Back to Combe-Grèze (La Cresse, Aveyron): New data on the Neolithisation of the Grands Causses region, Southwestern France–abridged version

Abstract

The small shelter of Combe-Grèze, located in a dolina of the Causse Noir plateau about ten kilometres northeast of Millau in Southwestern France, was first excavated in the second half of the 20th century, and more recently has been subject to new investigations by the authors of this contribution. The site was repeatedly occupied during the Holocene and has been widely referred to in neolithisation scenarios regarding the Mediterranean hinterlands. However, fieldwork carried out over the last few years in the area outside the shelter and the reevaluation of ancient collections stemming from the site have largely modified previous interpretations and evidenced that the site reveals a palimpsest of occupations. We therefore propose here an updating of the available data concerning the site, more particularly with regard to the nature of its occupational stages, its chronology, and the material production associated with the different occupations, the exploited resources, and the palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.