Bien qu’aujourd’hui largement méconnue, la corniche rocheuse de la Peyzie s’inscrit pourtant dans l’histoire de l’archéologie préhistorique locale. Localisée dans la moyenne vallée de la Dronne (Dordogne), à proximité de sites de renom comme Pont d’Ambon ou le Fourneau du Diable, elle a livré plusieurs grottes dont l’une (Peyzie I) fut fouillée dès les années 1930 par Paul-Émile Jude alors en quête d’une première expérience de fouille. Menées dans des conditions difficiles (liées aux remontées de la nappe phréatique), ces fouilles n’ont laissé que peu de données exploitables, parmi lesquelles figurent plusieurs objets remarquables, d’origine douteuse ou aujourd’hui disparus. À travers la compilation d’archives inédites, assortie d’un retour sur le terrain à des fins géomorphologique et archéologique, cette contribution fait le point sur les apports et les limites des grottes de la Peyzie à la construction de l’archéologie préhistorique régionale. Si cette reprise d’étude invalide le potentiel archéologique de Peyzie I (dont l’archéo- séquence est plus étendue que ce que P.-É. Jude avait initialement perçu), la campagne de sondages à laquelle nous avons procédé le long de la corniche a permis de mettre au jour un nouveau site magdalénien, Peyzie IV, dont l’étude (en cours) s’avère prometteuse pour éclairer l’évolution des sociétés humaines au cours du Dryas ancien (équivalent terrestre de l’évènement d’Heinrich 1).

In southwestern France, blades attributed to the Late Middle Magdalenian are occasionally found in the form of batches of finished objects in particular contexts such as painting cave like Labastide or Enle`ne in the Pyrenees. The lack of first stages of production, absent or poorly documented in "consumption" sites, represent a key obstacle to fully understand the cha & icirc;ne operatoire. As such, investigating a lithic assemblage from "production" sites through refitting and technological analysis raises questions about technological segmentation of blade production. Located in the Aquitaine Basin, the site of Villazette (Creysse, Dordogne) is situated on the low terraces of the Dordogne River, in an area rich in high-quality 'Bergeracois' flint. Excavations have revealed a series of open-air occupations, including one layer related to the Late Middle Magdalenian phase showing evidence of blade production. The analysis of cores and other products confirms the presence of blades exceeding twenty centimeters, along with the production of smaller blades for toolmaking. Refitting studies provide insight into the early stages of blade production: raw blocks were collected on-site and shaped through the preparation of anterior and posterior crests, ensuring an efficient reduction sequence. Furthermore, the spatial distribution analysis reveals two concentrations with distinct functions, raising questions about the organization of the occupation. The discovery of this site underscores the archaeological potential of the Dordogne's riverbanks for exploring the organization of Magdalenian groups.

The European Final Palaeolithic witnessed marked changes in almost all societal domains. Despite a rich body of evidence, our knowledge of human palaeodemographic processes and regional population dynamics still needs to be improved. In this study, we present regionally differentiated population estimates for the Greenland Interstadial 1d-a (GI-1d-a; 14-12.7 ka cal BP) and the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; 12.7-11.6 ka cal BP) for Southern, Western, Northern and Central Europe. The data were obtained by applying the Cologne Protocol, a geostatistical approach for estimating prehistoric population size and density, to a newly compiled dataset of Final Palaeolithic sites. On a large spatio-temporal scale and compared to preceding Upper Palaeolithic phases, areas north of the Alps become the dominant demographic growth area for the first time since the dispersal of anatomically modern humans into Europe. At smaller scales, we observe divergent regional trends, with a conspicuous lack of archaeological evidence appearing in previously occupied areas of central France and Germany. Our study also shows that during the Final Palaeolithic, the climatic cooling of GS-1 coincides with a pronounced population decline in most parts of the study area. An apparent increase in population density occurs only in north-eastern Central Europe and north-eastern Italy. Our estimates suggest that the total population was reduced by half. Similar results, with a relationship between decreasing temperatures and decreasing populations, have already been observed for the late phase of the Gravettian, when populations were reduced to only one third of those estimated for the early phase. Yet, in contrast to the collapse of local populations during the late Gravettian, the increase in population densities in Central Europe during GS-1 indicates population movements eastwards, possibly in response to deteriorating climatic conditions, particularly in western regions during the Younger Dryas.

The Combe-Cullier site (Lacave, Lot) is one of the few sites with a Magdalenian archaeosequence investigated using modern excavation methods. Its exceptional archaeological fill covers the entire Magdalenian period between 21,000 and 14,000 cal. BP. The cave was excavated in the early 20th century under the aegis of A. Viré, yielding remains of occupations for which no contextual data are available. Then, at the end of the 1960s, J.-F. Flies began a new operation on the slope in front of the cave, and carried out meticulous excavations using modern methodology until the mid-1970s. Most of the artefacts unearthed in the nearly five-metre-thick stratigraphic sequence are still unpublished to this day. Following academic work on elements of this collection, a multidisciplinary team was formed to re-examine all the remains in a revised chronostratigraphic framework. The results of this work are presented here by archaeostratigraphic unit (AU) and according to the different analysed artefacts (siliceous materials, bone industry, adornments, fauna). It is thus possible to track evolution at the site over nearly 7,000 years, highlighting continuities and changes. A comparison of the results obtained at Combe-Cullier with other sites in south-western France backs up the recent proposal for a new evolutionary scenario for the Aquitaine Magdalenian.

The Combe-Cullier site (Lacave, Lot) is one of the few sites with a Magdalenian archaeosequence investigated using modern excavation methods. Its exceptional archaeological fill covers the entire Magdalenian period between 21,000 and 14,000 cal. BP. The cave was excavated in the early 20th century under the aegis of A. Viré, yielding remains of occupations for which no contextual data are available. Then, at the end of the 1960s, J.-F. Flies began a new operation on the slope in front of the cave, and carried out meticulous excavations using modern methodology until the mid-1970s. Most of the artefacts unearthed in the nearly five-metre-thick stratigraphic sequence are still unpublished to this day. Following academic work on elements of this collection, a multidisciplinary team was formed to re-examine all the remains in a revised chronostratigraphic framework. The results of this work are presented here by archaeostratigraphic unit (AU) and according to the different analysed artefacts (siliceous materials, bone industry, adornments, fauna). It is thus possible to track evolution at the site over nearly 7,000 years, highlighting continuities and changes. A comparison of the results obtained at Combe-Cullier with other sites in south-western France backs up the recent proposal for a new evolutionary scenario for the Aquitaine Magdalenian.

In Prehistory, beyond unexpected finds made in clear contexts, "extraordinary" discoveries or study results are sometimes the subject of controversy. The latter generally reflect the difficulty archaeologists often have in agreeing on the degree of precision and construction of their arguments. From the age of humankind to the settlement patterns of the Americas, the "modernity" of Homo sapiens and the role of women in prehistory, bold hypotheses and startling con-clusions follow one another in the wake of media fashions. At the same time, there may be a certain amount of media hype aimed at informing and convincing the public of the importance of a discovery deemed major by its authors, although the announced result may not be widely supported by the academic community. A recent study (Metz et al., 2023) devoted to the points and micro-points of level E of the Mandrin Cave (Malataverne, Dr & ocirc;me) is just one example of the sensationalist drift mentioned above. It concludes that the bow was used 54,000 years ago by a group of Homo sapiens in the Rh & ocirc;ne Valley. The spectacular result proclaims that the recognized use of bow and arrow in Europe is circa 40,000 years older than previously known. However, a careful reading of this study did not convince us of the validity of this "extraordinary" result, which seems to us a priori incompatible with the principle of parsimony. Indeed, the article by Metz and colleagues would require further comment on the technical aspects of the study (e.g. criteria for morpho-typological and productional distinction of flint points, reality of the existence of a nano-point component, criteria about the functional analysis, details of the parameters of the Initiarc experiment). However, we have chosen to accept as valid the hypothesis that a large proportion of the points analysed correspond to axial tip of hunting projec-tiles. It is therefore on the basis of reasoning and argumentative logic that we propose a refutation of the use of bow and arrow 54,000 years ago on the Mandrin site. Indeed, the conclusion of the study by L. Metz and colleagues is essentially based on a "postulate of effectiveness" that ignores certain other archaeological data available on the site. We therefore first propose a rebuttal based on 1/ the data presented in the study and in other works about to prehistoric weapons, 2/ ethnographic data from three continents relating to traditional hunting and the place of children in this activity, and 3/ a general regularity concerning learning in present-day Homo sapiens societies. Firstly, we analyse the arguments used by L. Metz and colleagues, presenting them from the point of view of argumen-tative logic, using the categories explained in C. Plantin's dictionary of argumentation (Plantin, 2021). This analyse leads us to distinguish between the main arguments in the Metz et al. demonstration (archaeological impact fractures similar to those used in the experiment, the "rule" that the diameter of the projectile shaft is necessarily less than the width of the point, the use of the bow for maximum penetration efficiency of a light projectile, calculation of the TCSA) and the premises on which the demonstration is based. We show not only the weakness or artificiality of some of the arguments/premises presented, but also the "argumentation by default" nature of the demonstration put forward by L. Metz and colleagues, since no new decisive argument is proposed that would allow a direct and differential diagnosis of bow use (as opposed to spearthrower or bare-handed use). The entire demonstration is based on the necessity of using the bow to ensure optimal penetration of projectiles armed with micro- and nano-points. This reasoning by default implies a condition of refutability: the demonstration is only valid if the small lithic points were necessarily intended to be effective from the point of view of the projectile pene-trating into its target.We then show that there are many examples among traditional hunters of the ethnographic register of miniature chil-dren's weapons, more or less faithful replicas of those used by adults, which constitute children's play or hunting training equipment. These children's weapons are not necessarily intended to be lethal or as effective as those used by adults (i.e. penetration of the tip into a living animal target is not a major requirement, since the main targets are often inanimate for beginners), but they are often functional enough for shooting, practising and playing. In fact, they can reasonably sustain damage during these uses. This simple explanation, which does not imply that the bow was used 40,000 years earlier than archaeologically attested, has not been considered or tested in Metz and colleagues study. At the end of our analysis, we propose that the Mandrin microlithic points of level E could correspond to tip of miniature weapons that could potentially be used by children. It would, of course, be necessary to ensure that such miniatures could break in the same way as adult weapons when used by children on inanimate target. However, it seems to us that, given the current state of knowledge, this hypothesis is undoubtedly more parsimonious than that of the use of bows and arrows 40,000 years earlier than currently documented in the archaeological record at Stellmoor in Germany. Through this example, we finally underline the excesses of a certain number of sensational studies and publications with a wide international audience, where a critical reading of the arguments would often prevent the promotion of non parsimoni-ous hypotheses as solidly established scientific results

The European Final Palaeolithic witnessed marked changes in almost all societal domains. Despite a rich body of evidence, our knowledge of palaeodemographic processes and regional population dynamics still needs to be improved. In this study, we present regionally differentiated estimates of absolute numbers and population densities for the Greenland Interstadial 1d-a (GI-1d-a; 14-12.7 ka BP) and the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; 12.7-11.6 ka BP) for Southern, Western, Northern and Central Europe. The data were obtained by applying the Cologne Protocol, a geostatistical approach for estimating prehistoric population size and density, to a newly compiled dataset of Final Palaeolithic sites. On a large spatio-temporal scale, we observe a shift of the main areas of human occupation from the Franco-Cantabrian region, which was intensely occupied during most phases of the preceding Upper Palaeolithic, to regions north of the Alps. At smaller scales, we observe divergent regional trends in the Final Palaeolithic meta-population: during GI 1d-a, a decreasing population in southwestern Europe and an increasing population in north-eastern Central Europe. For the first time since the dispersal of anatomically modern humans into Europe, we see that Central Europe becomes the dominant demographic growth area. Subsequently, the climatic cooling of GS-1 coincides with a pronounced population decline in most parts of the study area. An apparent increase in population density occurs only in north-eastern Central Europe and north-eastern Italy. Our estimates suggest that the total population was reduced by half. Similar results, with a relationship between decreasing temperatures and decreasing populations, have already been observed for the late phase of the Gravettian, when populations were reduced to only one third of those estimated for the early phase. Yet, in contrast to the collapse of local populations during the late Gravettian, the increase in population densities in Central Europe during GS-1 indicates population movements eastwards, possibly in response to deteriorating climatic conditions, particularly in western regions during the Younger Dryas. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical processes, migration, or cultural adaptation to climate change and resource availability. Yet, cultural taxonomic practice is known to be variable across research history and academic traditions, and few large-scale replicable analyses across such traditions have been undertaken. Drawing on recent developments in computational archaeology, we here present a data-driven assessment of the existing Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy in Europe. Our dataset consists of a large expert-sourced compendium of key sites, lithic toolkit composition, blade and bladelet production technology, as well as lithic armatures. The dataset comprises 16 regions and 86 individually named archaeological taxa (‘cultures’), covering the period between ca. 15,000 and 11,000 years ago (cal BP). Using these data, we use geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical techniques to explore to what extent the dynamics observed in different lithic data domains (toolkits, technologies, armature shapes) correspond to each other and to the culture-historical relations of taxonomic units implied by traditional naming practice. Our analyses support the widespread conception that some dimensions of material culture became more diverse towards the end of the Pleistocene and the very beginning of the Holocene. At the same time, cultural taxonomic unit coherence and efficacy appear variable, leading us to explore potential biases introduced by regional research traditions, inter-analyst variation, and the role of disjunct macroevolutionary processes. In discussing the implications of these findings for narratives of cultural change and diversification across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we emphasize the increasing need for cooperative research and systematic archaeological analyses that reach across research traditions.

Abstract. The aim of this paper is about discussing to the homogeneity and relationship of the Belloisian tradition with the more southern Laborian. In this regard, we choose central France, the reputed southern margin of Belloisian, to be the geographical framework of this study. It is punctuated by key sites belonging to the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: Muides-sur-Loire, Champ-Chalatras and Cuze de Sainte-Anastasie. What we are questioning in this article are the networks relationships between the Belloisian and the Laborian traditions through the study of lithic industry. This research area is on the fringes of the major dynamic’s university programs too and involves research traditions that differ regionally. We therefore also question the notion of “prehistoric” or “prehistorian” boundaries through a petro-techno-typological analysis of lithic series. In this case study, the techno-economic data shows a frequentation of common outcrops and economic management of the silicites for the three sites. This complex network of relationships between groups shows the porosity between the prehistorian designation. The identification of laborian “know-how” from silicites in the south of the Paris Basin and the circulation of large laminar supports corroborate this fact. So finally, these results lead us to propose the hypothesis of an interweaving of a Belloisian technical sub-system with a Laborian tradition, now well defined.

In order to track diachronic changes in archaeological sequences, researchers typically partition time into stratigraphic layers defined during fieldwork, which serve as the framework for ensuing analyses. These analytical units have a significant impact on archaeological inference, defining its resolution, and influencing both the study of cultural assemblages and the reconstruction of past environments. However, field layers are seldom re-evaluated after excavation despite the fact that archaeological deposits are now commonly recognised as often containing material ‘mixed’ together by site formation processes, excavation techniques, or analytical practices. Although the analysis of intra-site spatial data clearly offers a means to overcome these issues, our literature review of 192 journal articles revealed the potential of this data (notably vertical projections of piece-plotted artefacts) to be under-exploited in prehistoric archaeology. Here, we advocate for the development of a more spatially informed framework for interpretation that we refer to as post-excavation stratigraphy or PES. After proposing a definition for PES, we attempt to develop a framework for theoretical considerations underlying their implication, importance, and potential. Three main benefits of PES are highlighted: ensuring assemblage reliability, increased chronological and spatial resolution, and more reliable interpretations based on a multi-stratigraphic approach. We contend that the stratigraphy defined during fieldwork is insufficient and potentially misleading. By providing a different “stratigraphic view” of the same sequence, each specialist can contribute data that, when combined, produces a better understanding of interactions between changes in, for example, technological or cultural traditions, subsistence strategies, or paleoenvironments.

Résumé. Les questionnements abordés dans cet article portent sur l'homogénéité et les relations spatiales entre l'ensemble belloisien et le Laborien. Nous avons pris pour cadre géographique d'étude, la (réputée) marge méridionale du Belloisien : la France centrale. Cet espace est jalonné par plusieurs gisements clés de la transition Pléistocène-Holocène, notamment Muides-sur-Loire, Champ-Chalatras et le Cuze de Sainte-Anastasie. C'est à travers l'étude de l'industrie lithique de ces trois sites que nous questionnons les réseaux de relations à l'extrême fin du Paléolithique. Cet espace est également situé à l'écart des grandes dynamiques de recherche universitaire. Il nous faut donc interroger la notion de frontière à travers l'œil du « préhistorique » ou du « préhistoriens », suivant une analyse pétrotechno-typologique. Les résultats mettent en évidence une fréquentation de gîtes communs et une gestion économique des matériaux parfois semblables entre les trois sites étudiés. Ce réseau de relations complexes met en exergue la porosité entre les appellations préhistoriennes. De plus, l'identification de savoir-faire laboriens, à partir de silicites du sud du Bassin parisien, ainsi que la circulation de grands supports laminaires au sein de sites laborien, confirme cette perméabilité. Ces premières observations alimentent l'hypothèse d'une imbrication d'un sous-système technique belloisien à une tradition plus large : le Laborien.

Comparative macro-archaeological investigations of the human deep past rely on the availability of unified, quality-checked datasets integrating different layers of observation. Information on the durable and ubiquitous record of Paleolithic stone artefacts and technological choices are especially pertinent to this endeavour. We here present a large expert-sourced collaborative dataset for the study of stone tool technology and artefact shape evolution across Europe between ~15.000 and 11.000 years before present. The dataset contains a compendium of key sites from the study period, and data on lithic technology and toolkit composition at the level of the cultural taxa represented by those sites. The dataset further encompasses 2D shapes of selected lithic artefact groups (armatures, endscrapers, and borers/perforators) shared between cultural taxa. These data offer novel possibilities to explore between-regional patterns of material culture change to reveal scale-dependent processes of long-term technological evolution in mobile hunter-gatherer societies at the end of the Pleistocene. Our dataset facilitates state-of-the-art quantitative analyses and showcases the benefits of collaborative data collation and synthesis.

L’archéologie des grottes ornées consiste à contextualiser et documenter, à partir des archives du sol, un site souvent vu uniquement à travers ses dispositifs graphiques pariétaux. Découverte en 1940 puis étudiée, notamment, sous la direction de J. Gaussen, la grotte de Gabillou (Sourzac, Dordogne) fait partie des rares gisements ornés ayant fait l’objet de fouilles et ramassages à l’issue desquels un abondant mobilier archéologique a pu être récolté. La proximité de certaines compositions pariétales avec les œuvres de Lascaux découvertes deux semaines plus tôt a conduit plusieurs auteurs à les considérer comme fortement apparentées. La monographie publiée en 1964 témoigne de l’intérêt de Jean Gaussen pour la production des images, abondamment et précisément décrites, et secondairement pour celle des vestiges matériels, présentés en quelques pages. Les fouilles qu’il a menées dans le secteur de l’entrée ont pourtant livré une collection archéologique permettant de documenter des occupations attribuables au Magdalénien et d’enrichir la compréhension du gisement au-delà des seules parois ornées. Dans le cadre du projet « LAsCO », le mobilier a été réexaminé parallèlement à la réalisation de nouvelles datations 14C. Ce travail a été mené sur les vestiges lithiques (hors « lampes » et « godets ») et les restes en matière dure animale. Il permet : 1) de préciser l’attribution du secteur de l’entrée au regard du cadre archéostratigraphique actuellement défini dans le Sud-Ouest français, 2) de s’interroger sur la temporalité de l’occupation du site sur la base des continuités ou discontinuités techniques et chronologiques mises en évidence (hypothèse de deux temps de fréquentation de l’entrée de la grotte : au Magdalénien inférieur récent et au Magdalénien moyen ancien) et 3) de souligner les divergences typo-technologiques et chronologiques entre les équipements lithiques et osseux de Gabillou et Lascaux. Reste que le mobilier de Gabillou ne peut être directement corrélé aux dispositifs pariétaux, laissant ouverte la question de leur lien avec les œuvres peintes et gravées sur les parois de Lascaux.

Numerous Paleolithic radiocarbon databases exist, but their geographic and temporal scopes are diverse and their availability variable. With this paper we make available to the scientific community a georeferenced data base of radiocarbon ages for the late Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, and initial Holocene in Europe. The PACEA radiocarbon database consists of conventional and AMS 14 C age determinations from archaeological sites in Europe that fall within Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 3–1. In all, we have assembled 6,019 radiocarbon ages (conventional=3,820, AMS=2,176, unspecified=23) from a total of 1,208 sites, along with comprehensive contextual information on the dated samples.