Nicolas Naudinot
My research is dedicated to the Late glacial societies of Western Europe. It aims to evaluate the socio-economic transformations affecting the end of the Paleolithic and to study the mechanisms leading to these changes.
I mainly focus on two geographical areas with distinctive environments: (1) Western France and the Atlantic facade and especially Brittany and (2) the North-Western part of the Mediterranean basin. Each of these areas brings intrinsic data about the different Late glacial societies of Western Europe (Magdalenian-Azilian-Post-Azilian (FBT)) on the one side and Epigravettian on the other. My research allowed to revise the chrono-cultural frame of these techno-complexes but also allowed to start to propose new socio-economic organization models for these different communities and to track their evolution along this long period.
My actual research also aims to characterize the transformation processes of these various societies along the Late glacial. The study of the second half of the Late glacial actually allows investigating on two critical transitions: (1) the Azilianization and (2) the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition. My research focuses on these two periods notably on the field with two main excavations: Le Rocher de l’Impératrice in Finistère, Brittany (Early Azilian) and La Fosse in Mayenne (Post-Azilian/Flat Blade Techno-complex).
Thanks to this research it is today possible to compare the reactions of these two large cultural entities to the quick environmental transformations affecting Europe at the end of the Paleolithic. These various societies did not actually react the same way to these major climatic events. My research aims to precise the timing of these technic/cultural/socio-economic transformations in my two research areas and to characterize the relationships between these two “worlds”, very close geographically and though very different culturally. The objective today is to track the synchronies and explain the diachronies and differences between these two parallel evolutions. In this perspective my research aims to evaluate the role played by distinctive environmental evolution in these two different parts of Europe.
Beyond this research focused on Late Glacial Western Europe is a more global aim: define the processes of socio-economic systems changes during the Paleolithic evaluating the role of the Northern hemisphere climatic transformations. In this perspective, my research extended to another continent, Northern America and more precisely the United States High Plains and Rocky Mountains. The extension of my research to this area of the world aims to investigate on the various answers of humans to global climate changes by comparing geographic area totally disconnected culturally during this period.
This research led me to direct several archaeological excavations, to participate to various research programs and to organize international symposiums and workshops both in Europe and in the United States.
Address: Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis
Campus Saint-Jean-d'Angély
24, avenue des Diables Bleus
06357 Nice Cedex
France
I mainly focus on two geographical areas with distinctive environments: (1) Western France and the Atlantic facade and especially Brittany and (2) the North-Western part of the Mediterranean basin. Each of these areas brings intrinsic data about the different Late glacial societies of Western Europe (Magdalenian-Azilian-Post-Azilian (FBT)) on the one side and Epigravettian on the other. My research allowed to revise the chrono-cultural frame of these techno-complexes but also allowed to start to propose new socio-economic organization models for these different communities and to track their evolution along this long period.
My actual research also aims to characterize the transformation processes of these various societies along the Late glacial. The study of the second half of the Late glacial actually allows investigating on two critical transitions: (1) the Azilianization and (2) the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition. My research focuses on these two periods notably on the field with two main excavations: Le Rocher de l’Impératrice in Finistère, Brittany (Early Azilian) and La Fosse in Mayenne (Post-Azilian/Flat Blade Techno-complex).
Thanks to this research it is today possible to compare the reactions of these two large cultural entities to the quick environmental transformations affecting Europe at the end of the Paleolithic. These various societies did not actually react the same way to these major climatic events. My research aims to precise the timing of these technic/cultural/socio-economic transformations in my two research areas and to characterize the relationships between these two “worlds”, very close geographically and though very different culturally. The objective today is to track the synchronies and explain the diachronies and differences between these two parallel evolutions. In this perspective my research aims to evaluate the role played by distinctive environmental evolution in these two different parts of Europe.
Beyond this research focused on Late Glacial Western Europe is a more global aim: define the processes of socio-economic systems changes during the Paleolithic evaluating the role of the Northern hemisphere climatic transformations. In this perspective, my research extended to another continent, Northern America and more precisely the United States High Plains and Rocky Mountains. The extension of my research to this area of the world aims to investigate on the various answers of humans to global climate changes by comparing geographic area totally disconnected culturally during this period.
This research led me to direct several archaeological excavations, to participate to various research programs and to organize international symposiums and workshops both in Europe and in the United States.
Address: Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis
Campus Saint-Jean-d'Angély
24, avenue des Diables Bleus
06357 Nice Cedex
France
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Books by Nicolas Naudinot
Between the XIIIth and Xth millenniums BC, human societies of Western Europe experienced significant techno-economic and social changes. Considering lithic artifacts are the only elements available in Western France, comparative lithic technology has proved to be the best suited tool for very close scrutiny in those last Paleolithic societies. The study of late glacial lithic industries has allowed us to confirm and refine the chrono-cultural organizational model proposed those last years, shifting assemblages traditionally seen as Magdalenian to the end of the Pleistocene. This work has also identified major changes in the know-how but also more generally in the ways of living and thinking. The inclusion of these data within the European context has led to the understanding of population dynamics of the area and to the development of a reflection on the cultural and technical exchanges in Western Europe during the Late Glacial.
Papers by Nicolas Naudinot
techno-cultural entities with their particular chronological sequence: the Western Europe “classical
sequence” and the Epigravettian sequence in the South. Essentially because of an imbalance of data
and differences in methodologies between these two regions, their Upper Paleolithic sequences have
rarely been compared. Thanks to the development of lithic technology in Europe and a recent active
research about the Late-Glacial, it is today possible to attempt such a challenging exercise of
comparing these two long sequences. In this paper, we solely focus on the Late Glacial. If the rare
existing attempts of comparison focused on typology of lithic assemblages, our paper aims for a more
global approach of lithic industries, based on recent technological studies. This approach allows
highlighting key elements in term of human behaviors. Our data suggest a similar process of change
between Western Europe and the Epigravettian during GI-1 (BøllingeAllerød). All the criteria of the
so called “azilianization process” are actually present in the Epigravettian evolution sequence. This
similar trend within both evolution sequences stopped abruptly, during the GS-1 (Younger Dryas).
During this period and the very beginning of the Holocene (Preboreal), a massive return of blades and
bladelets with high qualitative standards occurred in Western Europe while the simplification process
is still in course in the Epigravettian region. In this paper, we attempt to compare the various
responses of vegetation to the major climatic instability of the Late Glacial across Europe using a
critical survey of the available environmental data. Considering the boundary that could have represented
the Alps between Epigravettian and the Western Europe sequence, two high-resolution
environmental sequences from north and south of the Alps are especially examined. Are the differences
in terms of environmental changes between these two areas significant? Did they play a role in
human behaviors and motivate technological changes? The comparison of palaeoenvironmental data
with archaeological results tends to comfort some hypothesis of environmental determinism proposed
by scholars, but also provide new elements moderating regional models that cannot really be
applied at a continental scale. Climatic correlations with socioeconomic changes highlighted in this
paper are no more than one possible way of investigation that will need to be tested and discussed in
further research.
the site. The combination of the above lead us to interpret La Fosse as a large residential site. Following this, we propose a new mobility and land-use model for hunter-gatherer groups from the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition in which La Fosse functioned as an aggregation site. This model confirms several previous hypotheses emphasizing the logistical character of mobility strategies of these societies. Finally, this scenario adds further details and precision concerning both the status and connections between different groups of sites within a complex socio-economic system.
Between the XIIIth and Xth millenniums BC, human societies of Western Europe experienced significant techno-economic and social changes. Considering lithic artifacts are the only elements available in Western France, comparative lithic technology has proved to be the best suited tool for very close scrutiny in those last Paleolithic societies. The study of late glacial lithic industries has allowed us to confirm and refine the chrono-cultural organizational model proposed those last years, shifting assemblages traditionally seen as Magdalenian to the end of the Pleistocene. This work has also identified major changes in the know-how but also more generally in the ways of living and thinking. The inclusion of these data within the European context has led to the understanding of population dynamics of the area and to the development of a reflection on the cultural and technical exchanges in Western Europe during the Late Glacial.
techno-cultural entities with their particular chronological sequence: the Western Europe “classical
sequence” and the Epigravettian sequence in the South. Essentially because of an imbalance of data
and differences in methodologies between these two regions, their Upper Paleolithic sequences have
rarely been compared. Thanks to the development of lithic technology in Europe and a recent active
research about the Late-Glacial, it is today possible to attempt such a challenging exercise of
comparing these two long sequences. In this paper, we solely focus on the Late Glacial. If the rare
existing attempts of comparison focused on typology of lithic assemblages, our paper aims for a more
global approach of lithic industries, based on recent technological studies. This approach allows
highlighting key elements in term of human behaviors. Our data suggest a similar process of change
between Western Europe and the Epigravettian during GI-1 (BøllingeAllerød). All the criteria of the
so called “azilianization process” are actually present in the Epigravettian evolution sequence. This
similar trend within both evolution sequences stopped abruptly, during the GS-1 (Younger Dryas).
During this period and the very beginning of the Holocene (Preboreal), a massive return of blades and
bladelets with high qualitative standards occurred in Western Europe while the simplification process
is still in course in the Epigravettian region. In this paper, we attempt to compare the various
responses of vegetation to the major climatic instability of the Late Glacial across Europe using a
critical survey of the available environmental data. Considering the boundary that could have represented
the Alps between Epigravettian and the Western Europe sequence, two high-resolution
environmental sequences from north and south of the Alps are especially examined. Are the differences
in terms of environmental changes between these two areas significant? Did they play a role in
human behaviors and motivate technological changes? The comparison of palaeoenvironmental data
with archaeological results tends to comfort some hypothesis of environmental determinism proposed
by scholars, but also provide new elements moderating regional models that cannot really be
applied at a continental scale. Climatic correlations with socioeconomic changes highlighted in this
paper are no more than one possible way of investigation that will need to be tested and discussed in
further research.
the site. The combination of the above lead us to interpret La Fosse as a large residential site. Following this, we propose a new mobility and land-use model for hunter-gatherer groups from the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition in which La Fosse functioned as an aggregation site. This model confirms several previous hypotheses emphasizing the logistical character of mobility strategies of these societies. Finally, this scenario adds further details and precision concerning both the status and connections between different groups of sites within a complex socio-economic system.
Abstract
The characterisation of lithic sources exploited for the production of lithic assemblages plays an essential role with regard to a techno-economical approach. This kind of approach focusing on cognitive and socio-economical aspects is currently favoured in order to understand prehistoric social practices: mobility and territorial systems, exchange and networks, technical traditions or intercultural relationships. The comparison and the pooling of reference collections and databases and the interoperability of the methods used at various levels are still essential for the development of our knowledge in order to meet the requirements of material-culture and geomaterials specialists. From this perspective the meeting " Lithic resources, productions and transfers between the Alps and the Mediterranean " primarily aimed to present the state of research on the siliceous raw materials between the Rhone valley and the Apennine chain. Reference collections and databases as well as advances in archaeology were discussed. In addition, the latest developments with regard to the methods were addressed and their dissemination within the scientific community put into perspective. More particularly, the meeting aimed to present the state of current knowledge on lithic raw materials on the southern side of the Alps in France and in Italy, to report on and discuss significant results obtained over the last few years through studies based on these reference collections and to identify the research problems and perspectives in these field for the coming years.The session, hosted by the French Prehistoric Society, was held on 28-30 March 2013 at the " Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société Sud-Est (Nice) ". Almost eighty participants – speakers and audience –from various regions of France, Italy and Switzerland attended the meeting. The proceedings published in this volume collate most of the papers presented at the conference. The first day of the session was devoted to the presentation of the reference collections that were built up or are still in progress, whereas the second day was dedicated to the archaeological results related to their use. These contributions encompass a large geographic area, stretching from the Rhone River to Corsica, from Provence to the Marches and from Tyrol to the Salento Region, and they relate to a great part of the prehistoric periods, from the Palaeolithic up to the Copper Age.
Résumé
La caractérisation des géoressources exploitées pour la constitution des assemblages lithiques joue un rôle fondamental pour une approche technoéconomique intégrée. Dans une perspective à la fois cognitive et socio-économique, cette démarche est aujourd'hui privilégiée pour aborder les pratiques sociales préhistoriques : systèmes de mobilité et territorialité, transferts et réseaux, traditions techniques ou interculturalités. La confrontation et la mutualisation des référentiels et des bases de données, l'interopérabilité des méthodes mises en oeuvre à différentes échelles, restent cruciales pour un développement des connaissances qui satisfasse à la fois aux exigences des spécialistes de la culture matérielle et des géomatériaux. Dans cette perspective, les rencontres « Ressources lithiques, productions et transferts entre Alpes et Méditerranée » avaient pour objectifs principaux de dresser un état des connaissances sur les ressources siliceuses entre Rhône et Apennins, aussi bien pour ce qui concerne les référentiels et bases de données que pour ce qui concerne les développements archéologiques, mais aussi de prendre acte des évolutions méthodologiques les plus récentes et mettre en perspective leur dissémination au sein de la communauté scientifique. Il s'agissait plus précisément de diffuser une présentation générale des connaissances actuelles sur les matières premières lithiques au Sud des Alpes en France et en Italie, de présenter et échanger autour des résultats importants obtenus ces dernières années dans le cadre des études prenant appui sur ces référentiels et d'identifier les verrous et perspectives de la recherche dans ces domaines au cours des prochaines années. La séance qui s' est tenue du 28 au 30 mars 2013 à la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société Sud-Est (Nice) sous les auspices de la Société Préhistorique Française, a réuni près de quatre-vingts participants – intervenants et auditeurs – provenant de différentes régions de France, d'Italie et de Suisse. Le présent volume restitue la plupart des communications orales présentées, avec une première journée consacrée à la présentation de référentiels constitués ou en cours de constitution et une seconde journée dédiée aux résultats archéologiques liés à leur exploitation. Ces contributions embrassent un large espace géographique, du Rhône à la Corse, de la Provence aux Marches et du Tyrol à la Toscane ; elles concernent une grande partie des périodes de la Préhistoire, du Paléolithique à l'âge du Cuivre.