In:
Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, PERSEE Program, Vol. 113, No. 2 ( 2016), p. 291-332
Abstract:
The site of Conty is located at the bottom of the small side valley of the Selle, a tributary of the River Somme. An area of 2,540 m2 has revealed domestic structures, some of which are rich in various kinds of artefacts. The technological and typological characteristics of the pottery can be clearly assigned to the recent phase of the Cerny culture. Despite a limited number of vessels, it constitutes a reference set for all of the north-western part of the Paris basin. Comparisons with the closest assemblages from the Oise valley highlight differences that can be interpreted as cultural markers. The hypothesis proposed by C. Constantin and W. J. Kuijper of a technical transfer from the south-western to the north-western part of the Paris basin, passing through the Somme basin and avoiding the middle Oise valley, seems to be confirmed. The main typological and technological characteristics of the flint industry fit the lithic assemblages of the Paris basin perfectly. However, the existence of a blade production, using indirect percussion, which can be compared with the industry of the Juvincourt-et-Damary site in the Aisne valley and the sites of the Basse-Normandie region, represents an individual characteristic of the Conty site. Its flint industry seems to be linked with that of the Aisne valley and thus testifies to the persistence of blade production up to the end of the Cerny culture in these regions, strongly influenced by the Post-Rössen tradition, unlike Normandy where the well-marked laminar tradition at the beginning of the Cerny culture, interpreted as the heritage of the Early Neolithic, seems to disappear over time. The faunal remains indicate a low level of exploitation of caprines, higher rates of pigs, but no refocusing of pastoral activity on cattle. This study confirms the great variability between different sites and the difficulty of proposing interpretations of traditions in the exploitation of a specific resource at a cultural level. According to the results of the study of the faunal remains from Conty, the hypothesis of an increase in hunting between the Early and Middle Neolithic is again challenged. Through the processing of antlers and the manufacturing of bone tools (points on metapodials of small ruminants), the bone and antler tool assemblages from Conty are well integrated in the contemporaneous series of the Paris basin. The domestic structures are essentially pits, but the excavations revealed what are probably two circular houses. Comparisons can be found more in the upstream portion of the Seine valley and the Yonne valley where this kind of building appears at the beginning of the Cerny culture and distinguishes this geographical area from the north-eastern and more western part of the Paris basin where rectangular buildings are more common. The Somme valley and its tributaries thus seem to be subject to mixed influences from the south (architecture), the west (ceramic technology and embossed dots decoration) and the east (flint industry tradition).
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0249-7638
DOI:
10.3406/bspf.2016.14625
Language:
French
Publisher:
PERSEE Program
Publication Date:
2016
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2506497-6
SSG:
6,12
SSG:
6,11
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