High Risk Exploratory Research: Hunter-Gatherers of the Southern French Alps

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

An archaeological survey in the southern French Alps will be carried out as the first, pilot phase in long-term, comparative research. The survey will focus on the late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods of the Stone Age, ca. 13,000 - 6,000 BC, and will seek to understand: 1) how areas at higher elevations were colonized after the end of the last ice age and how they were integrated with the coast and lowlands, 2) how the Alpine ecology affected cultural adaptations and their change through time, 3) how this area's economies differed from those of the quite different environments of central Europe, where the investigator's previous work has concentrated, and 4) what role the last hunter-gatherers in this region played in the transition to agricultural societies. A variety of different field techniques, including surface-walking of plowed fields, coring of upland bogs, and test-trenching at the base of rockshelters will be used in initial investigations of two promising areas: the upper valley of the Loup River and the basin of the Lac d'Allos. Analysis of collections of stone artifacts will give particular attention to stone raw materials and their sources, the technology of stone tool manufacture, and the typology of stone artifacts. These data will facilitate comparisons with better known regions, such as the lower Rhone Valley to the west and Italian Liguria to the east, as well as forming the basis for interpretations of patterns of movement and the organization of technology. Other types of artifacts, such as bone and shell, will allow preliminary inferences about site activities, movement, and exchange. The "Neolithic Revolution", the transition from a hunting and gathering to a settled village agricultural and pastoral lifestyle, constitutes a significant change in human adaptation and set the stage for the rise of civilization. Thus archaeologists wish to understand how it occurred and Dr. Jochim's exploratory research, if successful, has the potential to shed additional light on this process. Because student assistants are included in the fieldwork, the project will also serve a valuable training function.