jean-Francois Berger

Université Lumiere Lyon 2 | UL2 · Département de Géographie

The alluvial filling of the middle basin of the Drâa River (southeastern Morocco) has recorded hydrogeomorphological responses to environmental changes. A systematic study of the Holocene fluvial terraces along an upstream-downstream section of about a hundred kilometers, combined with a sedimentary multiproxy study, was carried out on the alluvial...

This work focuses on litho-stratigraphic and malacological studies of the fluvial deposits of the Middle Moulouya, which are used to reconstruct the paleoenvironments and paleoclimates of Morocco during the Holocene. The objectives were to deduce environmental and climatic changes from the study of fluvial deposits known for their richness in paleo...

The pond of Montady, located at the foot of the hill of Ensérune and now dried up, still marks the contemporary landscape. It is characterized by a radial parcel of land delimiting pointed plots of land, a legacy of a deliberate and planned development of this humid depression for agricultural purposes, dating back to the 13th century. Substantial...

The Early–Mid Holocene transition is a period of profound changes in climatic mechanisms and hydrological features in Europe and North Africa. The melting of the Laurentide ice sheet led to an oceanic and atmospheric reorganisation in the North Atlantic, while the Mediterranean underwent a major hydrological shift. The impacts on Mediterranean rive...

In the last few decades, multidisciplinary research on calcareous tufas as palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic records has intensively grown, which has provided an increasing number of well-documented sites. Consequently, inter-site comparisons and regional- to continental-scale reviews have developed, discussing the link between tufa distributi...

Landscapes and climates from 13000 to 5000 BP in Middle Rhone Valley and Prealpine borderlands. A comparative study of stratigraphic sequences from different sedimentary environments in the Rhone Middle Valley is presented.The palaeoenvironnemental interpretation of their pedosedimentary facies and their comparison with the data from borderlands ha...

Cet ouvrage est dédié à Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel, anthropologue biologiste, l’un des pères fondateurs de la paléodémographie en France, disparu en 2018. Mondialement connu et reconnu, il a contribué au développement de nouvelles techniques d’estimation de l’âge au décès d’assemblages de squelettes et promu la mise en place des estimateurs en paléo...

Climate change is still a subject of debate for archaeologist-neolithicists. Its exact chronology, internal pattern, variations in space and time, and impacts on sites and ecosystems and on coastal dynamic and river systems have yet to be assessed. Only a strict comparative approach at high chronological resolution will allow us to make progress on...

En Europe, le développement industriel post-1945 a conduit à une pollution métallique importante des sédiments fluviaux. L’évaluation de cette pollution a été l’une des problématiques environnementales majeures dès les années 1970. Les programmes de suivis réglementaires ont produit une grande quantité de données basées sur des méthodes d’échantill...

This paper presents the first well-dated palaeoenvironmental study from the Sarliève marsh, a unique sedimentary record in the Limagne plain of central France, where all previous studies suffered from unreliable chronologies. We developed an accurate radiocarbon-based age-depth model and performed high-resolution multi-proxy sedimentological and ge...

A geomorphological survey immediately west of the Minoan town of Malia (Crete) shows that a tsunami resulting from the Bronze Age Santorini eruption reached the outskirts of the Palatial center. Sediment cores testify a unique erosional event during the Late Minoan period, followed locally by a high energy sand unit comprising marine fauna. This co...

Trace metals pollution in river systems has been one of the first environmental issues during the 20th century. In Western European Rivers, research and monitoring programmes targeted bed and flood deposits and only a limited number of dated sediment cores. Diverse sampling and analysis protocols were implemented over time which did not facilitate...

This paper presents Early to Late-Holocene sedimentary deposits from the Moulouya catchment, the main Mediterranean river basin of Morocco. Within this region, recent studies have focused particularly on marine or lacustrine archives. Studies on fluvial archives are thus important for improving our understanding of palaeoenvironmental responses to...

The Montady pond (Hérault) and the management of Mediterranean wetlands, from the High Middle Ages to the 21st century Drained at the end of the 13th century, the Montady pond, located between Béziers and Narbonne, at the foot of the oppidum of Ensérune, is remarkable because of its network of radiating canals. A multidisciplinary research program...

In European rivers, research and monitoring programmes have targeted metal pollution from bed and floodplain sediments since the mid-20th century by using various sampling and analysis protocols. We propose to characterise metal contamination trajectories since the 1960s based on the joint use of a large amount of data from dated cores and subsurfa...

This paper presents a multi-proxy geoarchaeological analysis of the complex pedo-sedimentary archives of a small pond situated within the protohistoric site of Corent, in central France. A robust chrono-stratigraphic framework was developed integrating all chronological data from previous studies. Micromorphological, geochemical and sedimentologica...

Natural metal background levels in sediments are critical to assess spatial and temporal trends of contamination in hy- drosystems and to manage polluted sediments. This is even more sensitive that multi-factors such as geogenic basement, depositional context, and past or long-term pollution can af- fect the level of metals in sediments. This artic...

This paper presents the recent excavations at the previously unexplored site of RJ-3, in the bay of Ras al-Jinz, one of the key archaeological areas in the Omani Sharquiyyah. During the Umm an-Nar period, RJ-3 most likely formed a single, large settlement with the nearby – and well known – site of RJ-2, located on the other side of the bay. Results...

We analysed the late-Holocene pedo-sedimentary archives of La Narse de la Sauvetat, a hydromorphic depression in the southern Limagne plain (central France), where chronologically accurate studies are scarce. The multi-proxy geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of two cores from different areas of the basin was carried out through sed...

The eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula is a key region to explore past climatic and environmental changes and their impact on the coastal ecosystems and Neolithic communities during the mid-Holocene (~8000–5000 years ago). Indeed, it is located at the frontier zone between dry and wet tropical systems, where the monsoon has reduced its activity...

This paper presents the recent excavations at the previously unexplored site of RJ-3, in the bay of Ras al-Jinz, one of the key archaeological areas in the Omani Sharquiyyah. During the Umm an-Nar period, RJ-3 most likely formed a single, large settlement with the nearby –– and well known –– site of RJ-2, located on the other side of the bay. Resul...

The Mediterranean area is particularly sensitive to environmental changes. In Morocco, research undertaken over the past ten years has shown that continental sedimentary archives are useful to document Holocene environmental and climatic variability. However, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction using non-marine molluscs is in an early stage of resea...

One of the main drivers of overbank fine deposition and floodplain formation is the hydrological connectivity between the channel and the floodplain. Channel correction (i.e., groyne field construction within the main flow channel and secondary channel disconnections) and flow regulation can typically lead to a disconnection of riverine floodplains...

Les milieux méditerranéens sont des espaces particulièrement sensibles aux changements environnementaux. Les études réalisées au Maroc depuis les années 80 ont démontré que les archives sédimentaires continentales sont d’excellents enregistreurs de la variabilité et de l’évolution des environnements holocènes. Les mollusques continentaux qui sont a...

The NeoArabia project tries to understand how environmental, social, economic and technological factors work in concert to influence settlement and abandonment along a latitudinal transect of 1200 km from UAE to southern Oman. This region was affected by wide north–south variations in the Indo‐Arabian monsoon, marine upwelling activity and eustatic...

The Mediterranean area is particularly sensitive to environmental and climatic changes. In the Mediterranean basin, research undertaken over the past 30 years has shown that non-marine molluscs are useful bioindicator to document the Holocene environmental evolution. However, in Morocco and other Magrebine countries, palaeoenvironmental reconstruct...

Calcareous tufas are continental open-air carbonates that routinely host evidence of past environmental conditions via well-preserved faunal and floral assemblages. Additionally, as they mostly comprise of calcite precipitated at ambient temperature, tufas are also suitable targets for palaeoclimatic reconstructions, especially from oxygen and carb...

This paper presents the results of the first two years of excavation at the Early Bronze Age settlement of Ra’s al-Jinz RJ-3, in the coastal Sharquiyyah (Sultanate of Oman). Unexplored until the recent excavations, except for a small sounding excavated in 1990 by the Joint Hadd Project, the Umm an-Nar site of RJ-3 most likely formed a single settl...

Abstract :This paper describes long-term changes in human population and vegetation cover in southern France, using summed radiocarbon probability distributions and site count data as population proxies and information from fossil pollen cores as a proxy for past land cover. Southern France is particularly wellsuited to this type of study as a resu...

As part of the Changing the Face of the Mediterranean Project, we consider how human pressure and concomitant erosion has affected a range of Mediterranean landscapes between the Neolithic and, in some cases, the post-medieval period. Part of this assessment comprises an investigation of relationships among palaeodemographic data, evidence for vege...

As part of the Changing the Face of the Mediterranean Project, we consider how human pressure and concomitant erosion has affected a range of Mediterranean landscapes between the Neolithic and, in some cases, the post-medieval period. Part of this assessment comprises an investigation of relationships among palaeodemographic data, evidence for vege...

A multi-proxy study (litho-stratigraphical survey, magnetic susceptibility, organic matter content, palaeoecology) has been conducted on organic and detrital deposits from the Gage Valley (Upper Loire Basin). This research aims at accurately describe the evolution of this little floodplain over the last 1,500 years, in a medium mountain range conte...

A multi-proxy study (litho-stratigraphical survey, magnetic susceptibility, organic matter content, palaeoecology) has been conducted on organic and detrital deposits from the Gage Valley (Upper Loire Basin). This research aims at accurately describe the evolution of this little floodplain over the last 1500 years, in a medium mountain range contex...

Adaptation of local populations to climate change over time is one of the main concerns of the PALEOMEX-MISTRALS program (INEE-INSU funding). This research project promotes new geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies on the Middle Atlas Mountains (Morocco - fig. 1). This area presents a high archaeological potential and numerous lacustrin...

Conservés en contexte archéologique ou " hors-site ". les sédiments " tourbeux ", riches en macro-restes, constituent des intégrateurs spatio-temporels des changements environnementaux. Ces dépôts sont souvent utilisés dans les études géomorphologiques, paléoenvironnementales et géoarchéologiques pour préciser les modalités de la co-évolution clima...

This work is the first geomorphological analysis of La Narse de la Sauvetat, a hydromorphic basin located in the southern Limagne plain (French Massif Central) which had never been studied despite its great palaeoenvironmental interest. We explore the potential of its sedimentary archives to provide valuable data on Holocene geomorphic dynamics and...

Located between the last fringes of the al-Wutā Region and the plain of Dhofar (НDhofār), the coastal plain of Sharbithāt has been scarcely explored. With its 14 km-long shoreline, its succession of wide terraces and wadi deltaic branches, and its abundant flint sources Sharbithāt represents one of the most promising Neolithic archaeological areas...

Located between the last fringes of the al-Wusta Region and the plain of Dhofar (Dhofār), the coastal plain of Sharbithāt has been scarcely explored. With its 14 km-long shoreline, its succession of wide terraces and wadi deltaic branches, and its abundant flint sources Sharbithāt represents one of the most promising Neolithic archaeological areas...

The evolution of resources required for the development of societies depends on the evolution of ecosystems under climate, orbital and societal forcing during the Holocene. This evolution led to the emergence of new risks and new vulnerabilities, often little anticipated by Neolithic actors, creators of a new economy (agriculture and livestock). Th...

Within the framework of construction work on the TGV, around sixty sedimentary sequences in the Middle Rhône valley, dating from late antiquity to the present day, were studied in conjunction wioth geomorphology and sedimentology, pedology and notably soil micromorphology, offers new insights into several periods of morphosedimentary stability by h...

Archaeological surveys on the middle Neolithic (Chassean), of the middle Rhône valley have provided a high understanding of settlements and surroundings between 4800 and 3600 BC. The Chassean can be devided in several cultural groups in time and space. Paleoenvironnemental periods succeed at a time step of two centuries. This quite high chronologic...

L’évolution des ressources nécessaires au développement des sociétés dépend de l’évolution des écosystèmes, sous forçages climatique, orbital et sociétal à l’Holocène. Elle entraîne l’apparition de nouveaux risques et de nouvelles vulnérabilités, souvent peu anticipés par les acteurs néolithiques, porteurs d’une nouvelle économie (agriculture-éleva...

This paper presents the first results of the geoarchaeological study of an unusual hilltop wetland, located within the protohistoric proto‐urban site of Corent in the French Massif Central. This small depression offers an exceptionally local sedimentary record that provided valuable data on long‐term human–environment interactions, as well as proto...

Etude paléoenvironnementale d’un tuf calcaire holocène du Moyen Atlas marocain : observations de terrain et données préliminaires (Aït Said ou Idder)

Cette étude offre une description très précise de l'aspect d'une petite plaine alluviale en moyenne montagne au Moyen Age.

Climate and environment : the stages of initial anthropisation of space (6000-2000 BCE) in France. Climat et environnements : les étapes de la première anthropisation de l’espace (6000-2000 avant notre ère) en France

Une recherche paléoenvironnementale et géoarchéologique pluridisciplinaire a été conduite dans le bassin supérieur du fleuve Loire en vue d’apprécier, à partir d’une chronostratigraphie multi-proxy, la variabilité des flux hydro-sédimentaires dans les têtes de bassin du réseau hydrographique à l’échelle de l’Holocène. Sur la base de 107 datations p...

A paleoenvironnemental and geoarchelogical pluridisciplinary and multi-proxy research was carried out on the upstream Loire basin to study the hydro-sedimentary flows wich have affected headwaters of the hydrosystem during the Holocene. A set of 107 radicarbon dates support the results. A statistical analysis (Cumulative Probability Density Functio...

: : In Arabia, the emergence of the first maritime societies of the early Holocene used to be a theme unexplored by archaeology. For the first time, a glimpse of these 9th and 8th millennium BCE communities living on the Omani shores of the Arabian Sea has recently been possible thanks to data from the Natif 2 cave. These hunter-gatherers were sele...

This paper focuses on early Holocene rapid climate change (RCC) records in the Mediterranean zone, which are under-represented in continental archives (9.2 to 8.2 ka events) and on their impact on prehistoric societies. This lack of data handicaps the general interpretation of climate impacts on human societies, which flourished in recent years. Ke...

Abstract and poster

This multi-proxy study of a small floodplain in the Rhone catchment area, at the northern edge of the Mediterranean morphoclimatic system, provides valuable information concerning the impact of mid-Holocene climate variability (8.5–7.0 ka) and the effects of two rapid climatic changes (8.2 and 7.7/7.1 ka) on an alluvial plain, its basin and the fir...

At about 50 km north of Dubai, located at the limit of the largest natural lagoon of the United Arab Emirates, the site of Umm al Qaiwain UAQ2 is the earliest Neolithic coastal settlement known today on the Arabic side of the Persian Gulf. This stratified shell midden, excavated since 2011, yielded house features including load-bearing posts and hu...

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impact of environmental changes on ancient societies, from the recent Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (4.2 extreme event). Michel Magny’s recent work has shown that there was a short period of drought in the Mediterranean around 2200 BC (Magny et al 2013). This period might correspond with the establis...

This study combines a traditional qualitative description of sedimentary units with a quantitative sediment budget approach to document the colluvial and alluvial sediment dynamics in the Valdaine region (Drôme, France) from the Iron Age to the early medieval period (700 BC - 900 AD). Three transects through colluvial and alluvial deposits are disc...

UMR 6042 Geolab; 5 UMR 8584 CNRS-EPHE LEM-Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes-Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes et CERCOR : Centre européen de recherches sur les congrégations et les ordres religieux, monsanber@wanadoo.fr 6 UMR 5600 CNRS