Comparaisons taphonomiques de sites magdaléniens du Bassin parisien : les faunes de Ville-Saint-Jacques (Seine-et-Marne) et Étiolles (Essonne)

Abstract

The preservation of faunal remains in the Magdalenian sites of the Paris Basin only occurs for one third of the cases. This taphonomic bias is very likely in relation with the open-air locations where the majority of regional sites have been discovered. Nevertheless, the Magdalenian settlement shows a certain variability across the landscape: lowland sites, hillside sites, rock shelter sites. This paper aims to highlight the potential interactions between such physical context variability and the taphonomical features of Magdalenian faunal preservations. The issues presented here mainly focus on the comparison of the two faunal remains’ assemblages of Étiolles (a lowland site of the Seine valley) and Ville-Saint-Jacques (hill side site closed to the Seine valley). These faunal assemblages have been studied using the same set of qualitative and quantitative criteria in order to facilitate direct comparisons. This paper must be viewed as the first step of a more systematical survey of Magdalenian faunal assemblages in the Paris Basin. Finally, the main goal of this survey aims to point out the respective zooarchaeological potential of such sites, and by the way, to reach their global socioeconomic significations.