A Late Palaeolithic occupation in the the Scheldt valley at Proville (North of France) ”le Bois Chenu”
Une occupation de l'extrême fin du Paléolithique dans la vallée de l'Escaut à Proville (Nord) « le Bois Chenu »
Résumé
At the end of the 60’s, pedestrian surveys had brought an homogeneous lithic assemblage, living on the lower side of a silty slope in contact with the alluvial plain of the river Scheldt. The morpho-technological features of the industrie allowed to assume that it belong to the Epi-Ahrensbourgian culture, tradition mainly represented from the Loire Valley to northern Germany and southern England from the end of the Younger Dryas to early Preboreal. The surveys undertaken in 2008, on a cultivated f south of the site collection urbanized today, revealed a series of occupations of the lower side from the Late Paleolithic to recent Protohistory. A concentration of lithic artifacts, was undoubtedly of the same technical tradition as the serie of surface. The excavation campaigns 2009 and 2010 helped to define a spatial entity of Final Palaeolithic and gave elements for technological, chrono-typological and spatial interpretation. The partial refittings of some blocks made to help better understand the strategy developed for obtaining standardized blades. The careful management of the siliceous material is exclusively oriented towards the production of laminar or lamellar supports.This technical process is highly representative of the "belloisien”. The initial blocks were prepared by specific method using hard stone hammer (flint). Blades and bladelets are removed by sandstone hammer according to a bipolar process and after an intense preparation of striking platforms edges by abrasion. Tools refer to a technical environment now better understood through research conducted until 20 years about this technocomplex in north-west quarter of France and despite the obvious presence of intrusive mesolithic elements.
À la fin des années 1960, des prospections pédestres avaient permis de réunir un ensemble lithique homo-gène, en situation de bas de versant limoneux au contact de la plaine alluviale de l'Escaut sur la commune de Pro-ville dans le Nord. Les caractéristiques morpho-technologiques de l'industrie laissaient supposer son appartenance à l'Épi-Ahrensbourgien, tradition technique majoritairement représentée de la vallée de la Loire, en France, au Nord de l'Allemagne et dans le sud de l'Angleterre à la fin du Dryas récent et au tout début du Préboréal. Les sondages entrepris en 2008, sur une parcelle cultivée au sud du lieu de ramassage, aujourd'hui urbanisé, ont permis de reconnaître une succession d'occupations de ce bas de versant entre la fin du Paléolithique et la Protohistoire récente. Une concentration d'artefacts lithiques présentait les mêmes caractéristiques techniques que les séries de surface. Les campagnes de fouille programmée de 2009 et 2010 ont permis de circonscrire une occupation du Paléolithique final et de fournir les éléments de son interprétation technologique, chrono-typologique et spatiale. Les remontages effectués permettent de mieux comprendre la stratégie mise en oeuvre pour l'obtention de supports standardisés. La gestion soignée du débi-tage de la matière siliceuse est exclusivement orientée vers la production de supports laminaires ou lamellaires selon un mode opératoire représentatif de la tradition dite « belloisienne ». Les blocs initiaux font l'objet d'une préparation élaborée réalisée au percuteur de pierre dure (silex). Les lames et lamelles sont débitées au percuteur de grès selon un schéma bipolaire et après une intense préparation des corniches des plans de frappe par abrasion et doucissage. L'outil-lage présent renvoie aux standards aujourd'hui mieux cernés grâce aux recherches menées depuis 20 ans sur ce techno-complexe dans le quart nord-ouest de la France et malgré la présence évidente d'éléments intrusifs mésolithiques. Abstract: At the end of the 1960s, pedestrian surveys yielded a homogeneous lithic assemblage from the bottom of a silty slope in contact with the alluvial plain of the river Scheldt. The morpho-technological features of the industry allowed it to be assumed that it belonged to the Epi-Ahrensburgian culture, a tradition mainly represented from the Loire Valley in France to northern Germany and southern England, from the end of the Younger Dryas to the early Pre-Boreal. The surveys undertaken in 2008, on a cultivated field south of the collection site, now urbanized, revealed a series of occupations at the bottom of this slope dating from the Late Palaeolithic to recent protohistoric periods. A concentration of lithic artefacts undoubtedly belonged to the same technical tradition as the series found on the surface. The excavation campaigns in 2009 and 2010 helped to define a Final Palaeolithic spatial entity and provided elements for technological, chrono-typological and spatial interpretations. The partial refittings of some blocks contribute to a better understanding of the strategy developed for obtaining standardized blades. The careful management of the siliceous material is exclusively oriented towards the production of laminar or lamellar supports. This technical process is highly representative of the 'Belloisian' tradition. The initial blocks were prepared by a specific method using a hard stone hammer (flint). Blades and bladelets were removed by a sandstone hammer according to a bipolar process and after intense preparation of striking platform edges by abrasion. The toolkit refers to a technical environment now better understood thanks to research conducted over the past 20 years with regard to this techno-complex in northwestern France and despite the obvious presence of intrusive Mesolithic elements.
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