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The British Neolithic transition, occurring around 4000 BC, at least one millennium after the continental part of Northwest Europe, is still subject to important debate these days. Various studies suggest that the Neolithic start involved farming immigrants from various parts of the Continent. However, ceramics of the Early Neolithic of Britain became increasingly distinct from their Continental roots, particularly in the Southwest and Southeast of England. We recently completed two important projects, one on Early Neolithic British and Irish pottery and the other on Peterborough Ware, integrating a new way of considering these early productions through a technological approach and the observation of various steps of the chaîne opératoire. This paper is the opportunity to present preliminary results which shed a new light on the evolution of pottery wares during the fourth millennium BC in Southern Britain. It specifically highlights strong connections between Early Neolithic and Middle Neolithic pottery, in terms of style, but above in terms of manufacturing techniques.

The iconographic, formal and technical analysis of the decoration elements of El Castillo and La Pasiega (Cantabria) highlights a heterogeneous distribution of the main themes, with distribution logics that are very different in each of the caves. In El Castillo, the main themes appear in distinct sectors, each one containing a central area with a high density of motifs and an end that sets its limit. Consequently, the decoration appears as a mosaic formed of small sets of motifs. In contrast, using the same analysis criteria for the cave of La Pasiega shows that, besides motifs of the same type spread in the network space, there are more structured decorated sets. The set of Gallery A shows an increasing number of motifs from the beginning to the end of the sector, with a maximum density at the level of the back areas. In turn, the set of Gallery B comprises animal figures that stood out all the more to the viewers that they were illuminated by natural light. Whereas the decoration of Gallery A is organised in the manner of deep sanctuaries, the ornamentation of the Salle du Mégacéros of Gallery B falls rather in the logic of open-air sanctuaries. info:eu-repo/semantics/published SCOPUS: ar.j

À partir d’une étude croisée de la littérature savante sur la polychromie antique et industrielle et de données issues d’une enquête de terrain sur une architecture contemporaine qui prend ses distances avec les couleurs fonctionnelles de l’architecture moderniste, cet article montre qu’une approche ethnographique des pratiques coloristes permet de dégager une historiographie largement sous-évaluée des travaux sur l’art coloriste en architecture moderne. En rendant compte des entretiens que j’ai eus avec Patrick Bouchain et Daniel Buren sur leurs positions théoriques sur la coloration des murs et en confrontant leurs réponses aux théoriciens du XIXe siècle en Europe, j’aborde la délicate question de la coloration du Centre Pompidou Mobile. Relève-t-elle ou non d’une démarche « décorative » ? Based on a cross-examination of scholarly literature on antique and industrial polychromy and data from a fieldwork about a contemporary architecture that takes its distances from the functional colors of modernist architecture, this paper examines how an ethnographic approach to colorist practices reveals a widely undervalued historiography on colorist art in modern architecture. In reviewing the interviews I had with Patrick Bouchain and Daniel Buren about their ideas about coloring of walls and in comparing their answers to the nineteenth-century european theorists, I address the delicate question of the coloring of the Center Pompidou Mobile. Is it a « decorative » approach ?

International audience; The aim of this study was to examine and document the wall paintings in theChâteau de Germolles. Situated in Burgundy, France, Germolles is the best preservedresidence of the Dukes of Burgundy and was listed as a monument ofnational importance in 1989.The medieval wall decoration of the Château de Germolles was rediscoveredunder the nineteenth-century plasters during World War II. Medieval accounts ofthe château provide a detailed list of the materials acquired to make the muraldecoration, but this list is incongruous when compared with the current appearanceof the paintings. The discrepancy between the archival and material evidence,and also the need to understand the complexity of the painting technique usedwere the main motivations for undertaking the case study described in this chapter.Imaging alongside more traditional examination techniques were utilized torecord and document the mural decoration. The objectives of the case study wereto distinguish the original materials from those applied during restoration, identifythose materials, and correlate them with the archives. We also tried to understandthe medieval painting techniques used and assess the condition of the paintingsand stabilization requirements. Finally we aimed to find a sustainable solution forthe management of the various types of data collected. Various techniques andinvestigations offered valuable insights into the materials and the painting techniqueused. To improve visitor experience, based on the information gained in thecourse of this study, a 3D virtual representation of the original decoration is currentlyproposed for display to the public visiting the Château de Germolles.

AbstractThe Grotte Cosquer (southeastern France) is a Paleolithic painted cave only accessible by a deep-water dive. The cave has yielded numerous Paleolithic engravings and drawings, which were produced from wood charcoal. This article presents new radiocarbon dates obtained on samples collected in 2012 directly on 17 parietal representations and at the soil surface, and discusses the 14C results obtained since the discovery of the cave in 1992. A total of 41 samples were dated with ages ranging from 33,000 to 20,000 cal BP. They show that the cave was intermittently decorated over about 10,000 yr.

For six years, an interdisciplinary team carried out the study of a Bronze Age underground network. This program has been labelled by the Institute of Ecology and Environment of the French Research Council (CNRS), who wants to promote new methodologies and experimental studies in Global Ecology. It takes advantage of the support of the French Ministry of Culture. The archaeological cave of Les Fraux (Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas, Dordogne) is the only protohistorical site in Europe wherein are gathered testimonies of domestic, spiritual and artistic activities. Fortunately, the cave was closed at the end of the Bronze Age, following to the collapse of its entrance. The site is currently registered in the French Historical Monuments. The cave forms a wide network of galleries, characterized by the exceptional richness of its archaeological remains such as ceramic and metal deposits, numerous parietal representations (engravings or fingerings incised in the clay-walls and paintings sometimes in association with deposits) and about sixty domestic fireplaces. In that framework, 3D models of the cave constitute the common work support and the best way for scientific communication for the various studies conducted on the site by nearly forty researchers. In this specific context, a partnership among archaeologists and surveyors from INSA Strasbourg allows the team to develop, in an interdisciplinary way, new methods of data acquiring based on contact-free measurements techniques in order to acquire a full 3D-documentation. All the surveys are conducted in compliance with the integrity of the site. Different techniques based on Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Digital Photogrammetry and Spatial Imaging System have been used in order to generate a geometric and photorealistic 3D model from the combination of point clouds and photogrammetric images, for both visualization and accurate documentation purposes. Various scales of acquiring and diverse resolutions have been applied according to the subject: global volume cave, parietal representations, deposits… The aim of this paper is firstly to issue a statement of 6 years of 3D-recording in the cave and secondly to display recent methodological developments as for the integration of heterogeneous data in 3D models (i.e. magnetic field recording combined with the 3D models in order to locate magnetic anomalies in the cave). Another purpose is to give an overview of methodological and technological limitations we experienced since 2008. Finally, we attempt to present work in progress as to 3D-modelling and simulating and thinking on the way we should use 3D in archaeological caves. Depuis six années, une équipe interdisciplinaire conduit l'étude intégrée d’un réseau souterrain occupé durant l’âge du Bronze, dans le cadre d’un Site d’Étude en Ecologie Globale du CNRS (INEE) et d’une fouille programmée soutenue par le Ministère de la Culture. La grotte des Fraux (Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas, Dordogne), inscrite aux Monuments Historiques depuis 1995, constitue l’unique site protohistorique d’Europe associant en un même lieu des témoignages d'activités domestiques, spirituelles et artistiques. La grotte, dont l’effondrement de l’entrée à la fin de l’âge du Bronze a permis la préservation des vestiges durant plus de 2,5 millénaires, semble avoir fait l’objet d’occupations de courtes durées, répétées, dans un intervalle de temps compris entre 1450 et 1150 BC. La cavité forme un vaste réseau de galeries, caractérisé par l'exceptionnelle richesse de ses vestiges archéologiques : une trentaine de dépôts de mobilier céramique et métallique, de nombreuses représentations pariétales, parfois associées aux dépôts (gravures, incisions, tracés digités, pigments…) ainsi qu’une soixantaine de structures de combustion. L'étude en cours se déroule dans le cadre d’un observatoire du CNRS dont l’objectif est le développement de nouvelles méthodologies et d'études expérimentales dans le domaine de l'écologie globale. Dans ce cadre, la modélisation 3D de la grotte constitue le support de travail commun aux différentes études menées sur le site, par près de quarante chercheurs et étudiants. Dans ce contexte, un partenariat scientifique avec l'INSA de Strasbourg permet à l'équipe de développer, de manière interdisciplinaire, de nouvelles méthodes d'acquisition de données, basées sur des techniques de mesures sans contact. Ce travail a permis l’acquisition d’une documentation 3D complète, respectant l'intégrité du site. Différentes techniques (Lidar terrestre, photogrammétrie et systèmes d'imagerie spatiale) ont été utilisées dans le but de générer un modèle 3D géométrique et photoréaliste issu de la combinaison de nuages de points et d’images de photogrammétrie. L’objet de cet article est de dresser le bilan de six années de numérisation 3D à la grotte des Fraux, de présenter les récents développements méthodologiques dans le domaine de l'intégration de données hétérogènes dans les modèles 3D et de dresser le bilan des verrous technologiques et méthodologiques rencontrés. Nous conclurons par la présentation des travaux en cours dans le domaine de la modélisation et de la simulation 3D.

The Chauvet-Pont d’Arc Cave (Ardèche, France), famous for its remarkable rock art, also contains unique thermal-alterations such as rock spalling and color changes on the walls. These alterations resulted from intense fires that have not been observed in the other decorated caves thus far discovered. The functions of these unusual fires challenge archaeologists. To characterize these combustions, we used a numerical tool, previously validated with experimental data, to study the thermo-alterations in the Megaceros Gallery. This unprecedented approach in cave art research enabled us to assess the wood quantities and locations of the hearths responsible for the thermo-alterations. We report here that at least ten fires took place in the Megaceros Gallery while burning more than 170 kg of wood. Both simulation and in situ observations suggest that the branches were arranged in a tepee shape and purposefully positioned, some distance from the walls. This method therefore enables further analysis of the functions of these fires.

Although understanding the emergence of agriculture in West Africa has recently benefited from major advances, the reasons for its fast diffusion south of the Sahara remain to be explained. We propose here a reconstruction of African agriculture expansion built from a spatialization of available archaeological data and associated radiocarbon dates. With this approach, we can show that the initial spread of food production occurred with some specific rhythms. From this structure, we discuss the potential underlying processes. Our work suggests that the spread of agriculture in West Africa cannot be explained by a simple response to an abrupt environmental change at the beginning of the Late Holocene, but rather by a combined climate-culture mechanism. In addition, cord-wrapped roulette-impressed pottery appears to be a good indicator of the expansion of agro-pastoralist populations in Sub-Saharan regions. Our results are also consistent with the assumption of a monophyletic origin of domestic pearl millet in south-western Sahara and strengthen the idea that the first cultivators were Saharan pastoralists.

International audience; The Mid-Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) karstic Grotte de Cussac (France) contains two areas of human remains in the context of abundant (and spectacular) parietal engravings. The first area (loci 1 and 2) includes the skeleton of a young adult male in a bear nest, rearranged by postdecomposition inundation, and the variably fragmentary remains of at least two individuals distributed across two bear nests, sorted anatomically and with most of the elements constrained to one side of one nest. The second area (locus 3) retains remains of two adults and an adolescent, in upper hollows and variably distributed down the slope, largely segregated into upper versus lower body groups. The only decoration associated with the human remains is red pigment on some of the bones or underlying sediment. The human remains indicate variable nonnatural deposition and manipulation of human bodies, body portions, and skeletal elements of at least six individuals. Moreover, Cussac is unusual in the association of these remains with exceptional parietal art. The complex Cussac mortuary pattern joins growing evidence from other Gravettian sites of variable treatment of individuals after death, within and across sites, in terms of formal deposition of the body versus postmortem manipulation versus surface abandonment. It provides a window onto the social diversity and the complex interactions of the living and the dead among these successful Late Pleistocene foragers.