Modalités d’exploitation d’un banc de silex tertiaire durant l’Épipaléolithique et le Mésolithique : l’exemple des gisements du domaine Brisson et de la Maladière (La Pacaudière, Loire)

Résumé En Fr

The data collected on the open-air site of Domaine Brisson allow different types of human behaviour to be studied with regard to the exploitation of an Oligocene flint source. The techno-typological analysis allows two cultural phases to be distinguished on the site, the first connected with the Epipalaeolithic, the second with the Mesolithic. The scope of these studies is however limited by the presence of a palimpsest of occupations, by the low number of tools allowing a precise cultural attribution, and by the absence of organic remains allowing absolute dating. For each of these two cultural phases, it is impossible to determine the frequency and the intensity of occupation of the site. Techno-economic approaches allow it to be interpreted as a knapping site. However the modalities of exploitation of the flint source are different in each phase of occupation. The Epipalaeolithic occupation seems less important quantitatively than the following one. The exploitation of the flint source is targeted at the zones where the material is of good quality. The objectives of the Epipalaeolithics are double. The first concerns the acquisition of blocks and the forming of reserves of preforms and good quality blocks with the aim of exploitation later in time and/ or elsewhere. Lithic artefacts collected on the site of Maladière illustrate, partially, this spatial fragmentation of the chaîne operatoire. A part of the artefacts put in reserve is thus exported outside the site, some hundreds of metres only in the case of Maladière, to be exploited there. The second objective lies in the production of blades. A part of this production is exported outside the site. The exploitation of the flint mass during the Mesolithic seems less restricting than in the Epipalaeolithic for the simple reason that the major part of the flint source meets the requirements of the Mesolithics in terms of the quality of the material. Modules sought for cores are also easier to obtain, compared with those of the Epipalaeolithic blade cores. The chaîne operatoire of blade knapping is completely present on the site. There are no reserves of blocks or cores with the aim of exported or deferred exploitation. Exporting of part of the bladelet products is possible, but remains difficult to quantify. For each of these two occupations, the manufacture of tools is limited and dominated by tools with low technical investment.

Ce travail présente les caractéristiques technotypologiques de l’industrie lithique de deux sites de plein air, associés à un banc de silex oligocène. Deux phases d’occupation sont présentes sur place. La première présente les caractéristiques de l’Épipaléolithique et se caractérise par la production de supports laminaires obtenus au percuteur de pierre tendre, à partir de nucléus mis en forme. La réalisation de préformes de nucléus pourraient également se rattacher à cette phase culturelle. La seconde période de fréquentation du site date du Mésolithique. Le débitage est orienté vers la production de supports lamellaires détachés au percuteur de pierre tendre, à partir de petits nucléus qui n’ont subi aucune mise en forme. Parallèlement à l’approche technologique de l’industrie, ce sont les comportements humains liés aux différentes modalités d’exploitation du banc de silex qui sont appréhendés.