Jean-Louis Guendon

Early Evidence (ca. 12,000 BP) for Iron Oxide Mining on the Pacific Coast of South America

Iron oxides have been used extensively in the Americas from the Paleoindian period up to the ethnographic present. But, because archaeological mining sites are extremely rare in this continent, we still know very little about how indigenous groups exploited and processed these minerals. Here we report finds from the San Ramón 15 site, located on the arid coast of northern Chile, where our research revealed a prehistoric mine with associated tailings and mining debris that was exploited by hunter-gatherer-fisher groups. The mine was first exploited during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (ca. 12,000–10,500 calibrated years before present [cal yr BP]) and then again during the Late Archaic (ca. 4300 cal yr BP), representing the earliest known mining activity in the Americas. This discovery has important implications, including (1) the record of undisputed mining activity in the continent is extended by several millennia, showing the first insights into Early Archaic mining techniques and technologies; (2) the earliest inhabitants of the Pacific Coast of South America had a well-developed mining knowledge, that is, they were hunter-gatherer-fisher-miner communities; and (3) mobility patterns of early nomadic maritime adaptations in northern Chile were influenced by repeated access to iron oxide pigments used mainly for symbolic purposes.

Le plus vieil établissement de métallurgistes de France (IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.) : Péret (Hérault)

The oldest settlement of metalworkers in France (3rd millennium BC): Peret (Herault, France). The settlement of Chalcolithic metalworkers of La Capitelle du Broum is a truly outstanding site. The first AMS 14 C dating (3rd millennium BC) reveals it as the oldest site in the mining and metallurgy district of Cabrieres. It is of the same age as the oldest metallurgy site discovered in continental France (Roquemengarde). It includes, near the prehistoric copper mines already discovered, double-facing dry-stone walls of the Fontbouisse type and a variety of metallurgy structures. Metalworking tools, including one of the very rare ingot crucibles known from this period in Western Europe, are found alongside ceramics typical of the Late Neolithic (Broum type?).

Subalpine Vegetation Dynamics in the Southern French Alps during the Holocene: Evidence from Plant Imprints and Charcoal Preserved in Travertine Sequences

Abstract In the Aigue Agnelle Valley (Queyras, southern French Alps), between 2200 and 2300 m a.s.l., several travertine deposits are present. Some, containing leaf imprints and pine cones, have been dated back to the early Holocene. Others containing charcoal fragments and dating back to the middle Holocene have also been found. The study of the plant imprints and charcoal within these travertines allowed us to reconstruct the vegetation dynamics of this valley. During the early Holocene (9800 B.P.), Pinus uncinata (mountain pine) was the most common tree. It was gradually replaced by Pinus cembra (arrola pine) in association with Betula (birch) and Vaccinium sp. (berry), probably as a result of climatic warming (ca. 7600 B.P.). Since ca. 5600 B.P., Pinus cembra seems to have regressed in correlation with the development of Larix decidua/Picea abies (larch/spruce) as a consequence of fire events related to climatic and/or anthropogenic factors.

Paléoenvironnements au pléistocene moyen dans la Vallée du Tarn: La formation travertineuse de la Rouquette (Creissels-Aveyron)

Middle Pleistocene paleoenvironments in the Tarn valley: the travertine formation of la Rouquette (Creissels-Aveyron). The site of la Rouquette (near Millau) reveals a paleothalweg filled by colluvia submitted by a fersiallitic pedogenesis and travertine formations ≥350,000 years old (230Th/234U). Paleoecologic informations reveal closed and humid temperate forest conditions with both mediterranean and altitude influences, indicate an Interglacial of Middle Quaternary age.

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.