Exploring the social conditions of the LBK/post-LBK transition in eastern Belgium through the intergenerational transmission of ceramic and lithic know-hows
Résumé
In this communication, we will present the results of an integrated technological analysis performed on the ceramic and lithic as- semblages from the early Neolithic villages of Verlaine and Vaux-et-Borset (Hesbaye, Belgium), both characterised by a double LBK and post-LBK (i.e. Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain, abbreviated BQY/VSG) occupation. Our study, centred on the reconstruction of the manufacturing chaînes opératoires, aims to identify technical traditions, revealing learning networks that are specific to pro- ducer groups. Tracking these technical traditions in time and space at the larger scale of Belgium and north-eastern France enables us to assess (1) continuity and ruptures in know-hows in Hesbaye during the transition from LBK to BQY/VSG; (2) the mobility pat- terns of producers; (3) possible processes of interaction between producer groups. The detailed reconstruction of lithic and ceramic technical know-hows during the transition between LBK and BQY/VSG in Hesbaye reveals distinct producer groups whose spatial trajectories and socio-economic behaviours seem to have changed profoundly at the turning point of the 6th and 5th millennia BC. Our systemic study shows the potential of the chaîne opératoire approach to apprehend the sociological relationships between these two cultural entities and to propose a scenario of historical transition, taking into account the cultural, social and economic dynamics that led to the fragmentation and disintegration of the LBK system.