Identification of a gravettian component on the open-air site of les Tailles du Clou at Clugnat (Creuse, France)

摘要

The prehistoric site of Les Tailles du Clou is located in the north-eastern part of the Creuse département, near the village of Clugnat. The archaeological remains cover roughly one hectare on a plateau which dominates the valley of the Petite Creuse. Fieldwalking campaigns undertaken on the site since its discovery in 2003 have led to the collection of a rich assemblage of more than 15,000 worked stone objects. Unfortunately the series is not chronologically homogenous but is the result of successive occupations between the Middle Palaeolithic and Late Neolithic periods. The lack of homogeneity of the series has led us to identify the different components from technotypological criteria. Sorting based on surface states or types of materials has proved ineffective. The identification of the Gravettian remains collected is based on the presence of diagnostic typological elements (Gravette points and microgravettes) and the modes of production, laminar and lamellar. No item that may technically belong to another chrono-cultural facies has been taken into account. This classification eliminates almost all household tools and some of the backed bladelets. 231 pieces are associated with the Gravettian occupation. The different elements assigned to this occupation show a certain homogeneity. Given the context, it must however be considered that several occupation phases may be present. The breakdown by raw materials reveals procurement mainly from the North, with a predominance of tertiary flint from the Vicq-Exemplet region (39%), Upper Turanian from Grand Pressigny (30.3%) and Lower Turonian from Berry (29.9%). The choice of raw materials, exclusively oriented towards the siliceous formations of the Paris Basin, suggest the Tailles site is related to occupations in that region. The laminar knapping of Tailles is fairly ubiquitous throughout the Gravettian period. It is illustrated by curved table cores where bipolarity is dominant, alongside the use of soft stone. It can be compared with that described for the Recent Gravettian site of Cirque de la Patrie (Klaric, 2003) or locus 11-14, La Croix-de-Bagneux, Mareuil-sur-Cher (Kildea & Lang, 2011). More robust blades were probably imported and used as supports in place of polyhedral burincores. This pattern is similar to that described on several sites attributed to the Recent Gravettian at Le Blot (Klaric, 1999, 2003 and 2006), Mainz-Linsenberg (Hahn, 1969; Klaric, 2003), Mancy (Chehmana et al., 2008) or Les Peyrugues, C. 22 and 20 (Klaric et al., 2009). Typologicaliy the industry is mainly characterized by the presence of Gravette points and microgravettes, alongside many fragments. The absence of Noailles and Raysse burins in the series forbids the hypothesis of an occupation during the middle phase of the Gravettian. Markers of the early phase (Font-Robert points and flechettes) are also lacking. The chronological attribution is thus logically orientated towards the most recent phase of the Gravettian period, when based on the typological composition. This attribution is moderated by the data provided from the Bossats site, Ormesson (Bodu et al., 2011). This site is dated to a relatively early phase of the Gravettian (26691 ? 530 BP) and its knapping process has similar features.