Environment and human subsistence in Northern France at the Late Glacial to early Holocene transition

摘要

The Late Glacial and early Holocene (ca. 15,000-6,000 cal BP) witnessed major changes in the environmental conditions which led to the establishment of temperate vegetation and animal species, thereby offering new subsistence opportunities to the population of hunter-gatherers. Measurements of the relative abundances in(13)C and(15)N were applied to large herbivores from northern France to document the change in their habitat. During the early Holocene, red deer show a decrease in delta C-13 values most likely reflecting the effect of a dense canopy and an increase in delta N-15 values probably linked to the increased soil activity of soils in foraged territories. Aurochs and roe deer delta C-13 values also revealed a more densely forested habitat at the end of the Preboreal, while the delta C-13 values of the wild boar indicate dependence on fruits and underground tubers that were not affected by the canopy effect. Three human individuals from Val-de-Reuil and La Chaussee-Tirancourt dated to the Preboreal period provided relatively high delta N-15 values when compared with the local fauna and other early Mesolithic humans, which might have resulted from the consumption of freshwater resources especially at Val-de-Reuil. The delta S-34 values appear to depend more on the geographical location of the individual, as demonstrated by the difference among wild boar delta S-34 values between sites, rather than related to the protein source of the diet, namely, terrestrialversusaquatic. Our results confirm the influence of the forest ecosystem on the environment and diet of the considered early Mesolithic human of northern France, while the possible contribution of the aquatic ecosystem still needs to be documented.