Du nouveau à l’Ouest : résultats préliminaires sur l’Azilien ancien de l’abri sous roche du Rocher de l’Impératrice (Plougastel-Daoulas, Finistère, France)
Résumé
The recent discovery of the site of the Rocher de l’Impératrice at Plougastel-Daoulas in Finistère provides new data on the question of the early Azilian period, and on the first evidence of Late Glacial settlement in the west of France. This article aims to present the preliminary results obtained after a first survey in 2013, followed by a first excavation campaign in 2014. Although the excavation of the site and the different studies related to the stratigraphic and geomorphological context, and the lithic and symbolic archaeological material are still ongoing, it nonetheless seems interesting to present our first conclusions and research perspectives for the coming years. The Rocher de l’Impératrice rock shelter is located at the base of a large cliff in Armorican sandstone overlooking the floor of the bay of Brest and the Elorn estuary. Like many sites of this type, the rock shelter underwent many disturbances during the course of its history. Different anthropic interventions and natural processes (run-off, bioturbations) damaged the archaeological layers in places. However, an Azilian level, as well as a small level attributed to the Late Neolithic, are clearly identifiable. The first results of the geomorphological study of the site have already led to a better assessment of the complex sedimentary dynamics at work at the site. They show that most of the deposits come from the colluviums and the remobilization of the sedimentary cover of this steep slope. At the base of the sequences, the archaeological level US-102, dating from between the Late Glacial and the Neolithic, with a Weichselian loess matrix comprising abundant small quartzite blocks and stones, contains a dense Azilian industry and does not appear to be reworked. The lithic assemblage collected up until now is rather homogeneous. The Neolithic component is only present in SU-108 and is very discreet in the lithic assemblage, which is largely dominated by Azilian elements. On account of the presence of numerous bipoints with curved backs and blades with flat retouch associated with a laminar debitage made with a soft stone hammer, this series can be assigned to the early phase of this technocomplex. The presence of rare monopoints with curved backs on thick and less regular blanks, some of which have basal retouch on the opposite edge (Grundy point), could perhaps point to occupation during a recent phase of the Azilian. However, this question remains open pending the continuation of excavations and the results of ongoing studies, as economic choices (manufacture of points on less standardized blanks) could also explain the coexistence of this type of armature. This attribution to the Early Azilian is particularly interesting, as this phase is very poorly defined in the Armorican Peninsula, but also on a broader scale, as sites attributed to the Early Azilian are rare in France and often present clear signs of mixing with Magdalenian and Late Azilian levels. The Rocher de l’Impératrice thus enables us to investigate the technical systems of the Early Azilian in order to consider the nature and rhythm of the transformations affecting the lithic equipment between the Final Magdalenian and the Late Azilian. The discovery of schist tablets with geometric and animal engravings, sometimes coloured with black pigments identified as charcoal with Raman spectrometry, open the door towards other socio-economic facets of these groups. The first results of these different studies point to a very specific technical signature for this site, with a high proportion of tools, and in parallel, a poor representation of knapping waste. These hypotheses require corroboration by the ongoing excavations and analyses, but enable us to outline a first model of the occupation of this small rock shelter in Finistère. For now, all the data are in keeping with the postulate that this shelter was occupied by small groups, during short periods, mostly for activities revolving around game acquisition and processing.
La découverte du site du Rocher de l’Impératrice à Plougastel-Daoulas dans le Finistère est venue récemment alimenter la question des premiers temps de l’Azilien et, par là même, des premiers indices d’occupations tardiglaciaires de l’Ouest de la France. Les résultats préliminaires de la première campagne de sondage menée en 2013 et suivie par une première année de fouille en 2014, permettent de commencer à appréhender le système technique de ces sociétés dans l’Ouest de la France et d’enquêter sur les processus de changement engagés dans la fabrication et l’utilisation de l’outillage lithique au cours de l’Azilien. La découverte d’un ensemble important d’éléments d’art mobilier, unique pour la Bretagne et particulièrement singulier pour l’Azilien ancien, permet également d’étendre cette réflexion au-delà du
système technique. La signature technique très particulière du Rocher de l’Impératrice offre aussi l’opportunité de commencer à proposer des hypothèses quant aux modalités d’occupation de ce petit abri sous roche finistérien.