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The new 14C chronology for the Palaeolithic site of La Ferrassie,France: the disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival of Homo sapiens in France |
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| Authors: | S Talamo V Aldeias P Goldberg L Chiotti H L Dibble G Guérin J-J Hublin S Madelaine R Maria D Sandgathe T E Steele A Turq S J P Mcpherron |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103 Germany;2. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103 Germany
Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior, University of Algarve, Campus Gambelas Edificio 1, Faro, 8005-139 Portugal;3. CAS, SEALS, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong NSW, 2522 Australia Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, Tübingen, 72070 Germany;4. Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle, UMR 7194 du CNRS, Abri Pataud, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, France;5. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103 Germany Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA Institute for Human Origins, Arizona State University, USA Deceased;6. IRAMAT-CRP2A, UMR 5060 CNRS - Université Bordeaux Montaigne e Maison de l'archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, Pessac, 33600 France;7. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103 Germany Collège de France, 11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France;8. Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, PACEA UMR 5199, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, FR-, Pessac, 33615 France Musée national de Préhistoire, F-24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, France;9. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103 Germany Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel;10. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania, USA;11. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103 Germany Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 95616 USA |
| Abstract: | The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the early part of the 20th century. It became the eponymous site for one variant of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, and its sequence was used to define stages of the Aurignacian, an early phase of the Upper Palaeolithic. Several Neanderthal remains, including two relatively intact skeletons, make it one of the most important sites for the study of Neanderthal morphology and one of the more important data sets when discussing the Neanderthal treatment of the dead. However, the site has remained essentially undated. Our goal here is to provide a robust chronological framework of the La Ferrassie sequence to be used for broad regional models about human behaviour during the late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods. To achieve this goal, we used a combination of modern excavation methods, extensive geoarchaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating. If we accept that Neanderthals were responsible for the Châtelperronian, then our results suggest an overlap of ca. 1600 years with the newly arrived Homo sapiens found elsewhere in France. |
| Keywords: | chronology human evolution La Ferrassie Palaeolithic radiocarbon |