When large start to be meaningful: long blades production of the Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture, in T. Guichet and J.-P. Collin (dir.), Neolithic and Chalcolithic Large Blades. Identifying and Defining Exceptional Lithic Products, Session 169
Résumé
Our paper will question the appearance of large blade production in North-western Europe. At the turn of the Vth millennium, the Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture emerges in Northern France and Middle Belgium on an LBK substratum. An important rupture with the LBK occurs at that time within the organisation of lithic productions. A diversification of productions (flake and faceted tool versus blade productions) reveals a segmentation of tasks with the coexistence of different groups of knappers. This segmentation goes even beyond domestic needs with the emergence, in the course of the chronology, of the production of large blades. This production is exclusive to some sites of the Paris Basin and is conducted by knappers of a very high level of know-how who can be considered specialists. Furthermore, these long blades are produced to circulate within a large territory, sometimes by itinerant knappers. So, the individualisation of large blades as a proper techno-economic category starts to be meaningful at the beginning of the Vth millennium in this part of Europe. It allows for highlighting the social segmentation of the activities among these post-LBK communities.