La céramique décorée du site artenacien de Ponthezières à Saint-Georges-d'Oléron (Charente-Maritime) dans son cadre régional

The site of Ponthezières, on the island of Oléron, was excavated over an area of 500 m2 from 1986 to 1991, and revealed the existence of a well-preserved settlement (fig. 1 and 2). From a corpus totalling over 30000 pottery sherds, this first approach of the decorated ceramics from the site was based on a sector presenting a better state of conservation (squares с to f 10-11) and on part of the ditch 86, at a point where its stratigraphic infill was practically complete (fig. 3). Due to the intense fragmentation of the corpus, only thirty-five pots could be at least partially rebuilt. They represent eleven forms and all the morphological and functional categories (fig. 4-8). The site of Ponthezières presents the traditional division of ceramics of the Artenac group in two categories (coarse and fine) which are related to the thickness of the walls, the quality of the paste and the treatment of surfaces. Although the material is quite fragmented, the site of Ponthezières had many elements which conform to the traditional organization of the Artenac decorative corpus (fig. 9-10). However, some specimens illustrate the result of a process leading to the enrichment of the decorations (fig. 11, column 2 and 3) and others have a more overall decoration without the regularity of the original geometrical forms (fig. 9, nos. 7-10). Some elements present quite a "careless" decoration compared to that we are accustomed to from the Artenac potters (fig. 9, nos. 11-17). The "poinçonné-tiré" (stamped/incised) technique largely dominates over the "plastic" type (deformation of the wall, addition of paste). All "poinçonné-tiré" decorations received a white-coloured incrustation (fig. 12). The second part of this article ("Discussion ") confronts the data with that from recent excavations carried out in the Centre-West region of France, especially by chrono- stratigraphic analysis and the ceramic forms and analysis of their decoration. The site of Ponthezières has produced evidence of a contemporaneous existence with the Bell Beaker culture groups and also of the influence of these groups on the Artenac stylistic traditions. Secondly, the search for a better definition of local and/or regional Artenac culture groups appeared necessary. Confronting the distribution of the decorative techniques (fig. 14) and themes (fig. 15), it seems obvious that a distinction between the Atlantic façade and the continent can be proposed. The example of the decorations demonstrates clearly that the coastal and continental entities had a parallel evolution. Finally, this study shows that the diversity of the Neolithic groups and the diversity of relations with the Bell Beaker culture groups in the second half of the 3rd millennium ВС certainly had a different impact on the genesis of the cultures of the Early Bronze Age in central-western France

Archaeology · Art · Ditch · Geography · Humanities · Pottery · Archaeological and Geological Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Geology

• Utilisation des galets ouvragés du site de Ponthezières à Saint-Georges-d'Oléron (Charente-Maritime)

  Christian Ricou, Thimus Esnard•Bulletin de la Société…•1996

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