Fuliginochronology: a new way of studying fire events chronicles in archaeological sites. Example of the Grotte Mandrin during glacial period

Ségolène Vandevelde (1, 2) , Adelphine Bonneau (3, 4) , Jacques Élie Brochier (5) , Christophe Petit (1, 2) , Ludovic Slimak (6)

1 Archéologies environnementales
2 UP1 UFR03 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR Histoire de l'art et archéologie
3 Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art [Oxford]
4 University of Oxford
5 LAMPEA - Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe-Afrique
6 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés

***Poster presented at:*** · PACE - Prehistoric Adaptations to Cold Environments, Jan 2019, Nice, France. · XXIIe colloque du GMPCA, Session : Ô temps suspend ton vol : chronologies et datations, Mai 2019, Montréal, Canada. · YRA 3 - 3rd Young Researchers in Archaeometry, Sept 2019, Nanterre, France. ___ In this poster, we will introduce a pioneer method for studying fire traces left by human groups in an archaeological site. This method is called Fuliginochronology, from Latin fuliginosus, fuligo: soot, fuliginous, and from Greek khrônologia: chronology. It consists of studying the succession of soot deposits trapped in a matrix. Here we will only develop the cases of soot trapped in carbonate deposits and more specifically in speleothems. In the particular case of an archaeological site like a rock shelter or a cave, these fuliginous calcite deposits (i.e. stalagmite, parietal crust, flowstones) are a record of past human occupations, which can be enumerated (Vandevelde et al. 2017; 2018; Vandevelde et Dupuis 2017). Rhythms of human occupations in a site can also be recorded. This pioneer method is based on high-resolution observation of soot layers trapped in calcite deposits and of the speleothems themselves, coupled with complementary analyses (only characterisation of soot by SEM and Raman analyses will be presented here). The poster will focus on an example in the Rhône Valley : the Grotte Mandrin, during glacial period, where fire use by Neanderthal is common on this site. *References* · Vandevelde, S., Brochier, J.É., Petit, C., Slimak, L., 2017. Establishment of occupation chronicles in Grotte Mandrin using sooted concretions: Rethinking the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. Journal of Human Evolution 112: 70-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.016 · Vandevelde, S., Brochier, J.É., Desachy, B., Petit, C., Slimak, L., 2018. Sooted concretions: A new micro-chronological tool for high temporal resolution archaeology. Quaternary International 474(B): 103-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.10.031 · Vandevelde, S., Dupuis, C., 2017. Voyage au bout de la suie. Chroniques des occupations humaines à la Grotte Mandrin [Ashes to ashes, soot to soot. Human occupations chronicles at Grotte Mandrin site], in : Cleyet-Merle, J-J., Shunkov, M.V., Le troisième Homme, Préhistoire de l’Altaï [The third Man, Prehistory of the Altaï], exhibition, Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, video : https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/medihal-01580618

Keywords: glacial period; cold climate; neanderthal; soot; carbonates; fire

Domains: Archaeology and Prehistory

Ségolène Vandevelde, Adelphine Bonneau, Jacques Élie Brochier, Christophe Petit, Ludovic Slimak. Fuliginochronology: a new way of studying fire events chronicles in archaeological sites. Example of the Grotte Mandrin during glacial period. PACE - Prehistoric Adaptations to Cold Environments, Jan 2019, Nice, France. , 2019. ⟨hal-01979085⟩