S2-01EN_PDF_Bénédicte Souffi et al. - Mesolithic occupations on the edge of the Seine: spatial organisation  and function of the site of 62 rue Henry-Farman, Paris (15th arrondissement)

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S2-01EN_PDF_Bénédicte Souffi et al. - Mesolithic occupations on the edge of the Seine: spatial organisation and function of the site of 62 rue Henry-Farman, Paris (15th arrondissement)

Description :
Bénédicte Souffi, Fabrice Marti, Christine Chaussé, Anne Bridault, Éva David, Dorothée Drucker, Renaud Gosselin, Salomé Granai, Sylvain Griselin, Charlotte Leduc, Frédérique Valentin and Marian Vanhaeren

The Mesolithic site of 62 rue Henry-Farman in the 15th arrondissement of Paris was found to the south-west of the city on the left bank of the Seine, approximately 250 m from the present course of the river. Excavations in 2008 over a surface of 5,000 m² produced a fluviatile stratigraphic sequence containing numerous interstratified occupation levels. Excavations essentially focused on the Mesolithic occupation and exposed six spatially independent concentrations (loci) of archaeological material. Based on paleoenvironmental and techno-typological studies, together with radiometric dates, the assemblage can be attributed to the Boreal chronozone or to the Preboreal/Boreal transition and thus the middle phase of the Mesolithic (8000 – 6900 BC). The different loci correspond to successive occupations characterised by at least three typologically distinct assemblages, all of which are dominated by points with retouched bases (Beuronian). In functional terms, the different loci present evidence for various activities mainly focused on the manufacture of flint arrowheads, however the use of domestic tools in flint, sandstone and bone is also documented.