UMR 6566 CReAAH

Paso Otero 5 site (Argentina) is characterised by a large proportion of burnt bones. Situated in Humid Pampa (Province of Buenos Aires), these bones arc unique combustion's remains in a poor environment in fuelwood. That's why, hypothesis of a bone utilisation as fuel was rapidely evoked. Their study with descriptive techniques and physico-chemical analysis (CHN-A, X-ray diffraction, SEM) permit to define their combustion degree and diagenetical processes, which altered these bones. We concluded to a probable bone utilisation as fuel then we precised the site function.

This paper analyzes the relation between information technology and archaeological work. We present here a study case of the influence of databases, digitalization, stock and transfer of information by WEB in a particular project which try to found news forms of transmission of archeological heritage from Paleolithic site of Pincevent. We discuss the problems that we encountered in our project from Latour’s point of view of scientific construction bring to the fore the different consequences of each step of the project in our team and in the construction of knowledge. These aspects are finally related with the globalisation and transformation of knowledge as capital.

The discovery of a winter occupation at Pincevent Magdalenian site allows to review the
analysis of combustion remains in a new perspective, integrating seasonality data and
allowing to start to think in terms of annual cycle. Fireplaces forms, culinary possibilities,
combustion remains spatial layout will be discussed in function of this new perspective
based on archaeological and ethnoarchaeological data.

We present a preliminary chemical study of alkanes and saturated fatty acids isolated from sedimentary samples from different evidences of combustion in the Mousterian site of El Salt. Important differences are recognized between them, which reflects different origins and the functional complexity of the site.

This paper presents preliminary results of the analysis of boiling taro residues on the surfaces of experimental ceramics (calcium oxalate and lipids) by optical, microscopic and analytic chemical methods. The research aims to understand the mechanism of organic matter transfer into ceramics of taro soup. The results showed SEM techniques could be applied to archaeological samples for residue identification. The lipids analysis results showed that the referent ceramics contained still enough lipids to influence the lipid profiles of culinary ceramics. This imposes a strict analyse about organic matter origin before making conclusions about ceramic functions. The loss of unsaturated fatty acids produces changes in fatty acid profiles from different cooking cycles and from different positions. So, we concentrated on studying the saturated fatty acid profile rather than on unsaturated for archaeological samples.

At Pincevent, the last traces of the passage of the Magdalenians have been discovered on Level IV0. This level is situated at
the summit of the sequence of floodwater silts in which the Magdalenians had returned at least fifteen times to establish their campsites
during the Dryas II period. Although separated by only twenty meters or so, the two occupation units of Level IV0 have no explicit
indications of a relationship between them; they differ totally in the extent of their occupation surfaces and the density of their remains.
They do have in common, however, remains of horse. Unit Y127, which consists of a single hearth surrounded by scant evidence of
activities, features a single partial horse carcass. In contrast, Unit T125, which covers an area of 200 m2, reveals an intense occupation
of space around a circular shelter centered on hearth T125, with a spatial organization unlike any of those of the other occupation
levels at Pincevent. Also exceptional for this level is the considerable mass of fire-cracked rock and flint, as well as the abundance of
objects of personal adornment. Finally, compared to the preceding occupations tied to hunting of reindeer during their migration at the
beginning of autumn, the most striking novelty of Level IV0 concerns the choice of prey and the season of the hunt. In fact, remains of
nine horses and ten reindeer, with clear evidence for some having been killed during the winter, were recovered from Unit T125. This
article evaluates elements of continuity and change in the traditions and behavior of Magdalenian hunters at Pincevent. It appears to
be a question of whether the novel elements of Level IV0 correspond to a circumstantial or episodic adaptation or they are evidence of a
directional evolution due to climatic modifications resulting in the retreat of the reindeer toward more northern territories.

Determining the characteristical features of the combustion structures found at the prehistoric site of Tunel (Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina) has led the authors to define an analytical and experimental method aimed at reconstructing human behaviour and the uses of fire .
Three main aspects are presented here: the archaeological study, the experimental replicas and the numerical model which could be inferred
from the data. The experimental hypothesis rest both on the archaeological context and the ethnographical data available for this area. A
numerical model simulating the thermic history of the hearths was developed on the basis of the results obtained from experimental hearths. By
excavating these, it became possible to check whether .the numerical model was in agreement with the experimentation. The results allow to
define the minimal time-span of fire-functioning and the temperatures which were reached within the hearths.

Organic chernistry analysis allows to define the function of prehistoric combustion structures through the examination of preserved organic compounds and their association with bumt or ccoked remains. Analysis carried out on 'hearth 080 at Tunel (Tierra deI Fuego, Argentina) have demonstrated that the samples were composed of lipids of high molecular weight (fatty acids, alkanes and sterols). These deterrninations were further validated by comparing them to the organic compounds of identified faunal species used as food at the camp-site of Tunel (6000 B.P.).

In this article we present a case study  of one fire structure related with the exploitation of horse by magdalenian people from MArolles sur Seine site. The study focus in MEB and analytical chemistry tryng to reconstruct fire history and fonction

This article presents the preliminary results of an experimental approach to the study of prehistoric combustion structures in the Magdalenian deposits in the Parisian
Basin. Thed accent is placed on determining the minimal length of use of the hearths, for understanding how they fonctionned and the functional efficiency of each type of hearth. The significance of this new approach is analysed with regard to the determination of the behaviour of groups of hunter-gatherers towards fire.

Se aplican modelos nuneméricos para determinar la duración del tiempo mlnimo de encendido de estructuras de combustión arqueológicas. Los resultados de los programas de computo desarrollados deben ser validados frente a la realidad experimental antes de ser empleadas para efectuar extrapolaciones a la evidencia arqueológica. Debido a ello los modelos empleados implican aproximaciones incorporadas a los parametros de transporte de los medios sobre los cuales se encienden las estructuras de combustión (experimenltales y arqueológicas) es necesario conocer la influencia de su variación sobre los resultados. Este trabajo evalua cuantitativamente esta influencia de su variación sobre los resultados. Se muestra que dentro de rangos razonables no hay efectos que cuestionen la validez de la extrapolación

Pincevent (France) cooking-place silt. like sediments have been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sediments where treated at 400, 600, 800, and 1000°C  under oxidizing conditions. We discuss the results and we suggest a "Mössbauer thermometer"  to be used to recognize the temperatures and atmospheres ancient people used in their cooking places

We present here the results of more than 40 experlences (simple hearths, pit hearths and pit hearths with stone border) made wIth ditferents kinds of wood (Nolhofagus pumilio and betuloldes, Bertberls ilicifolia and buxlfolla. Drimys winteri, Prosopis alba. Larrea divaricata, cuneifolia and nitida. Azorella yareta, Lepidophylum sp. Salix alba, Plnus sylvestris, and Betula verrucosa) ln Argentine and France. We underline some of the aspects related to the problems of wood economy, wood transport and fire control expressed by the relation between dlfferents magnitudes (weigth volume burning Temperature and time of bumlng) whlch are related wlth the activities of prehlstorlc hunter-gatherer groups.

Nous présentons ici l'étude d'une structure de combustion gallo romaine appartenant a un ensemble de structures de combustion de forme plus au moins similaire retrouvé sur le site archéologique de Pincevent. On analyse la structure, son mode de fonctionnement les combustibles utilisés et ses possibles fonctions a la lumière des résultats analytiques

We present here the results of more than 40 experlences (simple hearths, pit hearths and pit hearths with stone border) made wIth ditferents kinds of wood (Nolhofagus pumilio and betuloldes, Bertberls ilicifolia and buxlfolla. Drimys winteri, Prosopis alba. Larrea divaricata, cuneifolia and nitida da. Azorella yareta, Lepidophylum sp. Salix alba, Plnus sylvestris, and Betula verrucosa) ln Argentine and France. We underline some of the aspects related to the problems of wood economy, wood transport and fire control expressed by the relation between dlfferents magnitudes (weigth volume burning Temperature and time of bumlng) whlch are related wlth the activities of prehlstorlc hunter-gatherer groups.

This study of fuelwood used in an altitude hunter-gatherer site is based on two kinds of data. A part was obtained by the anthracological study of Hornillos 2 excavation and another part by the actual testimony of the local wood utilisation by inhabitant of a near village. By this double approach, we were able to have a better understanding of how fuelwood was managed in this particular zone, the argentine dry Puna where wood is rare and exclusively present as bush.