Analyse fonctionnelle des galets biseautes du Mesolithique a la fin du Neolithique dans VOuest de la France, la Grande-Bretagne et VIrlande

摘要

This study aims to understand the function of a simple tool, the bevelled pebble. Finds of this kind of implement are recurrent in the coastal sites of the later Mesolithic and Neolithic in north-western Europe. After reviewing the proposals made for their use, we look at the contexts of the finds and the associations of artefacts. We take particular interest in the finds of bevelled pebbles in shell middens rich in limpets (Patella). A short ethnographic investigation made in north Finistere on the practice of limpet-gathering encouraged us to make an experimental collection with the help of pebbles. The marks left on both the implements and the limpet shells collected were the subject of technological analysis. Lastly, the marks most frequently observed on the experimental series were compared with batches of limpets discovered during excavations.