les jardins d'un parc de logements, comporte plus de 260 artefacts en silex dont 5 bifaces conserves dans un ensemble de sables et graviers depose par la Somme a 40 metres d'altitude relative au-dessus du fond de la vallee actuelle. Compte te...
Journal of Human Evolution, 2021
HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific re... more HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2018
Middle Pleistocene hominins occupied Europe as early as 700 ka. Data on subsistence and adaptatio... more Middle Pleistocene hominins occupied Europe as early as 700 ka. Data on subsistence and adaptation to environment remain limited due to the small number of sites, especially from 700 to 500 ka. Current consensus suggests that Middle Pleistocene populations periodically peopled and depopulated areas of Europe in response to climatic fluctuations. Most occupations are located in the South, while the NorthWest was only occupied during favorable climatic periods. During this time, significant behavioral changes occur, such as bifacial technology and more complex modes of flaking. Further north in France, in the Loire basin, the site of la Noira has well-developed bifacial tools at around 700 ka, The site is located along a river with abundant millstone slabs which were flaked on the site suggesting it may have served partially as a lithic workshop. We employ use-wear and residue analysis (optical light and scanning electron microscopy) of stone tools to reconstruct early Acheulean hominin behavior. While the lithics are composed largely of retouched and unretouched debitage, large cutting tools (bifaces and cleavers) are also present. We demonstrate that la Noira was not only a lithic workshop, but that a broad range of resources were being used by the hominins at the site, including wood, plants, mammals, and possibly birds and fish. Finally, we compare our results with contemporary sites and suggest that, in the early European Acheulean, Middle Pleistocene hominins had detailed local environmental knowledge, and were able to adapt to a wide range of environments, including cool, temperate, and Mediterranean.
Quaternary Geochronology, 2010
Since 1970, many prehistoric sites have been discovered in the alluvial terraces of several river... more Since 1970, many prehistoric sites have been discovered in the alluvial terraces of several rivers of the Middle Loire River basin (France). During the last decade, the stepped-terraces systems of three of the Loire tributaries, the Creuse, the Cher and the Loir Rivers, were the focus of multidisciplinary studies, involving Quaternary geology, prehistory and geochronology. The geochronological data now available for these systems were mainly obtained by electron spin resonance (ESR) method applied to optically bleached fluvial quartz. These results provide a chronological framework for the evolution of fluvial systems and the human settlements of this area during Lower and Middle Pleistocene. Two phases of human settlement could be distinguished, around 1.1 Ma (Early Palaeolithic-Mode 1) and around 0.7 Ma ago (Acheulean-Mode II).
Quaternary International, 2016
Abstract The prehistoric site of la Noira, located in the Cher Valley, a tributary of the Loire R... more Abstract The prehistoric site of la Noira, located in the Cher Valley, a tributary of the Loire River in the center of France, has yielded a lithic assemblage composed of large bifacial tools, cores and flakes. The archaeological level, lying on the Tertiary lacustrine limestone bedrock, was covered and fossilized by a 6 m-thick fluvial sandy formation. The mean age value of ESR dates obtained on bleached fluvial quartz grains sampled in the sandy levels covering the archeological level is 665 ± 55 ka, confirming the antiquity of the archaeological assemblage. ESR dates and the technical characteristics of the assemblage suggest that it is among the oldest sites with bifacial technology in Western Europe. Since 2011, following geological and geochronological studies, the archaeological level has been excavated over a surface of about 100 m 2. The aim of this paper is to provide new data on the lithic assemblage and to place the lithic patterns of the site in the European technological framework. La Noira is a workshop site, belonging to a key-period of time with the earliest evidence of the bifacial technology in Europe (as for instance levels P–Q of Arago in France or Notarchirico in Italy) contemporaneous with 800–500 ka sites without bifacial technology, such as Happisburgh, Pakefield in England or Isernia in Italy. This phase predates the wide-scale dissemination of the bifacial technology all over Western Europe from the MIS 12. Technological comparisons between these assemblages and a discussion of the diversity of assemblages and technological features point to early episodic arrivals of new traditions in Europe against a background of earlier traditions.
Quaternary Geochronology, 2015
ABSTRACT Several caves of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China, have delivered Gi... more ABSTRACT Several caves of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China, have delivered Gigantopithecus blacki remains, an extinct Pleistocene giant ape, in association with abundant mammalian faunas. To determine their geological ages, fossil teeth from Mohui and Sanhe Caves were dated using the coupled ESR/U-series method. The teeth from Mohui Cave gave age estimates of 1.69 ± 0.22 Ma and 1.29 ± 0.11 Ma. The Sanhe Cave samples had age estimates ranging from 910 ± 200 ka to 600 ± 150 ka with error weighted mean ages of 890 ± 130 ka and 720 ± 90 ka for the layers 5 and 4, respectively. Our results and previous paleomagnestism data place the Gigantopithecus fauna at Mohui Cave between Olduvai and Jaramillo subchrons and suggest that it was coeval with Chuifeng, Longgupo and Liucheng assemblages. The Sanhe fauna is younger, of late early Pleistocene age, and can be dated to the period between Jaramillo subchron and B/M boundary.
Quaternary Geochronology, 2015
The establishment of a chronology for late Middle Palaeolithic sites on the right bank of the Rhô... more The establishment of a chronology for late Middle Palaeolithic sites on the right bank of the Rhône valley in southeastern France is important for the knowledge of Neandertal dynamics and their demise in this area. The suite of dating methods that are directly applicable to fossils is limited for this period, especially around 50 ka where radiocarbon dating is beyond its technical limits. Currently applied to Middle and Lower Pleistocene periods, the use of combined ESR/U-series dating on Upper Pleistocene samples led to new issues, such as the acquisition of an age for samples yielding low equivalent doses and low uranium content in dental tissues. The gamma dose rate measurement thus plays a key role in age calculation. Beyond the discussion on methodological issues, the present study contributes to the establishment of a chronological framework that covers the Neandertal occupations between MIS 5 and MIS 3 for this area.
L'Anthropologie, 2009
Evidence of earliest human settlements had been searched in the alluvial formations laid down in ... more Evidence of earliest human settlements had been searched in the alluvial formations laid down in the Middle Loire Basin. Many stepped sheets deposited during the successive interglacial–glacial quaternary cycles are studied in four valleys of the Loire tributaries: the Creuse, Indre, Cher and Loir rivers. These sandy remnants are systematically dated, using the Electron Spin Resonance method applied on bleached
Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2006
Le site paléolithique de « Pont-de-Lavaud » se trouve sur la commune d'Eguzon-Chantôme (Indre). P... more Le site paléolithique de « Pont-de-Lavaud » se trouve sur la commune d'Eguzon-Chantôme (Indre). Plusieurs sols archéologiques empierrés, inclus dans la base partiellement cryoturbée d'une très haute nappe alluviale de la Creuse, y ont été exceptionnellement conservés et une abondante industrie archaïque sur galets et filons de quartz y a été récoltée. L'âge moyen de la formation alluviale, obtenu par la méthode de résonance paramagnétique électronique (RPE) appliquée aux quartz fluviatiles optiquement blanchis, est de 1,1 Ma. « Pont-de-Lavaud » est contemporain de la vague de peuplement, actuellement reconnue en Eurasie au Pléistocène inférieur et témoigne de la présence de l'Homme dans le Centre de la France dès cette période dans des conditions climatiques de type périglaciaire.
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Papers by Pierre Voinchet