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Book

English

ID: <

10670/1.caojdd

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Where these data come from
A witness on the past

Abstract

The Grotte du Bison, Arcy-sur-Cure, is a key site for documenting the transition from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic and adds information regarding the question of mobility of the Prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Excavated by A. Leroi-Gourhan until 1963, new investigations were undertaken to complete an exhaustive study of occupation of this cave, focused on correlating the stratigraphy with that of the adjacent Grotte du Renne. Preliminary results at the Bison demonstrate continuity in industrial succession from the late Mousterian into the Châtelperronian. These excavations have yielded new hominin fossils in level I, an Early Typical Mousterian occupation. The latest occupation of the Grotte du Bison was explored in the 2009 excavation of a remnant of the Châtelperronian level D in a 4m² witness block against the west wall of the cave mouth. Previous samples from this level yielded dates of 33,670 ± 450 BP and 34,050 ± 750 BP which correspond to the Châtelperronian level VIII of the Grotte du Renne. The discovery of a hearth at the base of level D indicates a focal point for the distribution of lithic artifacts and fauna mapped on that surface and renders spatial distribution of artifacts from previous excavation of level D more coherent. This strongly suggests that the occupation of basal level D of the Grotte du Bison may not have been just a technical annex to the Châtelperronian occupation level VII of the Grotte du Renne. Most importantly, the structured use of space suggests “behavioral modernity” among Châtelperronian Neanderthals, justifying the application of ethnoarchaeological data for behavioral interpretation of the occupation of that level and its implication for understanding the mobility of prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

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