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In rock shelters and caves, the geo-archaeological reading of sediments can allow, in favourable cases, a micro-chronological study of traces of anthropogenic activities and in particular in the use of fire. And if the recurrence in the use of fireplaces can sometimes be identified by a micromorphological study of the structures, it is very uncerta...
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... à la Grotte Mandrin où la nature annuelle des doublets de calcite a pu être 683 démontrée, les séquences de films de suie peuvent être indexées sur le calendrier annuel de la 684 précipitation des carbonates ; l'étude conjointe des films de suie et des doublets de calcite 685 permet donc de caler les chroniques de paléo-feux sur une échelle micro-chronologique de 686 temps mesuré, ici avec une résolution annuelle (Figure 11 ; Figure 12). L'étude des 687 rythmicités des occupations sur ce site devient alors accessible. ...
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... Recent interdisciplinary efforts have provided high temporal and spatial resolution at a few Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites, elucidating patterns of hunter-gatherer group mobility at a scale of seasons and decades on the basis of the identification of speleothem formation cycles associated with human occupations [13][14][15] and Sr isotope ratios on human tooth specimens 16 . However, there is a need for methods applicable to a broader range of materials and contexts and with the potential to aid in palimpsest dissection, allowing for time-resolved behavioural analysis of archaeological remains. ...
Resolving the timescale of human activity in the Palaeolithic Age is one of the most challenging problems in prehistoric archaeology. The duration and frequency of hunter-gatherer camps reflect key aspects of social life and human–environment interactions. However, the time dimension of Palaeolithic contexts is generally inaccurately reconstructed because of the limitations of dating techniques¹, the impact of disturbing agents on sedimentary deposits² and the palimpsest effect3,4. Here we report high-resolution time differences between six Middle Palaeolithic hearths from El Salt Unit x (Spain) obtained through archaeomagnetic and archaeostratigraphic analyses. The set of hearths covers at least around 200–240 years with 99% probability, having decade- and century-long intervals between the different hearths. Our results provide a quantitative estimate of the time framework for the human occupation events included in the studied sequence. This is a step forward in Palaeolithic archaeology, a discipline in which human behaviour is usually approached from a temporal scale typical of geological processes, whereas significant change may happen at the smaller scales of human generations. Here we reach a timescale close to a human lifespan.
... Secondary carbonate formation requires more time to cover a fresh surface. At Mandrin Cave, carbonate deposition is partly biologically induced, leading to this characteristic coralloid structure of these microcrystalline carbonated deposits (Frisia 2015;Bassel 2017;Vandevelde et al. 2021b). Therefore, epilithic microorganisms must re-settle before accelerating carbonate precipitation on the wall. ...
... One type of lamina (sparitic calcite) forms during periods of hydric excess, whereas micritic calcite laminae form during drier periods. In the Mandrin Cave, µLIBS analyses of strontium (Sr) variations (Sr is a trace element showing annual fluctuations) confirmed the annual nature of these calcite doublets (Vandevelde et al. 2021b). On the archaeological samples, we observed soot films within both the micrite and sparite deposits, confirming that soot is recorded regardless of the season. ...
In recent years, pyroarchaeology has expanded rapidly and included experimental approaches. However, analyses of the combustion products carried by smoke (mainly soot and microcharcoal) and the study of fixing, recording, and preserving processes of this material on parietal surfaces remain limited. We therefore launched the ExTraS (Experiments on Traces of Soot) program, which aims to document the processes of fixation, recording, and preservation of combustion products in speleothems. We focused on various parameters, including the influence of wall surfaces, meteorological and seasonal conditions, and the nature of the fuel. Here, we present results acquired over several years (2015–2023) that combine macroscopic, microscopic, and colorimetric observations, as well as Raman microspectroscopy characterization. Our findings improve our understanding of the formation process of sooty speleothems observed at archaeological sites in rock shelters and caves.
... It is built on the same model as "dendrochronology" because of the similarities between the two methods, both technically and in the temporal resolution of the data they produce (22). Indeed, when the matrix is composed of carbonated deposits like speleothems, the recording resolution can be annual, with the formation of a calcite doublet per year, comparable to tree rings (23,24). This annual lamination depends on hydric conditions, with alternating dry and wet season (23,(25)(26)(27). ...
Determining the extent of overlap between modern humans and other hominins in Eurasia, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, is fundamental to understanding the nature of their interactions and what led to the disappearance of archaic hominins. Apart from a possible sporadic pulse recorded in Greece during the Middle Pleistocene, the first settlements of modern humans in Europe have been constrained to ~45,000 to 43,000 years ago. Here, we report hominin fossils from Grotte Mandrin in France that reveal the earliest known presence of modern humans in Europe between 56,800 and 51,700 years ago. This early modern human incursion in the Rhône Valley is associated with technologies unknown in any industry of that age outside Africa or the Levant. Mandrin documents the first alternating occupation of Neanderthals and modern humans, with a modern human fossil and associated Neronian lithic industry found stratigraphically between layers containing Neanderthal remains associated with Mousterian industries.
Speleothems (carbonated cave deposits) are natural archives that are characterized by their ability to record past environments as well as by their high temporal resolution, especially when laminated annually. Their potential for study is not limited to research on palaeo-climatic reconstructions. For example, speleothems can trap anthropogenic particles such as soot, and these fuliginous speleothems have a high informative potential in archaeology. In this paper, we will present the potential archaeological applications of fuliginochronological analysis in several cases, in different temporal contexts. The most recent cases (Belgium, France and Slovenia), for which we sometimes have historical and textual information allowing us to check the recorded archaeological facts, will make it possible to validate the micro-chronological archival potential of speleothems in the context of a fuliginochronological study. Then, we will extend the use of this method to a French Palaeolithic site in order to highlight the informative potential of this approach in Prehistory.
