Insights into Aurignacian daily life and camp organization: The open-air site of Régismont-le-Haut

Régismont-le-Haut, an Aurignacian open-air campsite, provides an occasion to investigate aspects of Aurignacian site variability that are rarely broached: (1) the relatively poorly known area connecting the Aquitaine and Mediterranean Basins, and (2) the high-resolution spatial organization of an Ea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary international 2018-12, Vol.498, p.69-98
Main Authors: Anderson, Lars, Lejay, Mathieu, Brugal, Jean-Philip, Costamagno, Sandrine, Heckel, Claire, de Araujo Igreja, Marina, Pradeau, Jean-Victor, Salomon, Hélène, Sellami, Farid, Théry-Parisot, Isabelle, Barshay-Szmidt, Carolyn, Mensan, Romain, Bon, François
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeology and Prehistory
Aurignacian
Environmental Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lithic technology
Mineral colouring materials
Open-air campsite
Palethnology
Personal ornaments
Pyrotechnology
Spatial analysis
Use-wear analysis
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Summary:Régismont-le-Haut, an Aurignacian open-air campsite, provides an occasion to investigate aspects of Aurignacian site variability that are rarely broached: (1) the relatively poorly known area connecting the Aquitaine and Mediterranean Basins, and (2) the high-resolution spatial organization of an Early Upper Palaeolithic campsite. While more difficult to integrate directly into chronological models of Aurignacian evolution, mostly derived from stratified rock-shelter and cave sites from the northern Aquitaine Basin, it is argued that studying open-air sites like Régismont-le-Haut can furnish detailed information that rock shelter/cave sites cannot, therefore providing critical building blocks and possible reading keys to help reconstruct prehistoric circulation systems and marry synchronic and diachronic perspectives on variability. A detailed description of the geomorphological and sedimentary context, as well as the differing materials and activities (lithic industry and use-wear, faunal remains, mineral colouring materials, personal ornamentation, limestone blocks, fireplaces) that occur on-site, is provided. A summary of activities occurring in two complementary loci ensues, followed by a preliminary spatial reading of one of the primary domestic units. The contemporaneity of the two loci is then treated, and the article finishes with a discussion regarding how Régismont-le-Haut fits both diachronically and synchronically within the Aurignacian.
ISSN:1040-6182
1873-4553
DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.04.034