Étude diachronique de la relation entre le climat et la mobilité de Néandertal dans le sud-ouest de la France au Paléolithique moyen telle qu’exprimée par ses choix technologiques et cynégétiques
South-Western France was occupied by Neanderthal on a continuous basis from Marine Isotope Stages 6 to 3 inclusively. Fifty four levels of occupation from 20 archaeological sites located in this region were studied in order to identify the relationship between Pleistocene climate variations and the mobility of Neanderthal groups as measured by their technological behavior and choice in hunting strategy. Climate data were obtained from glacial, terrestrial and marine cores. Technological data were derived from the description provided by Delagnes and Rendu (2011) of the intrinsic mobility characteristics associated with the 4 techno-complexes found in the target region (Levallois, Quina, Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MAT) and Discoïd Denticulate). The faunal data were based on the relative representation of the identified species and the ethology of the five main species hunted by Neanderthal namely: reindeer, bison, red deer, horse and roe deer. These three types of data were converted into coefficients in order to quantify the nature of their inter-relationships through two- and three-dimensional displays, simple and multiple regression analyses and cluster analyses. Our results reinforce the hypothesis advanced by Delagnes and Rendu (2011) and show that Quina and Discoïd Denticulate flaking production systems, with their high mobility potential, were associated with mobile prey; that Levallois flaking, with its low mobility potential, was associated with low mobility prey; and that the MAT biface was a hybrid flaking system in terms of mobility associated with a variety of prey species. Results also tend to demonstrate that a greater mobility was mostly associated with more rigorous climatic conditions while a more limited mobility was mostly associated with more temperate conditions with the exception of specialized hunting. The best predictor of technological choices turned out to be knowledge sharing and the cumulative technical flaking skills developed through time: i.e. culture. Climate appears to have played a secondary role.
Climat Neanderthal Climate Mobility Technology Cynegetic