Claude Vella

Recent morphological channel changes in a deltaic environment. The case of the Rhone River, France

Abstract Channel morphological changes were measured at two sites within the Rhone delta along the main channel of the Rhone River over one century. Results show an average erosion rate of 2.8 mm year−1 during the 20th century and decreasing to

Environmental imprints of landscape evolution and human activities during the Holocene in a small catchment of the Calanques Massif (Cassis, southern France)

This paper is based on a multidisciplinary study using both paleoenvironmental methods (biological, sedimentological, magnetic and geochemical) and archaeological data in order to characterize landscape and hydrological network changes as well as human impact on a littoral catchment in the Western Mediterranean area. Sedimentary records obtained around a coastal alluvial plain (Cassis, Southeastern France) reveal local environmental changes and human activities since the Neolithic (ca. 6000 cal. BP). Anthropogenic impact is already noticeable in the earliest record, and we follow its evolution through time. According to biological markers, the Holocene landscape of the Calanques is dominated by a mosaic of open herbaceous formations partly generated by human activity. The prevalence of Cernuella virgata in malacofauna successions and of coprophilous fungal spores in the pollen record testifies to the spread of agro-pastoral activities. Two increases of anthropogenic impact are highlighted during the Roman (ca. 2000 cal. BP) and Modern (from ca. 1450 to today) periods. Lead isotope analyses indicate an anthropogenic release of lead, possibly originating from the Greek Cyclades (ca. 2000 cal. BP). Hydrographic and agricultural work is also enhanced during the Roman period. Magnetic parameters and lead isotopes indicate that the Modern anthropogenic impact may be associated with high temperature activities (e.g. lime kiln, fossil fuel).

Un exemple inédit en Provence de sépulture collective du Néolithique récent/final : le site de Collet-Redon (Martigues)

Decouverte en 2006, une sepulture collective, situee a 200 m au nord du site de Collet-Redon a La Couronne (Bouches-du-Rhone), a fait l’objet de deux campagnes de fouilles en 2014 et 2015. Localisee dans le fond du vallon des Chappats dont l’activite sedimentaire a permis sa conservation, elle est implantee dans une fosse et beneficie d’un dispositif bâti et d’un pavage. Deux couches ont ete identifiees. La premiere semble avoir recu des depots primaires, en partie vidangee par la suite. La seconde est composee d’un individu incomplet en connexion et d’un amas d’ossements dissocies le long d’une des parois. Au moins 11 individus (adultes et immatures) sont necessaires pour expliquer la composition de la serie osteologique. Le mobilier associe aux defunts se limite a 7 perles en calcaire. Quatre datations sur os humains situent l’utilisation de la tombe au Neolithique recent ou au tout debut du Neolithique final, avant le plein developpement des sepultures collectives en Provence. La position chronologique, la localisation, l’originalite du dispositif bâti ainsi que les caracteristiques du fonctionnement de cette sepulture sont discutees a la lumiere des connaissances actuelles des pratiques funeraires de la fin du Neolithique dans le midi de la France.