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International audience; In South China and mainland Southeast Asia, the lithic industry called the "cobble-tool industry" dominated throughout the Pleistocene and persisted until the middle Holocene. Although this term has long been used to characterize the lithic industry and to compare the Paleolithic cultures interregionally, it is really just a description of the raw material used by the lithic industry, lacking any indication of essential technological information about lithic production. As a result, the term loses utility when we compare the lithic industries of different sites in South China and mainland Southeast Asia, because both regions' lithic industries are characterized by cobble/pebble raw material during their prehistory. In this paper, we studied the lithic collection of the Bailiandong Cave, an important site in Guangxi, southern China, dating back to 36-7 ka, from a new technological perspective, and revealed the chaines operatoires of production and the objectives of prehistoric knappers. After a concise comparison with the Hoabinihian techno-complex in mainland southeastern Asia, the long-lasting suspicion about the Hoabinhian elements in this site was dispelled. So, technological analysis did construct a solid foundation to redefine the cobble-tool industry in South China and to reveal the variability of lithic industries on a larger regional scale. The application of this approach to more sites is expected to help to decipher more clearly the technological and cultural scenario of prehistoric humans in South China and adjacent Southeast Asia

Abstract Two associated incomplete thyreophoran dorsal vertebrae from the Callovian Marnes de Dives Formation of the Vaches Noires cliffs, on the Normandy coast, are referred to an indeterminate stegosaur that appears to be different from Lexovisaurus, previously reported from the Callovian of western France. These vertebrae are the first evidence of thyreophorans from the Vaches Noires and complement the dinosaur assemblage from this locality, which hitherto consisted of several theropod taxa and an indeterminate sauropod. The dinosaur record from the Vaches Noires is heavily dominated by theropods and this imbalance is difficult to explain. A possible explanation may be that the dinosaur sample from the Vaches Noires is too small to be statistically significant and representative of the original faunal assemblage from which it is derived.

Le complexe stratigraphique conservé à Menez-Dregan I (Bretagne, France) présente une alternance de 17 niveaux d’occupation et de 4 dépôts marins, entre environ 450 et 300 000 ans (US 9a et 3b). L’industrie lithique retrouvée sur le site est extrêmement riche (plus de 153 000 artefacts supérieurs à 3 cm de longueur, ainsi que des millions de débris de taille), et correspond à un faciès régional de l’Acheuléen, dont le macro-outillage est essentiellement représenté par des choppers, ainsi que par quelques bifaces et hachereaux. Cet article présente une première synthèse des données produites depuis presque 30 ans sur le site de Menez-Dregan I. L’étude typologique de l’ensemble de la collection lithique est à présent achevée, et permet de faire le point sur les différentes occupations humaines qui se sont succédé sur ce site au cours du Paléolithique inférieur. The stratigraphical complex preserved at the site of Menez–Dregan I (Brittany, France) displays an alternating sequence of 17 occupation levels and of 4 marine deposits, between ca. 450 and 150,000 years (stratigraphical units 9a and 3b). The lithic industry retrieved at the site is extremely abundant, with more than 153,000 artefacts over 3 cm in length, as well as millions of knapping debris, and corresponds to a regional facies of the Acheulean, with heavy-duty tools essentially represented by choppers, as well as a few handaxes and cleavers. This paper presents a first synthesis of the data produced for almost 30 years on the site of Menez–Dregan I. The typological study of the entire lithic collection is now complete and allows us to assess the different human occupations that occurred at this site during the Lower Palaeolithic. International audience

The archaeo-sequence of Gatzarria Cave (Ossas-Suhare, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France), in the northwestern foothills of the Pyrenees, records several phases of the Middle Palaeolithic and the initial stages of the Upper Palaeolithic. This type of deposit in a karstic context enables us to characterize diachronic changes in industries and to demonstrate the relative preservation of the assemblages. This cavity was excavated by Georges Laplace between 1951 and 1976 and contains a complex stratigraphy that was exposed to significant post-depositional processes. It was thus essential to test that the archaeological levels were intact before any techno-economic analysis. Several recent studies have questioned the homogeneity of the archaeological remains in the back of the cave. This article focuses on the sequencing of the industries attributed to the Quina and the Vasconian, based on the correlation of different types of taphonomic and typo-technological analyses (density of remains, surface conditions, refits, spatial distribution, analysis of the fieldwork notebooks). Ultimately, this work sheds light on the sequencing of lithic technocomplexes at a macro-regional scale in a relatively poorly-documented key zone between northern Aquitaine and the Cantabrian mountains. Dans le piémont nord-occidental des Pyrénées, l’archéo-séquence de la grotte de Gatzarria (Ossas-Suhare, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) documente plusieurs phases du Paléolithique moyen et du Paléolithique supérieur initial. Ce type de dépôt en contexte karstique permet de caractériser les changements diachroniques dans les industries, sous réserve de démontrer la préservation relative des ensembles. Fouillée par Georges Laplace entre 1951 et 1976, cette cavité a révélé une stratigraphie complexe ayant subi des processus post-dépositionnels importants, où l’intégrité des niveaux archéologiques doit être préalablement testée. Plusieurs études récentes ont notamment remis en question leur homogénéité dans le fond de la cavité. Cet article propose la mise en évidence d’une succession d’industries attribuées au Quina et au Vasconien, basée sur la corrélation de plusieurs types d’analyses taphonomiques et typo-technologiques (densité de vestiges, états de surface, remontages, répartition spatiale, analyse des carnets de terrain). Ces travaux permettent in fine de discuter la succession des techno-complexes lithiques à l’échelle macro-régionale dans une zone charnière peu documentée entre l’Aquitaine septentrionale et les monts Cantabriques.

Abstract Cussac Cave presents a unique combination of parietal art and several hundred parts of scattered human remains, dated to the Middle Gravettian (29–28,000 cal BP). The cave is protected as a National Heritage site. As a result, only noninvasive bioanthropological analyses are allowed, consisting of in situ observations and the study of 3D models obtained by photogrammetry. Here we present the first results of these analyses of the human remains from Locus 3. Only 65 of the 106 human skeletal fragments and bones could be firmly identified. Virtual analyses were carried out on 3D models of 16 skeletal elements so that osteometric data could be provided. Despite the limitations inherent in studying commingled remains and those specific to Cussac Cave, the search for virtual pair-matching, articular congruence, and osteometric sorting allowed the allocation of twelve bones to three individuals, one late adolescent and two adults.

Abstract This paper details an integrated characterisation study of a substantial assemblage of obsidian artefacts (n = 519) from the Syrian Neolithic site of Qdeir 1 (El Kowm oasis). The results of the chemical characterisation (using ED-XRF and SEM–EDS) have been coupled with the typo-technological data. Such an approach has allowed us (i) to identify four raw materials in the assemblage, namely Bingol A and Bingol B from eastern Anatolia, plus Gollu Dag and Nenezi Dag from central Anatolia, (ii) to specifically source the distinctive green peralkaline obsidian to Bingol A (rather than ‘Bingol A and/or Nemrut Dag’), (iii) to observe that these four raw materials were consumed in a nigh-identical manner, probably worked locally by specialist craftspeople to produce fine pressure flaked blades, and (iv) to hypothesise that the people of Qdeir 1 may have played a key redistributive role in the circulation of obsidian tools, likely supplying the neighbouring village of El Kowm.

International audience; The Hoabinhian is a distinctive lithic techno-complex of mainland and Island Southeast Asia. Knowledge of its relationships with key patterns of technological change at a global scale has progressed over the last two decades. However, our understanding of the Hoabinhian as an indicator of evolution during Prehistory can be substantially enhanced by examining its regional and chronological variability. Here, we present the characteristics of original Hoabinhian artefacts found in a new open-air site at Houay Pano, near Lak Sip (Luang Prabang province, Laos). This technological study of such a classic assemblage, including sumatraliths dated to 5.5 ± 0.6 ka, is a major contribution to Laotian prehistory and our understanding of the tempo-spatial variability of the Hoabinhian techno-complex.; Le Hoabinhien est un techno-complexe lithique spécifique de l’Asie du Sud-Est, continentale et insulaire. La connaissance de ses relations avec les principaux modèles de changement technologique à l’échelle mondiale a progressé au cours des deux dernières décennies. Cependant, notre compréhension du Hoabinhien comme indicateur d’une évolution au cours de la Préhistoire peut être considérablement améliorée par l’examen de sa variabilité régionale et chronologique. Nous présentons ici les caractéristiques des artefacts hoabinhiens originaux trouvés dans un nouveau site de plein air à Houay Pano, près de Lak Sip (province de Luang Prabang, Laos). L’étude technologique de cet assemblage classique comprenant des sumatralithes datés de 5,5 ± 0,6 ka constitue une contribution majeure à la préhistoire laotienne et à notre compréhension de la variabilité temporelle et spatiale du techno-complexe Hoabinhien.

Abstract Petro-archaeology is a powerful tool useful in understanding the origin and management of rocks discovered in prehistoric sites and the complexity of human territories. This research technique has been applied extensively to the Massif Central and its margins, allowing the revaluation of lithic imports from the Rhodanian corridor. Flint derived from Oligocene conglomerates at Rochemaure–Cruas (Ardeche) was a perennial and often preferred source for prehistoric groups inhabiting the Vivarais lowlands and was exported through the Monts d’Ardeche to the Velay highlands (Haute-Loire) during the upper Pleistocene and the Holocene. This modifies the previously drawn litho-spaces occupied by Neanderthals and Modern Humans and questions their land-use strategies in these contrasting natural landscapes.