Levallois et Gravettien

in Praehistoria (in press)

Par opposition à ceux de l’Aurignacien, les ensembles lithiques gravettiens procèdent selon une méthode rappelant le Levallois quant à la préparation des supports. Mais les variations observables au sein ... [more ▼]

Par opposition à ceux de l’Aurignacien, les ensembles lithiques gravettiens procèdent selon une méthode rappelant le Levallois quant à la préparation des supports. Mais les variations observables au sein du Gravettien touchent autant les processus de symbolisation dans l’art et les sépultures. Elles affectent différents substrats eurasiatiques, plutôt septentrionaux, comme mis en réserve dès les Néandertaliens. [less ▲]

Belgique

in Noiret, Pierre (Ed.) Le Paléolithique supérieur européen. Bilan quinquennal 2006-2013 (2013)

Serial population extinctions in a small mammal indicate Late Pleistocene ecosystem instability

in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2012), 109(50), 20532-20536

The Late Pleistocene global extinction of many terrestrial mammal species has been a subject of intensive scientific study for over a century, yet the relative contributions of environmental changes and ... [more ▼]

The Late Pleistocene global extinction of many terrestrial mammal species has been a subject of intensive scientific study for over a century, yet the relative contributions of environmental changes and the global expansion of humans remain unresolved. A defining component of these extinctions is a bias toward large species, with the majority of small-mammal taxa apparently surviving into the present. Here, we investigate the population-level history of a key tundra-specialist small mammal, the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx torquatus), to explore whether events during the Late Pleistocene had a discernible effect beyond the large mammal fauna. Using ancient DNA techniques to sample across three sites in North-West Europe, we observe a dramatic reduction in genetic diversity in this species over the last 50,000 y. We further identify a series of extinction-recolonization events, indicating a previously unrecognized instability in Late Pleistocene small-mammal populations, which we link with climatic fluctuations. Our results reveal climate-associated, repeated regional extinctions in a keystone prey species across the Late Pleistocene, a pattern likely to have had an impact on the wider steppe-tundra community, and one that is concordant with environmental change as a major force in structuring Late Pleistocene biodiversity. [less ▲]

Interprétation chronostratigraphique de la séquence holocène du Trou Al'Wesse à la lumière des nouvelles datations : du Mésolithique ancien au Néolithique moyen

in Notae Praehistoricae (2012), 32

The AMS dates obtained for the Holocene sequence are stratigraphically coherent, and indicate occupations at Trou Al’Wesse during the Early, Late and Final Mesolithic phases and the during the Middle ... [more ▼]

The AMS dates obtained for the Holocene sequence are stratigraphically coherent, and indicate occupations at Trou Al’Wesse during the Early, Late and Final Mesolithic phases and the during the Middle Neolithic. This paper presents an interpretation of the chronostratigraphy in light of the recently obtained dates. [less ▲]

Les fouilles 2005-2008 à Yafteh et la chronologie radiocarbone

in Otte, Marcel; Shidrang, Sonia; Flas, Damien (Eds.) L’Aurignacien de la grotte Yafteh (fouilles 2005-08) et son contexte / The Aurignacian of Yafteh Cave (2005-08 excavations) and its context (2012)

Perspectives

in Demidenko, Yuri; Otte, Marcel; Noiret, Pierre (Eds.) Siuren I Rock-Shelter. From Late Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic to Epi-Paleolithic in Crimea (2012)

La séquence mésolithique et néolithique du Trou Al'Wesse (Belgique) : Résultats pluridisciplinaires

in Anthropologie (L') (2012), 116

The site of Trou Al’Wesse has been interpreted as a site of possible contact between Mesolithic and Neolithic populations, given the discovery of Neolithic ceramics and Mesolithic tools in stratum 4 ... [more ▼]

The site of Trou Al’Wesse has been interpreted as a site of possible contact between Mesolithic and Neolithic populations, given the discovery of Neolithic ceramics and Mesolithic tools in stratum 4. However, recent excavations have also revealed the presence of three Early Mesolithic facies overlain by a Neolithic layer, while a Late Mesolithic presence is suggested for a fourth facies at the base of the terrace slope. Lithic and faunal analyses, as well as spatial analysis of the stratigraphic position of material recovered, indicate a clear separation of Mesolithic and Neolithic occupations. We present a new interpretation of the sequence of Holocene human occupations at Trou Al'Wesse in light of these data, arguing that the site was regularly occupied during the Early Mesolithic, forming a palimpsest of these visits, followed by an occupational hiatus and then re-occupation during the Late Mesolithic. The Early Neolithic is a separate occupation clearly unrelated to the Early Mesolithic underlying it, but ongoing fieldwork may recover data concerning the Final Mesolithic and its relation to the Early Neolithic at the site. [less ▲]

Couvin/Couvin : fouilles 2009 au Trou de l'Abîme

in Chronique de l'Archéologie Wallonne (2011), 18

Nouvelles fouilles au site moustérien du Trou de l'Abîme à Couvin

Poster (2011)

Early Upper Palaeolithic Occupations East of the Carpathians Mountains between 33,000 and 23,000 BP

Poster (2011)