02-2024, tome 121, 1, p.35-61 - Monney J. et al. - La grotte Huchard (Saint-Martin- d'Ardèche, Ardèche) : approche chronologique intégrée d'une grotte ornée paléolithique à la sortie des gorges de l'Ardèche

La grotte Huchard (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche, Ardèche)

Approche chronologique intégrée d'une grotte ornée

paléolithique à la sortie des gorges de l'Ardèche

Julien Monney, Jacqueline Argant, Benjamin Audiard, Pierre-Antoine Beauvais,

Jean-Yves Bigot, Laurent Bruxelles, Stéphane Jaillet, Dominique Gasquet,

Nicolas Lateur, Magali Rossi, Aurélien Royer, Nadine Tisnerat-Laborde

Résumé  : Une approche intégrée de la grotte Huchard, ou grotte du Ranc pointu no1, a été menée en 2020 et 2021. Elle a eu pour objectif d'investiguer les éventuelles complémentarités d'usages fonctionnels et/ou symboliques ayant pu exister entre les différentes grottes ornées du «  complexe de sites  » du Ranc pointu, dont fait partie la grotte Huchard. Ceci a impliqué d'aborder au préalable la question de la contemporanéité d'une ou de plusieurs phase/s de fréquentation de ces cavités. Pour ce faire, plusieurs opérations ont été réalisées, à savoir  : un enregistrement numérique  3D de la cavité, une étude des lambeaux de remplissage laissés par les fouilles de 1957 et des vestiges qu'ils comprennent, ainsi qu'une approche de la géométrie des remplissages et de leur position vis-à-vis des gravures pariétales.

Les âges 14C obtenus sur charbons dans ces placages sédimentaires se placent entre 16330 et 13250  cal.  BP. Globalement cohérents avec le reste des études, ces résultats viennent confirmer les attributions chronoculturelles proposées antérieurement sur la base du matériel lithique (Magdalénien supérieur), tout en les étendant significativement à l'Épipaléolithique. La position altitudinale des gravures pariétales est, par ailleurs, compatible avec des sols de circulation dans la continuité des niveaux archéologiques de l'US  1.

Du point de vue des relations entre les différentes grottes ornées du méandre du Ranc pointu, la rareté des traces d'activité humaine attribuables au Paléolithique supérieur récent dans les zones d'obscurité des cavités du secteur ressort nettement. Ce constat rend difficile de soutenir l'hypothèse d'interactions intenses et/ou régulières au Magdalénien supérieur entre des espaces situés dans l'obscurité totale (Deux-Ouvertures, Tête-du-Lion) et des espaces de résidence dotés d'une ornementation en entrée de grotte (Huchard, Chabot, Figuier). Au contraire, ceci amène à s'interroger sur le caractère anté-magdalénien des gravures de la grotte Huchard et, par conséquent, sur une possible disjonction chronologique entre l'âge des vestiges retrouvés dans les dépôts sédimentaires et l'âge des gravures pariétales.

Mots-clés  : art pariétal, grotte ornée, Paléolithique supérieur, Magdalénien, stratigraphie, numérisation  3D, géomorphologie, chronologie, datation 14C, Sud-Est de la France.

Abstract: Research was carried out at Huchard Cave in 2020 and 2021 as part of the 'Cave Art Dating' project. The aim of this project, since 2008, is to investigate the chronology of human and animal activities in the Palaeolithic rock art caves of the Ardèche river gorge, and the ways prehistoric human groups made sense and symbolically inscribed subterranean landscapes, as well as the socio-cultural contexts in which Palaeolithic cave art was created.

In 2016, a visit to Huchard Cave highlighted its chronological potential and the interest in resuming research at the site.

Huchard Cave, also known as Grotte du Ranc Pointu no1 or Grotte du Squelette, is located in the last meander of the Ardèche river gorge (Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche; Ardèche). In 1908, P.  Raymond reported deep engravings, attributed to the Upper Palaeolithic in its penumbra zone, between 2.5 and 3.5  m above the current ground.

The position of Huchard Cave among a series of seven rock art caves in the 'Ranc Pointu site complex' raises the question of the possible complementarity of their - functional and/or symbolic - uses. The proximity of Deux-Ouvertures and Huchard Caves, and the latter's position as a compulsory passageway to the former raise the question of whether they should be considered as a single site. Are there contemporaneous phases of use of these two caves, as well as the other rock art caves in the Ranc Pointu meander? And, if so, what reciprocal interactions could have existed between them at an anthropological and sociological level?

While the chronology established in the Deux-Ouvertures and most of the rock art caves of the Ranc Pointu meander provide an overview of human activity in the sector, Huchard Cave had not yet benefited from an in-depth study. Since the end of the 19th  century, various archaeological operations have been carried out at Huchard Cave. But the chronology of human activity in the cave during the Upper Palaeolithic remained imprecise.

In 2016, we identified against the walls some remains of the sedimentary levels excavated in 1957 by P.  Huchard. These observations prompted an archaeological operation in 2020 and 2021. The aim was to obtain an age for the archaeological remains contained in these deposits and to test the chronocultural attribution previously proposed on the basis of lithic material. It was also the opportunity to check whether other chronological phases were present and to discuss the morphology of the floor during the Upper Palaeolithic.

To achieve this, we focused on: (1)  a 3D digital recording of the cave, the engravings and the deposits remaining against the wall, (2.1)  a geoarchaeological study of the sedimentary deposits, (2.2)  an analysis of the archaeological palaeontological and paleoenvironmental material they contained, (3)  a study of the natural and anthropogenic traces on the walls, and (4)  an approach to the geometry of past sedimentary fillings of the cave and their chronological and spatial positioning in relation to the parietal engravings.

In the end, we identified 6  siliceous lithic pieces, 56  microcharcoal, 4  elements of red colouring matter, 3  pebbles and 3  remains of microfauna on the surface of the residual sedimentary deposits of the diverticulum. These remains were mainly concentrated in, on the upper 12 to 17  cm of the deposits (SU  1). Radiocarbon measurements yielded seven dates ranging from 16,330 to 13,250  cal.  BP. This chronological range is compatible with the Upper Magdalenian attribution previously proposed by J.  Combier on the basis of the lithic industry. However, the 14C ages obtained suggest that human presence also took place during the Epipaleolithic. The geoarchaeological observations and the results of the lithic and anthracological studies are also consistent with the cultural and paleoenvironmental data available for the Upper Palaeolithic in the region. Although not providing precise chronological information, the presence of colouring matter, pebbles and faunal remains is compatible as well with an Upper Palaeolithic age. The only divergent data comes from palynology. The long use of the cave as a sheepfold during the Holocene period, the circulation of water in the sediment of SU  1 and the exposition of the stratigraphy to the open air for more than 60  years, are all possible sources of pollution that could explain these discrepancies.

The altitude of the engravings is compatible with Palaeolithic circulation floors at the level of the archaeological layer (SU  1). The engraved wall would then be within the manual range of a medium-sized individual (1.70  m). However, we identified a discordance between SU  1 and SU  2. This gap covers a period from the Early Dryas to potentially the Middle Pleistocene. Although there is no archaeological evidence to substantiate it, we cannot dismiss the creation of the engravings during this pre-Magdalenian period.

Regarding the socio-cultural interplay between the various rock art caves of the Ranc Pointu meander, we identified archaeological and spatial similarities between Huchard Cave and the other engraved caves (Chabot, Figuier and, to a lesser extent, Sombre Caves). These four rock art caves are the manifestation of phenomena that seem chronologically related (pre-Magdalenian) and anthropologically similar (dwelling sites), albeit with possible complementarities. Apart from Figuier Cave, no evidence of recent Upper Palaeolithic and/or Epipalaeolithic occupation, contemporary with that of Huchard Cave, is known in these caves. It may be due to the early nature of the excavations carried out there, or it could indicate an older age for Huchard Cave engravings. In fact, both in Huchard and Figuier Caves, the presence of Magdalenian remains may simply reflect the relatively marked presence of this chronological period in the Ardèche river gorge.

As for potential connections with the three caves of the Ranc Pointu meander whose rock art is located in total darkness (Tête-du-Lion, Deux-Ouvertures, and possibly Saint-Marcel), there is a chronological dissimilarity between the periods of human activity in these caves and the dates of occupation of Huchard Cave. It is therefore difficult to support the hypothesis of regular and/or intensive Magdalenian interactions between interior spaces located in total darkness and residential spaces with rock engravings in the semi-dark zone of Huchard, Chabot and Figuier Caves. This observation calls into question the pre-Magdalenian nature of the engravings of Huchard Cave and, consequently, suggests a possible chronological disjunction between the age of the remains found in its sedimentary deposits and the age of its parietal engravings.

The Ranc Pointu meander thus emerges as an ensemble in its own that needs to be understood as a whole. The results obtained at Huchard Cave represent an important milestone opening up further prospects for research on the scale of this complex of sites.

Keywords: rock art, cave art, Upper Paleolithic, Magdalenian, stratigraphy, 3D  digitalization, geomorphology, chronology, 14C dating, South-East of France.