L’Abri des Rocs (Bellefonds, Vienne)

In the 1950s, E. Patte discovered a Mesolithic industry made up of points and triangle-type arrowheads in the lower part of the stratigraphic record at “ L’Abri des Rocs”. This series, which he attributed to the lower hearths, is crucial for understanding the beginning of the Mesolithic in the west of France. Indeed, this series of approximately 12,000 lithic remains is relatively isolated as the closest elements of comparison are located some 100 km away. In the present study, the lithic industry of the lower hearths is re-investigated as a whole, after proposing a general revision of the stratigraphy. The occupants of the shelter primarily exploited siliceous limestone available near the site, with the intention of obtaining lamellate products for the manufacture of arrowheads, while recovering diverse blanks to produce common tool types. While these latter prove to be ubiquitous, and are composed of few typological classes, the arrowheads clearly indicate an early phase of the Mesolithic. By comparing these microliths with those discovered in a sub-contemporaneous context in the west of France, we can identify a whole range of stylistic variations, which raise questions concerning the traditions and identity of these groups, as well as the exchanges between them

Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Geography · Hearth · Mesolithic · Archaeological and Geological Studies · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Stratigraphy