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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2023

Innovating with Fire: Lithic Heat treatment and socio-economic behavior of Late Solutrean groups in southwestern France

Résumé

The recent Solutrean is characterized by the appearance of a new and diversified hunting equipment, associated with innovative techniques for stone tool knapping, such as pressure retouch and heat treatment of silica rocks. These innovations have no equivalent in the history of the recent European Paleolithic and are found throughout the Solutrean extension area. Although the use of heat treatment during the Solutrean has been known since the 1960s, the heating technique or the extent of this process remain undefined. A work of characterization of this technical innovation within the Solutrean technical traditions was carried out within the framework of a PhD thesis. The aim of this work was to discuss the degree of technical and economic complexity associated with this process, and more broadly, to question the socio-cultural conditions of its emergence. This study employed different approaches, including (1) a macroscopic diagnostic of the heating artefacts within twenty lithic collections from southwestern France, (2) an experimental approach that allowed us to observe the effects of heating on different raw materials and to collect the impressions of several knappers, and (3) some analyses involving infrared spectroscopy and surface analyses by confocal microscopy to specify the heating environment set up by the Solutrean groups. The characterization of heat treatment was also completed by (4) a techno-economic study of lithic industry carried out on two major Solutrean deposits from Dordogne (Landry and Laugerie-Haute Ouest). We propose to present the main results of this study. The use of heat treatment by recent Solutrean groups in northern Aquitaine has been confirmed, revealing a small number of objects involved. Almost exclusively associated with the laurel leaf shaping chaîne opératoire, heat treatment was conducted in a controlled environment allowing a temperature rise not exceeding 250-350°C. These data also question the status of Solutrean lithic points in relation to the spatio-temporal fragmentation of their production. The addition of a heat treatment step during the chaîne opératoire implies a high degree of anticipation. These results have provided new elements to discuss the management and organization of lithic production in Solutrean groups from northern Aquitaine. The synthesis of these results also enables us to discuss the Solutrean mobility system in southwestern France and to question the social links between local and regional groups at the dawn of the Last Glacial Maximum.
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Dates et versions

hal-04230744 , version 1 (06-10-2023)

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  • HAL Id : hal-04230744 , version 1

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Julie Bachellerie, Caroline Renard. Innovating with Fire: Lithic Heat treatment and socio-economic behavior of Late Solutrean groups in southwestern France. UISPP XX World Congress - Exploring the world’s prehistory, Sep 2023, Timișoara, France. ⟨hal-04230744⟩
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