New data on the exploitation of flint outcrops during the Middle Palaeolithic: the Mousterian workshop of Chêne Vert at Dirac (Charente, France)

Abstract

The ways in which Neanderthals exploited the landscape and raw material sources constitute a major aspect of the study of Middle Palaeolithic settlement systems. The Aquitaine Basin in the south-west of France, and more specifically the Charente, has been the object of numerous studies exploring open-air sites within the mineral environment (e.g. Park & Féblot-Augustins 2010). The recently discovered Mousterian workshop of Chêne Vert at Dirac, located on a flint outcrop and excavated in a rescue context, presents a rare opportunity for studying Neanderthal procurement strategies directly associated with a readily available raw material. The main excavation results presented in this article, through geoarchaeology, taphonomy, petroarchaeology and lithic techno-economy, shed light on site formation processes affecting the archaeological level, the assemblage’s degree of integrity and technical behaviour and adaptations to the specific features of flint from Dirac, prior to the transition between MIS 4 and 3.