Mixed occupation during the Middle Palaeolithic: Case study of a small pit-cave-site of Les Pêcheurs (Ardèche, south-eastern France)
Résumé
The Pêcheurs cave is a unique example of a Middle Palaeolithic site with three kinds of accumulations: (1)ibex that died in a natural trap, (2) carnivores that died within the cavity, and, (3) a series of short-termoccupations by humans who left a few artifacts and a hearth area. Biological patterns of ibex remains(skeletal parts, age) show a homogeneous structure, related to natural death inside the cave. The Chassezacvalley is narrow and sinuous, bordered by steep cliffs occupied by well-adapted hoofed-species (Caprinae).Moreover, Les Pêcheurs is a shallow cave, pit-like, and in its deepest part (Sector 4) provided bothman and animals with shelter. The presence of a fire place (in the middle of the sequence of Sector 4)firmly indicates the presence of an in situ occupation by a small group of hominids. According to thestratigraphical patterns and the analysis of the lithic assemblages, artifacts do not seem to have beenintroduced into sediments. The lithic assemblages (technically homogeneous) indicate that small mobilehuman groups inhabited a cave that offered, by virtue of its morphology, a natural shelter against the coldwinds blowing in the Chassezac valley and the plateaus of the south-eastern borders of the Massif CentralMountains. The exploitation of biotopes such as this rocky area constitutes a specific case of human subsistencebehavior and settlement strategy. The deepest layer is characterized by a lithic assemblagemostly made of local raw material (quartz) implying a low investment in lithic production. Few flakesmade from non-local flints attest to the mobility of the human occupants who moved across these areasand perhaps found in the valleys, short-term refuge.