Socio-economic organization of Final Paleolithic societies: New perspectives from an aggregation site in Western France

Abstract

Overlooked in larger European syntheses for some time, northwestern France now plays an important role in a dynamic research program investigating the very end of the Lateglacial in Western Europe. The discovery of the well-preserved open-air site of La Fosse has allowed for significant advances in our understanding of different aspects of the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition in this region. This homogenous lithic assemblage adds further precision to the Lateglacial chrono-cultural sequence and provides essential new information for investigating techno-economic changes that appeared during this period. A techno-functional study of the lithic material combined with a spatial analysis of artifact distribution provides insights concerning the site’s function. Several lines of evidence also shed light on occupation duration, activities carried out on-site, and the likely composition of the groups who occupied the site. The combination of the above lead us to interpret La Fosse as a large residential site. Following this, we propose a new mobility and land-use model for hunter-gatherer groups from the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition in which La Fosse functioned as an aggregation site. This model confirms several previous hypotheses emphasizing the logistical character of mobility strategies of these societies. Finally, this scenario adds further details and precision concerning both the status and connections between different groups of sites within a complex socio-economic system.