Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux

Goats were among the first farm animals domesticated, approximately 10,500 years ago, contributing to the rise of the "Neolithic revolution." Previous genetic studies have revealed that contemporary domestic goats (Capra hircus) show far weaker intercontinental population structuring than other livestock species, suggesting that goats have been transported more extensively. However, the timing of these extensive movements in goats remains unknown. To address this question, we analyzed mtDNA sequences from 19 ancient goat bones (7,300-6,900 years old) from one of the earliest Neolithic sites in southwestern Europe. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that two highly divergent goat lineages coexisted in each of the two Early Neolithic layers of this site. This finding indicates that high mtDNA diversity was already present >7,000 years ago in European goats, far from their areas of initial domestication in the Near East. These results argue for substantial gene flow among goat populations dating back to the early neolithisation of Europe and for a dual domestication scenario in the Near East, with two independent but essentially contemporary origins (of both A and C domestic lineages) and several more remote and/or later origins.

Surface roughness is a key parameter for surface‐atmosphere exchanges of mass and energy. Only a few field measurements have been performed in arid or semiarid areas where it is an important control of the aeolian erosion threshold. An intensive field campaign was performed in southern Tunisia to measure the lateral cover, Lc, and the aerodynamic roughness length, Z0, over 10 sites with different surface roughnesses. Lc was determined by combining field measurements of the geometry of the roughness elements and simple assumptions on their shapes. Z0 was experimentally determined from high‐precision wind velocity and air temperature profiles. The resulting data were found to be in good agreement with the existing relationships linking the geometric and the aerodynamic roughness. This suggests that for natural surfaces, Z0 can be estimated on the basis of the geometric characteristics of the roughness elements. This data set was then used to investigate the capabilities of radar backscatter coefficients, σ0, to retrieve Lc and/or Z0. Significant relationships were found between σ0 and both Lc and Z0. The SAR/ERS data set is in agreement with the SIR‐C SLR data set from Greeley et al. (1997). On the basis of these two data sets including data from different arid and semiarid areas (North Africa, South Africa, North America), we propose an empirical relationship to retrieve Z0 using radar observations in the C band from operational sensors.

4 pages, 1 Figure

International audience

International audience

International audience

Over the last 20 years, the geoarchaeology of ancient harbours has been a very active area of research around the Mediterranean basin, generating much palaeoenvironmental data from many sites, including estimations of sedimentation rates, the height of the ancient sea-level at different dates and palaeo-geographical reconstructions. Combining this information has proved a major challenge. This article proposes a new chart called the Palaeoenvironmental Age-Depth Model (PADM chart), that allows the researchers to combine all relevant indicators in order to estimate harbour potential of a given ancient port, and to generate comparable data between harbours in terms of degree of closure and water depth available against a synchronised chronology. This new approach, developed in the context of the ERC-funded RoMP Portuslimen project, takes into account estimations of water depths relating to differing Roman ship draughts at different periods. It is tested against the palaeoenvironmental evidence published over 10 years from two Roman harbours located at the mouth of the river Tiber: Ostia and Portus. This reveals that: (1) there has been an underestimate of the real sedimentation rates due to the margins of error of the radiocarbon dates; (2) there was effective control of the water column by dredging; (3) there were different periods of control of the sedimentation. We suggest that the navigability of the Ostia harbour by ships with shallower draughts was maintained until sometime between the 2nd c. BC and 1st c. AD, while at Portus it was retained until the 6th-7th c. AD.

For almost a century there has been debate on the functional interpretation of desert kites. These archaeological structures have been interpreted as constructions for animal hunting or domestication purposes, sometimes for both, but with little conclusive evidence. Here, we present new evidence from a large-scale research programme. This unprecedented programme of archaeological excavations and geomatics explorations shows the unequivocal and probably exclusive function of kites as hunting traps. Considering their gigantic size, as well as the significant energy and organization required to build them, these types of traps are called mega-traps. Our research is based on five different field studies in Armenia, Jordan, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia, as well as on satellite imagery interpretation across the global distribution area of kites throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. This hunting interpretation raises questions about the transformation of the landscape by human groups and the consequent anthropogenic impacts on local ecological equilibrium during different periods of the Holocene. Finally, the role of trapping in the hunting strategies of prehistoric, protohistoric and historic human groups is addressed.

Abstract Two millets, Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica , were domesticated in northern China, around 6000 BC. Although its oldest evidence is in Asia, possible independent domestication of these species in the Caucasus has often been proposed. To verify this hypothesis, a multiproxy research program (Orimil) was designed to detect the first evidence of millet in this region. It included a critical review of the occurrence of archaeological millet in the Caucasus, up to Antiquity; isotopic analyses of human and animal bones and charred grains; and radiocarbon dating of millet grains from archaeological contexts dated from the Early Bronze Age (3500–2500 BC) to the 1 st Century BC. The results show that these two cereals were cultivated during the Middle Bronze Age (MBA), around 2000–1800 BC, especially Setaria italica which is the most ancient millet found in Georgia. Isotopic analyses also show a significant enrichment in 13 C in human and animal tissues, indicating an increasing C 4 plants consumption at the same period. More broadly, our results assert that millet was not present in the Caucasus in the Neolithic period. Its arrival in the region, based on existing data in Eurasia, was from the south, without excluding a possible local domestication of Setaria italica .

Une haute stèle de marbre opisthographe trouvée il y a quelques années à Marmarini, au nord-est de Larissa (Thessalie), propose un long texte de 54 et 82 lignes aujourd’hui lisibles. En s’appuyant sur cette inscription du milieu du iie s. av. J.-C., qui d’une part comporte un calendrier cultuel et de l’autre un certain nombre de prescriptions touchant aux rites, le présent article propose une présentation de l’aspect probable du sanctuaire (péribole, temple, autel etc.), une liste des divinités concernées — Artémis Phylakè comme divinité principale, mais d’autres divinités grecques et surtout plusieurs divinités d’origine orientale jusqu’alors inconnues — et des remarques sur les modalités d’un culte qui était sans doute un culte à mystères. Ce document, par son contenu, par les détails qu’il donne, est une trouvaille exceptionnelle en Thessalie.

What roles have human impacts and natural processes had in shaping the evolution of Mediterranean coastlines during the Holocene? Where, when and how did societies transform the coastal zone? At what scales and rhythms did these changes take place? What can ancient harbour sediments tell us about human‐environment interactions? During the past 20 years, geoarchaeological research in the Mediterranean has attempted to understand the interplay between culture and nature, and more particularly how environments and processes have played a role in Holocene human occupation of the coastal zone. This approach has drawn on the multidisciplinary study of sediments, as archives of information, to attempt to differentiate between anthropogenic and natural factors, the latter, we argue, having played an increasingly secondary role with time. Three important spatial scales of analysis have emerged, local, regional and Mediterranean, all of which are outlined here.

During a survey conducted in 2005, the open-air site of Kalavan-2 was discovered located at an altitude of about 1600 m in the mountains dominating the northern bank of Lake Sevan (Armenia). The site yielded a Paleolithic industry associated with faunal remains, indicating that this is an important locality in the study of Armenian prehistory. Excavations at Kalavan-2 have revealed a stratigraphic sequence with several phases of occupation attributed to the Middle Paleolithic period. A radiocarbon date of a fragment of dental enamel from a large bovid provided an age of 34,200 ± 360 BP for the Mousterian level 7, confi rming the attribution of this deposit to the fi nal phase of the Middle Paleolithic and the importance of this site for the study of the last presence of Neanderthals in the Southern Caucasus.

Between the Levant and the Indian sub-continent only a few Acheulean sites have been documented, hampering models of hominin dispersals.Here we describe the first Acheulean sites to be discovered in the Nefud Desert of northern Arabia.The four sites occur in a variety of settings including adjacent to an alluvial fan drainage system, at a knappable stone source, and on the margins of endorheic basins.We discuss the implications of the sites for hominin landscape use, in particular the preferential transport and curation of bifaces to fresh water sources.The bifaces correspond to the Large Flake middle Acheulean in the Levantine sequence.The sites occupy a gap in the distribution of the Acheulean across the Saharo-Arabian arid belt, and as such have implications for dispersal routes between Africa and Asia.

Les fouilles entreprises depuis quelques années dans plusieurs gisements du Sud-Est de la France fournissent un aperçu précis de la grande faune de la fin du stade isotopique marin 7 (MIS 7) au début du stade 4. Quatre sites ont des niveaux qui ont été datés de l’Éemien. Ils sont situés pour l’un à l’est du Rhône (Bau de l’Aubesier ; Monieux, Vaucluse - Niveau H), et pour les trois autres à l’ouest de ce fleuve, en Ardèche : grotte de Saint-Marcel d’Ardèche (couche u), abri Moula à Soyons (couches XII à XV) et Baume Flandin à Orgnac-l’Aven. D’après le stade évolutif du tahr (Hemitragus cedrensis) et du cheval (Equus cf. taubachensis), la couche H1 du Bau de l’Aubesier doit être légèrement vieillie (MIS 6). Les trois localités ardéchoises ont livré un assemblage faunique tempéré avec comme éléments communs le daim (Dama sp.), le cerf élaphe (Cervus elaphus), le chevreuil (Capreolus capreolus), le sanglier (Sus scrofa) et chez les carnivores, un ours de type deningeri. Le début du sous-stade 5e (MIS 5e) est caractérisé par la persistance du tahr de la fin du Pléistocène moyen, H. bonali. Il est ensuite relayé par le bouquetin de la lignée du Caucase qui fait sa première apparition en Europe sud-occidentale (Capra caucasica praepyrenaica). La fin du MIS 5e est marquée par l’essor du bouquetin de la lignée alpine (C. ibex), déjà présent sur le territoire depuis la fin du Pléistocène moyen ; son stade évolutif le rattache à la forme du début du Weichselien, C. ibex cebennarum. Les équidés sont représentés par Equus hydruntinus et par un cheval proche d’Equus taubachensis mais néanmoins différent de la forme type des niveaux éemiens de Taubach. Tout au long de l’interglaciaire, les félins sont présents et diversifiés : lion (Panthera (Leo) spelaea), panthère (P. pardus), lynx (Lynx spelaeus) et chat sauvage (Felis silvestris). L’existence du dhole (Cuon alpinus) et de l’ours du Tibet (Ursus thibetanus) est attestée au début du sous-stade 5e. Pour ce dernier, il s’agit de sa dernière mention en Europe. La fin de l’Éemien voit l’apparition de la hyène des cavernes (Crocuta spelaea).

International audience

Cet article a pour but d’offrir un bilan clair des connaissances archéologiques actuelles sur l’aménagement intérieur du temple d’Apollon à Delphes, où se déroulait la consultation de l’oracle. Trois temples (au moins) se sont succédé à Delphes. Le premier fut détruit en 548 av. n.è. Le second, achevé avant l’an 500, fut détruit dans les années 370. Le troisième, terminé vers 330, vécut jusqu’à l’Antiquité tardive. On ne possède aucune donnée archéologique sur l’aménagement intérieur des deux premiers. Le troisième est un peu moins mal connu, grâce aux travaux récents de P. Amandry et E. Hansen. La cella était divisée en deux parties inégales par une barrière ou une cloison dont on ne sait si elle était assez haute pour arrêter la vue. La seconde partie de la cella, où devait se trouver l’adyton, n’était que partiellement dallée : il faut imaginer un sol en terre battue, mais au même niveau que les dallages, sans local souterrain.

This chapter explores the cultural adaptations to the particular environment of the human groups that inhabited the Balearic Islands in the Bronze Age. Previous studies of the cultural dynamics in the early prehistoric Balearic Islands have mostly been based on architecture, artefact typologies and radiocarbon dates. First, the chapter offers an alternative approach based on metallurgical and faunal studies, which are recent innovations in Balearic archaeology. These shed light on local strategies for exploiting mineral and animal resources and on contacts within and beyond the archipelago. The chapter contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the major transformation of Balearic prehistory that heralds the so-called Talayotic period in Majorca and Menorca and that is not only defined by more complex social organization but is also characterised by as many similarities as differences between the two islands. The evidence points to two processes underway in the Late Bronze Age: a demographic growth and a slight increase in the external contacts.

The Ravin Blanc I archaeological occurrence, dated to MIS 5, provides unprecedented data on the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of West Africa since well-contextualized archaeological sites pre-dating MIS 4/3 are extremely rare for this region. The combined approach on geomorphology, phytolith analysis, and OSL date estimations offers a solid framework for the MSA industry comprised in the Ravin Blanc I sedimentary sequence. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction further emphasizes on the local effects of the global increase in moisture characterizing the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene as well as the later shift to more arid conditions. The lithic industry, comprised in the lower part of the sequence and dated to MIS 5e, shows core reduction sequences among which Levallois methods are minor, as well as an original tool-kit composition, among which pieces with single wide abrupt notches, side-scrapers made by inverse retouch, and a few large crudely shaped bifacial tools. The Ravin Blanc I assemblage has neither a chronologically equivalent site to serve comparisons nor a clear techno-typological correspondent in West Africa. However, the industry represents an early MSA technology that could either retain influences from the southern West African 'Sangoan' or show reminiscences of the preceding local Acheulean. A larger-scale assessment of behavioral dynamics at work at the transition period between the Middle to Upper Pleistocene is discussed in view of integrating this new site to the global perception of this important period in the MSA evolutionary trajectories.

Entre 2005 et 2007, dans le cadre d’un projet du Ministère de la Culture et de la région Rhône-Alpes, de nouvelles investigations ont été consacrées aux séquences du Paléolithique moyen des sites de la Baume Flandin, l’Abri des Pêcheurs, l’Abri du Maras et la Grotte du Figuier. Elles ont permis d’apporter des précisions sur les cadres biostratigraphique et paléoenvironnemental d’occupations humaines localisées sur la rive droite de la moyenne vallée du Rhône dans le sud-est de la France.Les études paléontologiques permettent de dater le niveau d’occupation de la Baume Flandin du début du stade isotopique 5, niveau un peu plus ancien que les bases de l’Abri du Maras et de l’Abri des Pêcheurs qui sont rattachées à la fin du stade isotopique 5. Le sommet de la séquence de l’Abri du Maras est contemporain du stade isotopique 4, comme les niveaux supérieurs des salles profondes de la Grotte du Figuier. À la Baume Flandin, à l’Abri des Pêcheurs et au Figuier, le bouquetin correspond au Capra ibex cebennarum. Les occupations humaines sont soit de très courtes haltes de subsistance, soit des occupations saisonnières plus durables, orientées vers la chasse et l’exploitation d’un ou plusieurs herbivores. Lors de ces occupations, les hommes ont utilisé des moyens techniques variés, sans relation apparente avec les stratégies de subsistance, montrant en cela la diversité des comportements humains dans la région, quelles que soient les conditions environnementales.

The formative processes of the Kura-Araxes cultural complex, in particular the date and circumstances of its rise, have been debated for decades. This article takes advantage of the recent data retrieved from Ovçular Tepesi, a Late Chalcolithic settlement located in Nakhchivan by the Arpaçay river, to demonstrate that the earliest manifestation of the Kura-Araxes phenomenon should be dated back at least to the last quarter of the 5th millennium BC. More importantly, since the early Kura-Araxes pottery from Ovçular Tepesi was found within the Late Chalcolithic habitat together with buff-coloured Chaff-Faced Ware, we make use of technological and functional evidence to argue that the coexistence of Kura-Araxes and Chaff-Faced vessels corresponds to a multicultural settlement pattern, which involves two human communities that interact at the regional level. We then compare this pattern with later examples of multiculturalism involving Kura-Araxes societies in the Kura and Euphrates basins, but also in Palestine.