An open-air site from the recent Middle Palaeolithic in the Paris Basin (France): Les Bossats at Ormesson (Seine-et-Marne)

摘要

In northern France, most of the sites attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic are open-air sites inwhich mainly lithic artefacts are found, due to taphonomic conditions often unfavourable tothe preservation of fauna. The lithic assemblages found in most of those open-air sites suggestthat the activities on the camp sites were diversified, although flint knapping was oftenintense due to the proximity of sources of raw siliceous materials. With the exception of veryrare open-air sites, fauna is poorly preserved and spatial and economic analyses may often bebased on the spatial distribution of lithic artefacts, in particular based on refits and theiranalysis. Therefore the palaeoethnological approach is difficult to implement in most open-airareas. In contrast, in the Paris Basin, the study of more recent sites from the Tardiglacial, suchas the Magdalenian sites of Pincevent or Etiolles, falls within this approach. The recentdiscovery (2009) and excavation of the open-air site of Ormesson (Seine-et-Marne - France)was initially intended to document a Gravettian occupation floor dated around 26,000 yearsuncal BP and related to a preferential bison hunt. Whilst checking the thickness of the loess inwhich the Gravettian level was found, several other prehistoric settlements were discovered(Chatelperronian, Middle Solutrean) including two units attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic.One of them, level 4, seems to be particularly well-preserved. It occurs between one and threemeters below the main Upper Palaeolithic occupation. The lithic industry from level 4belongs to a technical tradition generally attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic: discoidtechnology. The freshness of the material and the presence of bone fragments attributed inpart to horse support a general good state of preservation of this occupation. The Mousterianremains seem to cover at least 500 m2, as currently estimated. Even more exceptional is theclose spatial relationship between the discoid industry, the bone pieces, remains of fireplacesand especially the numerous fragments and nodules of red colouring materials. These werebrought to the site where they were utilised by the Mousterians. The used surfaces showindisputable scraping traces and facets. These recent discoveries will certainly contribute tothe debate on the cognitive capacities of nearly the last representatives of the MiddlePalaeolithic and this within a complex stratigraphy which will allow us to make comparisonsbetween the different periods.