Workshop Places at Chessy (Seine-et-Marne Dpt., France): Contextual and Technological Aspects

Abstract

for axe head production in Bartonian (Eocene) silicite close to the mining complex of Jablines. They are attributed by the associated set of tools and the archaeological background to the later part of the Paris Basin Middle Neolithic (c. 4300–3700 BCE). The main characteristics of the knapping places are bifacial shaping to produce axe head preforms. Petrographical analyses show at first examination a close relation to the same silicite beds as those exploited at Jablines. Beside this, some of the artefacts indicate another way of raw material gathering which could match with the Bartonian silicite procurement on a larger scale. The workshop places may be distinguished as places of different function, mostly devoted to the first steps of preparation (roughing and shaping processes), but another to shaping stages, and a last one essentially concerned with the finishing of manufacturing rough-outs. Considering the very rare fragments of preforms collected on the site and the high quality of the rejected waste products, the skill level was high. From the first flaking of the block, contrary to what is usually inferred, indirect percussion was used since the first flaking of the block. These workshops add to the information from the other known similar places in this region of the Marne area, including the mining complex of Jablines itself. There were no settlements next to the mines, but in the surrounding areas, and the related distance remains to be explained.