Environment and landscape management during the Middle Neolithic in Southern France: Evidence for...

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doi:10.1016/j.qu

�CorrespondEinstein, Sophi

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delhon@cepam

stephanie.thieba

berger@cepam.

Quaternary International 200 (2009) 50–65

Environment and landscape management during the Middle Neolithicin Southern France: Evidence for agro-sylvo-pastoral systems in the

Middle Rhone Valley

Claire Delhona,b,�, Stephanie Thiebaulta, Jean-Franc-ois Bergerb

aCNRS-UMR7041 ArScAN, Protohistoire Europeenne/Laboratoire d’Archeobotanique et de Paleoecologie MAE,

21 Allee de l’Universite, 92023 Nanterre Cedex, FrancebCNRS-UMR6130 CEPAM, 250 rue Albert Einstein, Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France

Available online 26 June 2008

Abstract

Rescue excavations in the Middle Rhone Valley have provided opportunities to develop innovative strategies for the study of

palaeoenvironments. These strategies involve sampling and analysis of botanical remains, recovered not only from archaeological sites

but also in ‘‘off-site’’ pedosedimentary sequences thought to be poor in botanical remains. Thus, these remains (phytoliths, pedo-

charcoal) give access to unexplored depositional contexts, such as alluvial plains. Moreover, off-site data are useful because they

minimise the hazard of cultural bias (e.g., selection of species during wood gathering). Comparison of data collected in the alluvial plain

with data obtained via anthracological analyses of karstic caves and rock-shelters in the hinterland suggests a complex agro-sylvo-

pastoral management of the landscape during the Middle Neolithic. We propose a pattern that supposes considerable specialization in

use of plains vs. slopes in the landscape, and a strong and continuous human pressure on the vegetation and soils between 4500 and

3500 cal BC. Nevertheless, these constraints are not sufficient to explain the persistence of such a system for more than a millennium.

Favourable climatic conditions are thought to have been a determining factor in the persistence of an ecologically meta-stable

relationship between human societies and their natural environment.

r 2008 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

For several years, knowledge of the relationship betweensocieties and their environments has been refined, thanks toadvances in environmental archaeology and to improve-ment in the accuracy of radiocarbon dating. This hasrenewed discussions about the socio-economic organisa-tion of past societies. In the Rhone basin (France), someperiods (e.g., the Bronze Age) have proved to beparticularly favourable for socio-environmental recon-structions and have allowed strong inferences to be madeconcerning climatic variation and cycles of cultivation anddeagriculturisation (Berger et al., 2000, 2007).

e front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights re

aint.2008.05.008

ing author: CNRS-UMR6130 CEPAM, 250 rue Albert

a Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France.

esses: [email protected],

.cnrs.fr (C. Delhon),

[email protected] (S. Thiebault),

cnrs.fr (J.F. Berger).

Nevertheless, with respect to the Middle Neolithic (MN)(4500–3500 cal BC), in spite of an initial synthesis of datadone at the end of the 1990s by Beeching et al. (2000),several questions still remain concerning social organisa-tion and landscape management. On the one hand,pastoralism seems to be an important characteristic ofthe Chasseen culture, which spread over Southern Franceduring the Vth and the first part of the IVth millennia BC(Geddes, 1987; Clottes and Giraud, 1991; Helmer, 1991;Beeching et al., 2000; Helmer et al., 2005). Many caves orrock-shelters were used as sheepfolds, and their MNstratigraphy is partly or totally composed of dung layers(Brochier, 1983; Beeching, 1991; Brochier et al., 1999).Development of these so-called ‘‘grottes-bergeries’’ (sheep-fold caves) in the Southern Alps (Diois), the south Juraplateau (Bugey), and the Ardeche and Liguria–Provenceregions is demonstrated by radiocarbon chronology for theEarly-to-Middle Neolithic transition (5000–4800 cal BC)(Courty et al., 1991; Brochier et al., 1999; Sordoillet,

served.

dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2008.05.008

mailto:[email protected],

mailto:[email protected]



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Fig. 1. Charcoal and pollen data on the Middle Neolithic in Southern France: examples from Font-Juvenal and Les Frignants.

C. Delhon et al. / Quaternary International 200 (2009) 50–65 51

1999; Brochier, 2006), and culminates during the secondpart of MN in the Southern Alps (4000–3500BC; Brochieret al., 1999), a period when the dairy exploitation ofovicaprids increased (Helmer and Vigne, 2004). In contrastto sheep/goats, whose remains are found in sheepfoldcaves, bovid bones are recovered mainly from lower plainssites in the Middle Rhone Valley (MRV), and the presenceof these animals seems to be associated with ritual andsymbolic practices, notably in central places which canoccupy several tens of hectares along the main riversystems (Beeching et al., 2000). On the other hand, thestatus of agricultural practices is more difficult to define.Large pits are commonly, but problematically, interpretedas silos (Beeching, 1991), and artefacts possibly linked withcereal processing (moulding stones, sickles) are frequent,but preserved cereals are rare (Montjardin and Rouquette,1988; Phillips, 1988; Roger, 1988a). Land use and therelationship between these societies and their territory,including the extent of their mobility, are also still unclear,notably because houses are still unknown for this period(Phillips, 1988; Roger, 1988b; Monjardin and Roger, 1991;Beeching et al., 2000; Helmer et al., 2005).

Until now, the environments of MN societies in South-ern France were mainly documented by charcoal analysesof archaeological caves or shelters located on karstic hillsand mid-altitude mountains (Fig. 1). This research(Thiebault and Vernet, 1992; Heinz et al., 1993; Heinzand Thiebault, 1998) shows progressive encroachment byregressive vegetation (anthracological phase 3) containingsclerophyllous oak (Quercus ilex/coccifera) and box (Buxus

sempervirens) to the detriment of deciduous oak (Quercus

f.c.) forests (anthracological phase 2) since during the MN,at various dates according to site, but always in corre-spondence with the presence of Chasseen deposits (Vernet,1988; Thiebault, 1991). At Font Juvenal (Herault), humanimpact on the vegetation is first detectable at the beginningof the IVth millennium BC (Vernet, 1980; Thiebault andVernet, 1992). In the lower Rhone Valley (Triat-Laval,1978; Andrieu-Ponel et al., 2000) and in the littoral (Nicol-Pichard, 1987; Nicol-Pichard and Dubar, 1998) or in theSouthern Alps (Argant, 1990), palynologists often describean Atlantic optimum of deciduous oak forests, but thecurve of deciduous oak pollen is often chaotic (Fig. 1).These isolated but frequent decreases are not related to

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Table 1

Results of the charcoal analyses of Middle Neolithic assemblages from the Middle Rhone Valley (TGV-Mediterranee)

% Off-site % Archaeological % Total

Deciduous oak 74.9 93 86

Quercus f.c. 72.3 93.0 85.0

Quercus sp. 2.6 1.0

Anthropic/Mesomed. 3.8 2 2.7

Buxus sempervirens 0.2 0.1

Quercus cf. ilex 0.6 1.8 1.3

Juniperus sp. 3.2 1.2

Heliophilous species 8.7 2 4.6

Acer sp. 0.6 0.5 0.2

Corylus avellana 0.3

cf. Corylus 0.3 0.1

Maloideae 5.8 1.3 3.0

Prunus sp. 2.0 0.2 0.9

Fraxinus+Ulmus 7.8 2 4.2

Fraxinus excelsior 6.9 1.8 3.8

Ulmus minor 0.9 0.2 0.4

Riparian species 1.5 0.2 0.8

Alnus sp. 1.2 0.4

Populus/Salix 0.3 0.2 0.2

Vitis sp. 0.1

Cool+humid 1.4 0.2 0.7

Fagus sylvatica 1.4 0.2 0.7

Pinus 0.9 0.3

Pinus cf. sylvestris 0.9 0.3

Forest species 0.9 0.5 0.7

Hedera helix 0.5 0.3

Ruscus aculeatus 0.9 0.3

Total number of identified fragments 346 554 900

C. Delhon et al. / Quaternary International 200 (2009) 50–6552

clear increases in pollen of other species. Triat-Laval (1978)emphasized that decreases in oak pollen seem to favour therepresentation of heliophilous species (Corylus). A closeexamination of published diagrams (especially from Biot:Nicol-Pichard and Dubar, 1998 and from Les Frignants:Triat-Laval, 1978) reveals that extra-local species (Abies)are also favoured. Oak forests are not replaced by theemplacement or the extension of other formations;heliophilous or distant vegetation is simply better recordedin pollen assemblages when oak is declining.

More recently, geoarchaeological research has identifieda very dark brown to black soil horizon spreading overvarious landscape units (including but not limited tofluvial, slope, and palustrine settings) that are system-atically related to the late Atlantic period(4500–3500 cal BC) corresponding to the development ofMN cultures (Berger, 1996, 2003; Beeching et al., 2000).This palaeosol represents several centuries of landscapestability, which permits the Chasseen culture to spreadwidely, and across many different sorts of landscape units(Beeching et al., 2004).

2. Materials and methods

Rescue excavation preceding the construction of thehigh-speed railway ‘‘TGV-Mediterranee’’ (1994–1997) inthe MRV gave access to the low alluvial plain that waspreviously underdocumented with regard to palaeoenvir-onment (Fig. 2). A large set of palaeoenvironmentalanalyses, including examination of microbotanical remainssuch as phytoliths and pedo-charcoal, was used to studynot only sediment from archaeological sites, but also thatof numerous ‘‘off-site’’ (‘‘natural’’) sequences located closeto investigated sites. Pollen analyses were also attemptedbut the samples were often very poor in pollen because offrequent fluctuations of the water table in fluvial context(Argant in Berger, 1996).The TGV-Mediterranee data set contains data on the

last 15,000 years, including about 40,000 identified frag-ments of charcoal from more than 1100 assemblages, and230 phytolith spectra from 15 different sequences. TheHolocene chrono-stratigraphy of the MRV was madepossible by analysis of more than 300 bore-holes, mainly

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Fig. 2. Palaeoenvironmental data on the Middle Neolithic from the TGV-Mediterranee excavations in the Middle Rhone Valley.


from the lower alluvial plains but also from the slopes(Berger, 2003). The TGV-Mediterranee excavation cam-paign benefited from about 200 AMS radiocarbon dates.These absolute dates are supplemented by stratigraphiccorrelations and by chrono-cultural attributions of archae-ological material (lithic tools, ceramics) collected in onehundred buried settlements. Synthesis of these dataprovides a very precise chronological framework withgreat value for synchronizing various palaeoenvironmentaldata. Accordingly, the corpus of information on the MNperiod (locally mainly composed of the Chasseen culture),that previously formed the subject of several researchprograms in the area, has increased considerably over thelast decade.

2.1. Charcoal analysis

Charcoal from off-site sequences results from fire.Contrary to archaeological charcoal, off-site charcoal hasnot been gathered by prehistoric populations, and thus hasnot been chosen. In spite of the small amount of fragmentsper assemblage, Delhon (2006) has demonstrated that theseassemblages are reliable for palaeoecological interpreta-tion. Charcoal is recovered by systematic sifting thesediment of each stratigraphic unit through a 500-mmmesh. Identification is carried out with a reflectionmicroscope, at magnifications ranging from 50� to

500� , by observation of the three characteristic anatomi-cal planes and comparison of observed structures withpublished descriptions (Schweingruber, 1990; Vernet et al.,2001) and with charred wood from a reference collection(Laboratoire d’Archeobotanique et de Paleoecologie,UMR 7041, CNRS, Nanterre). Each site or sequence hasbeen interpreted separately (Delhon, 2005), and then theresults of archaeological and off-site charcoal analyseswere grouped by period in order to propose a regionalanthracological diagram for the 15 last millennia (Delhonand Thiebault, in press).

2.2. Phytolith analysis

Phytoliths are continuously integrated into soils andsediment through the decomposition of plants. Phytolithassemblages are extracted from sediment by chemicaloxidation (HCl, H2O2), sifting (50 mm) and densimetricseparation (heavy liquid: ZnBr, d ¼ 2.35). Phytolithassemblages are mounted on slides and observed with atransmission microscope at magnifications ranging from400� to 600� . Several morphotypes, sometimes relatedto taxonomy, are identified (Piperno, 1988, 2006; Twiss,1992), and various ratios of climatic significance can becalculated (Twiss, 1987; Delhon et al., 2003; Bremondet al., 2005; Delhon, 2007). Here, we are going to presentonly the proportions of phytoliths from grasses (Poaceae)

ARTICLE IN PRESSC. Delhon et al. / Quaternary International 200 (2009) 50–6554

and from trees (mostly dicotyledons, but also pine). The T/P (Tree vs. Poaceae) ratio allows us to distinguish forestand grassland ecosystems (Delhon et al., 2003).

2.3. Soil analysis

The purpose of micromorphological study of soils andsediments is to reconstruct human/palaeolandscape inter-action at a regional scale. Soil samples (150� 75mm) werecut directly into exposed stratigraphic profiles and coveredwith plaster for thin-section preparation. The undisturbedsediments were consolidated by impregnating them withpolyester resin in a vacuum chamber (475mbar) and werestudied under an optical microscope as per Bullock et al.(1985). A continuous observation from the field scale downto high magnification, by scanning electron microscopes,allows an exhaustive characterization (including nature,shape, size, and frequency) of elementary components andof their arrangement (Courty et al., 1989). Pedologicalpalaeofeatures, compared to current soils, give informationabout dynamics of each soil-forming process and about theinteraction of these processes through time. Anthropogenicfeatures related to human activities can be identified atvarious scales. An evaluation of soot and microcharcoaldensity in soils is done by using of abundance tables ofblack objects under the microscope (Bullock et al., 1985)for homogeneous facies. Soot and/or microcharcoal(particles o0.2mm) were discriminated from vegetalhumified debris or iron–manganese accumulations withreflectance microscopy (Diot, 1992). Charcoals and phyto-liths are observed in their depositional or post-depositionalcontexts (in the case of pedogenesis), which is useful insynthesizing our results with those of palaeobotanists.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 20 10

Deciduous Quercus Acersp.

Maloideae

Prunus sp.C

orylus avellanaBuxus se

early Bronze Age

BB/EBA

Bell beaker

late/final Neo.

Chasséen

Cardial

Fig. 3. Extract of the TGV-Mediterranee anthracological synthetic diagram

concerned area.

3. Results

3.1. Charcoal analysis

The TGV-Mediterranee anthracological diagram showsa very strong dominance of deciduous oak during the MN(Table 1, Fig. 3). Deciduous oak represents 93% of theidentified charcoal fragments from archaeological contextsattributed to the MN, while its dominance is somewhatlower in off-site assemblages (74.5%) (Fig. 4). Thedifference between the two spectra (archaeological/off-site)is due to sampling bias linked to constraints in the rescueexcavations (Delhon, 2006), but it is also possible that MNpopulations preferred deciduous oak for domestic pur-poses. In any case, the tree was present and dominant inthe surrounding vegetation, as shown by its proportions in‘‘off-site’’ samples. Initially, these results were interpretedas evidence for an optimum of deciduous oak forests in theMRV (Thiebault et al., 2003).

3.2. Phytolith analysis

Six phytolith sequences from the MRV involve levelscontemporaneous to the MN (Fig. 5). None of the spectraevidence the existence of a well-developed tree cover. Allthe studied assemblages can be interpreted in terms ofgrassland or weakly wooded grassland. The results are notdue to a weakness in the ability of pytholiths to recordforest vegetation when it is present. For example, very highproportions of tree phytoliths are observed for otherperiods (Delhon, 2005) in our study area. In spite of theinevitable over-representation of grasses in phytolithspectra (grasses always produce larger amount of biogenic

10 10 10 10 10 10 20 30 10

Rham

nus/Phillyrea

mpervirens

SclerophyllousQuercus

FabaceaeEricasp.Arbutus unedoJuniperussp.Pinus sylvestrisFagus sylvaticaTaxus bacataIlex aquifoliumSalixsp. / Populussp.Fraxinussp.

Ulm

us minor

4231

89

4023

637

3057

234

(after Delhon and Thiebault, in press). Dots: o1%. See Fig. 2 for the

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Deciduous oak

PinusFagus

Forest speciesAnthropic/Mesomed.

Riparian speciesFraxinus + Ulmus

Heliophilous species

Fig. 4. Anthracological spectra of the Middle Neolithic in the Middle Rhone Valley: (a) all the data, (b) off-site charcoal only, and (c) archaeological

samples only.

Fig. 5. Phytolith spectra from the Middle Neolithic in the Middle Rhone Valley.


opal than dicotyledons (Carnelli et al., 2001)), phytolithdata contradict charcoal data. The latter suggest a maximalrepresentation of deciduous oak, while the former arguefor herbaceous formations.

3.3. Pedological analysis

During the second-half of the Vth and the beginning ofthe IVth millennia BC, black or dark brown soils formed inthe MRV. They indicate a stability phase that lasted forseveral centuries. They were first discovered in the Valdaine

basin by Berger (1996), and the TGV-Mediterraneeoperation confirmed their large scale extent in variouskinds of topographical contexts of the MRV (Berger,2003). These palaeosols are evolved; their polyhedralstructure, their colour and their textural homogeneityevoke ‘‘Mediterranean chernozems’’ (isohumic character-istics). Micromorphological analysis shows that their darkcolour is mostly due to the presence of microcharcoal andto the strong affinity of organic matter for fine silty-claymineral components (the melanisation process). Thestructural stability, the absence of dusty coarse coatings


in the soil porosity (that would materialize a naked soilsurface) and finally the dense root porosity (typical ofgrassland soils), indicate that a dense and continuous grasscover permanently protected the soil surface (Berger, 2003)(Fig. 6).

Analyses of MN soils show how specific they arecompared to older or younger palaeosols from the samearea (Berger, 2003). They always look like well-protectedgrassland soils, bearing evidence of regular occurrence ofweak intensity fire, and they seem to have experiencedstable and rather dry climates.

In addition to botanical and pedological data, a fewmalacological data are available from off-site sequences(Magnin in Berger, 1996) and from open-air sites (Chaix,1989), even though these decarbonated soils are unfavour-able to the preservation of snail shells. They both indicatedominance of xerophilous grasslands (Magnin in Berger,1996).

Thus, it appears that environmental data concerning theMN in the MRV contradict each other. Several proxies(pedology, sedimentology, malacology, phytolith analysis)are describing a nearly steppic landscape, while macro-charcoal and to a lesser extent pollen data record themaximal expansion of deciduous oak.

4. Discussion

4.1. The ‘‘agro-sylvo-pastoral system’’ model

Such a dilemma is usually resolved by postulating amosaic interweaving of various vegetation formations dueto combined influences of anthropic and eventuallyclimatic disturbance (Brochier, 1991). A generally openlandscape with remnant forests along the riverbanks was infact previously proposed as a reconstruction of theChasseen environment (Beeching et al., 2000). Accordingto an earlier interpretation by one of us, the heterogeneityof the vegetation could be linked with differences betweenpermanently settlement areas and zones of temporaryactivities (Thiebault, 1991), which fit with the partlynomadic behaviour of these populations. We now believethat these interpretations are not sufficient for reconcilingthe contradictory data from the MRV. The palaeoenviron-mental reconstructions do not differ according to thelocation of the sample site, but according to the disciplineused. Different proxies (phytolith, charcoal, soil micro-morphology) from the same site give different results (grassor oak dominant). If spatial heterogeneity of vegetation is

Fig. 6. (A) Localisation of the black isohumic palaeosols and Chasseen sites in

preserved in the bottom of a small marly valley and in fluvial terraces depressio

features of the black soil (2) show the original vegetal and soil cover of the pe

Boreal/early Atlantic period (1) and the cultivated and degraded colluviosoils (

Berger 2003). (D) At low magnification, we observe their good structural s

magnification, we observe the high degree of humification of soil organic mat

black soil micromass shows in a very fine organic silty-clay, a concentration of g

burnings of the herbaceous cover (photos J.-F. Berger).

not a convincing explanation of our results, the possibilityof variation in vegetation through time at the same placehas to be considered, especially as the MN extends overseveral centuries. We have to take into account thepossibility that the palaeoenvironmental record from theMN black palaeosols is polygenic at the century scale. Thehypothesis of fallow-forest management, including clearingevery 1 or 2 centuries (Boserup, 1970), has been evoked byBerger (1996), but it was rapidly rejected because it was notconsistent with the pedological thin sections, which confirmthe abundance of thin and long grass roots, the scarcepresence of ligneous charcoals, the isohumic nature of thesesoils and the absence of clay coating characteristic of forestsoils. Moreover, the weak representation of pre-forestspecies (e.g., heliophiles) in charcoal spectra would meanthat the replacement of grasslands by forests was donewithout either natural or agricultural fire during inter-mediary stages. Such periods of fire scarcity are ratherunlikely considering the amount of charred particles inthese soils.Deciduous oak charcoal and grass phytoliths have been

extracted from the same levels of the same sites. Thus, wemust envisage that both taxa grew in the same place, whichleads us to suggest a peculiar physiognomy for theChasseen biotic landscape. We propose that a particulartype of agro-sylvo-pastoral management led to the estab-lishment of grasslands under a loose cover of deciduousoaks. From a physiognomic point of view, such a systemcan be compared to the Dehesa system (Fig. 7) that is stillin use in zones of flat or hilly topography (Olea and SanMiguel-Ayanz, 2006) of western Spain and in Portugal(where it is called Montado). Dehesa-type land-use wasinferred from pollen data in South of Spain for the BronzeAge (Stevenson and Harrison, 1992) and even as far backas the MN (Lopez-Saez et al., 2007), and the idea thatsavanna parkland management by ground fires duringNeolithic disrupted the climate-driven vegetation dynamicswas proposed for South-West Asia by Roberts (2002).These systems are based on the association of meadow

grazed by ovi-caprines, occasionally bovines but currentlymostly pigs with small areas of extensive cereal cultureinterspersed with overhanging tree ‘‘cover’’, usually scler-ophyllous oak (Quercus suber and/or Q. ilex ssp.), some-times semi-deciduous oak (Quercus pyrenaica, Quercus

faginea), and sometimes with a few ash (Fraxinus

angustifolia). The trees are scattered (from less than 10 toa few dozen trees per hectare, the density depending on thelevel of water resources, Joffre et al., 1999) and pruned to

the Middle Rhone Valley. (B, C) Black soils of the Middle Neolithic period

ns of the Valdain Basin (la Begude-de-Mazenc). The micromorphological

riod 4500–3500 cal BC compared to the forest eluviated brown soils of the

3) of the following period (around 3500–3000 cal BC, late Neolithic) (after

tability associated with a polyhedral structure (PPL, 5� ). (E) At high

ters (PPL, 100� ). (F) At very high magnification, the composition of the

rass phytoliths and small microcharcoals and soot which indicate frequent

ARTICLE IN PRESSC. Delhon et al. / Quaternary International 200 (2009) 50–65 57

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Fig. 7. Dehesas and montados: (a) cork oak montado (Q. suber) near Evora (Portugal); (b) holm oak dehesa (Q. ilex rotundifolia) near Trujillo (Spain); (c)

holm oak and ash dehesa (Q. ilex rotundifolia—Q, Fraxinus angustifolia—F) near Trujillo (Spain); (d) cork oak (Q. suber) dehesa near the river Tietar

(Spain); (e) grazing herds in Spanish dehesas: pigs (e1), sheep (e2), cattle (e3) and goats (e4).

C. Delhon et al. / Quaternary International 200 (2009) 50–6558

an ‘‘umbrella-shape’’. They are exploited, depending on thespecies, for firewood, fruits, bark, and leaf fodder.Ethnographic observation shows that when fields areincluded in the system, cereals or pulses are sown betweenthe trees and after the harvest the remnant parts of theplants (straw) are browsed on the spot by livestock (Quezeland Medail, 2003).

These formations are open-seedling forests with widelyspaced trunks. Their appearance depends on the type ofpruning (Fig. 8). To increase fruit production and shadedarea, pruning aims at widening the canopy area for eachtree as much as possible. In other ethnographically knownmanmade ecosystems (in Greece: Halstead, 1998; in Italy:Moreno and Raggio, 1990), in situations where the goal isto produce as much leaf fodder as possible, pruning resultsin giving trees a ‘‘candleholder’’ shape of deformed trunksbristling with twigs that prevents them from shading othervegetation.

This alternative hypothesis reconciles the data obtainedfor the MN. As trees are scattered, pedological andphytolithic features are characteristic of grasslands. Asthe tree cover is extremely mono-dominant, so are thecharcoal assemblages of the MRV: both are almost entirelycomposed by deciduous oak, and are notably marked bythe quasi-total absence of the sylvatic cortege of oak forest.The scarcity of understorey and edge species agrees on theone hand with the hypotheses of extensive pastoralism(Tarrega et al., 2006) often put forward concerningChasseen societies (Beeching et al., 2000), and on the otherhand with the use of fire as an agro-pastoral tool.Controlled running fire affects grass and shrub layers,but never reaches (unless accidentally) the canopy. It cleansthe understorey, prevents the development of undergrowthand fertilizes soils. It is not a forest fire but a grassland firethat does not kill the trees. The use of fire is an explanationfor the high amount of dusty charred particles in soils in

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lateral pruning pollarding coppicing

Fig. 8. Tree habits in function of the type of pruning.

Fig. 9. Harvesting leaf fodder (ash) in Asturias (Spain), September 2006.

Fig. 10. Results of charcoal analyses of Middle Neolithic assemblages

from the Middle Rhone Valley.


spite of the relative scarcity of macrocharcoal and to theabsence of certain taxa, such as maples (Acer spp.), thatparticularly suffer from this kind of disturbance (Quezeland Medail, 2003).

There are several interests in preserving oaks in apastoral or agro-pastoral system. This practice spareseffort (Joffre et al., 1999), as livestock and fire are the onlycleaning ‘‘tools’’. Moreover, oaks constitute a living capitalthat is available in case of need. They can either beexploited episodically (but definitively) for timber, bycutting down the trunks, or more probably be a keystoneof the economic system, to which there is regular resort.Trimming provides firewood and leafy branches, whichrepresent an excellent fodder for livestock (Fig. 9). One canassume that acorns were harvested. This is suggested bytheir presence in some sites (Phillips, 1982; Clottes andGiraud, 1991; Marinval, 1991), and it is obvious anywaythat they were at least eaten on the spot by flocks. Finally,tree cover, even when sparse, protects the soil, the cropsand even the animals from direct sun, bad weather anderosion; moreover, the rhizosphere has a positive effect onthe edaphic water balance and on the spatial distribution ofsoil nutrients (Joffre et al., 1999; Gallardo, 2003; Morenoet al., 2007). As in many agro-forestry systems, thepresence of trees has a beneficial effect on understoreyplant growth (crops or wild pastures) and thus on animals.

4.2. Integration of regional data (Fig. 10; Table 2)

In spite of the dominance of deciduous oak in charcoalassemblages from the MRV (TGV-Mediterranee, Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, Nyons, Montelimar, Baume-

Sourde), other species are represented (see Table 2 for thereferences). In particular, taxa from the degradationcortege of oak forests, mainly box (B. sempervirens) andsclerophyllous oak (Q. ilex/coccifera) are rare in the valleybut regularly found at a regional level (La Ponchoniere,Oulen, Font Juvenal), sometimes in great amounts (Baumede Monclus, Unang). The integration of such taxa in theproposed agro-sylvo-pastoral pattern seems quite difficult.Their occurrence, and specially that of xerophyllous oak,which re-sprouts easily after cutting, rather evokes a short-rotation (20–25 years) coppice management (Fig. 8)(Quezel and Medail, 2003). This kind of forest manage-ment, especially when associated with extensive pastoral-ism, leads to the establishment of regressive vegetation thatevolves towards ‘‘garrigues’’ or ‘‘maquis’’. These vegetalformations, in spite of their being ‘‘regressive’’ from a

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Table 2

Synthetic results (%) and references of charcoal analyses of Middle Neolithic sites in the Middle Rhone Valley

Site St. Paul-3

Chateaux

Montelimar Nyons,

les

Laurons

Beaume

Sourde

La

Ponchoniere

Font-juvenal Baume

d’Oulen

Montclus Unang La Font des

Pigeons

Fontbregoua Fontbregoua Le Vieux

Mounoı

Antonnaire Reychas

Reference Heinz

(1990)

Thiebault,

unpublished

data

Beeching

et al.,

2004

Heinz

(1990)

Thiebault

(1999)

Thiebault and

Vernet (1992)

Thiebault,

unpublished

data

Bazile-

Robert

(1983)

Thiebault

(1994)

Thiebault and

Vernet,

unpublished

data; Thiebault

(1999)

Thiebault

(1997)

Thiebault

(1997)

Thiebault

(1999)

Heinz

(1990)

Thiebault

(1999)

Sample/level Chasseen

pits

Chasseen

levels

Strati2,

2a4,

A2, ens3,

A1, A4

Chasseen

levels

Silos, pits,

post-holes

7, 8, 9 10 and

11

C3 and C4 2b C3 Levels 2-2a, 3,

4, 5, 6

C30-35-D

and C23-28

C4-17 Chasseen

levels

Chasseen

levels

5

Chronocultural

attribution

Chasseen Chasseen Chasseen Chasseen Middle

Neolithic

Middle

Neolithic

Chasseen (Late)

Chasseen

Chasseen Chasseen ‘‘Pre-

chasseen’’/

early

Chasseen

Late

Chasseen

Chasseen Chasseen Chasseen

14C date 4350–3700/

4500–3950/

4700–3950

4050–3500/

3100–2350

4950–4460/

4700–4050/

4360–3960/

4000–3100/

3950–3350

4994–4369 4716–4164/

4541–3985

4771–4164/

4794–4248/

4468–3977/

4719–4228

3946–3374 4221–3979/

4701–4345/

4567–4352

4750–4000/

4050–3350

Deciduous

Quercus

75.9 85.7 100 67 75 60 36.8 0.6 0.3 44.9 16.7 51.2 25.9 29.7

Mesomed./

anthropic

21.2 7.8 6.5 13.3 22.2 31.9 78.3 91.3 66.5 27.1 12 9.6 15.2 34.9

Heliophilous

species

1.3 5.2 12.5 11.7 13.7 26.9 1.2 0.3 2.9 2.6 1.2 19.1 8.4

Fraxinus+Ulmus 0.8 1.3 9.6 0.6 3 11.6 6.3 14.2 2.6

Riparian species 0.3 0.7 0.8 0.9 9.4 0.1 1.1 4.6

Cool+humid 0.5 0.7 0.1 0.7 0.6 0.4 10.2 13.8

Pinus 25.6 19.7 64.4 37.6 14.7 1

Undet. Gymno 7.5 3.9 4.3 0.5 2.1

Mountain 0.6 1.5

Total number of

identified

fragments

794 77 166 710 324 2507 760 138 160 388 943 233 418 1002 195

C.

Delh

on

eta

l./

Qu

atern

ary

Intern

atio

na

l2

00

(2

00

9)

50

–6

560


phytosociological point of view, are at first stages denseand inextricable. Their establishment explains synchronousslope stabilization (Brochier, 1983), while the presence ofdeciduous oak is, during MN, sometimes correlated withdetritic accumulations (Brochier, 1984, 1991). That para-doxical fact is easily understandable if we consider the‘‘dehesa-like’’ physiognomy.

The combining of data from the alluvial plain with datafrom karstic foothills and lower mountains indicates apattern of territory management by MN societies thatrespects the diversity of landscape units and their naturalpotential. In the lower plain, agricultural and above allpastoral activities take place together with forestrypractices in an open forest (‘‘foret-parc’’ sensus Quezeland Medail, 2003) with a savannah-like physiognomy. Insuch a system, deciduous oak and related products (wood,acorns, leaves), obtained by pruning small branches, can becompared to agricultural products. On the slopes, woodexploitation seems to be the main activity. Contrary towhat happens in the plain, the trunks are cut, therefore theexpansion of species that are able to resprout from theirstump is favoured.

The result of that differential exploitation of naturalresources depending on the physical environment is adominance of deciduous oak in charcoal assemblages fromthe alluvial plain while sclerophyllous oak, box and othertaxa that characterize the settlement of garrigues becomepreponderant in charcoal spectra from karstic slope sites.In the hill/lower mountain area, the archaeological siteslocated in or near middle to high altitude zones show morediversified charcoal spectra (Antonnaire, Reychas). LowerProvence also shows a special vegetation trend, with theearly establishment of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis)(Fontbregoua, Vieux Mounoı, Chateauneuf-les-Marti-gues). This pattern is very specific to littoral areas inProvence (Vernet and Thiebault, 1987). The early presenceof Aleppo pine in this zone is probably mainly due toedaphic and bioclimatic determinism, in spite of its beingfavoured by human activities (forest clearance, fire)(Vernet, 1973; Thiebault, 1997).

Pedological data provide information on the palaeogeo-graphic and climatic context of the agrarian systemestablished by the MN cultures in the MRV. Dark soilsattest to several centuries of stability in the hilly areas andthe low alluvial plains of the MRV. Chrono-cultural dataand associated radiocarbon dates show that the stabilityphase lasted at least 8 centuries between 4500–4400 and3600–3500 cal BC, and thus covers the early and late/finalChasseen complex (Beeching et al., 2000; Berger, 2003).Palaeopedological observations have also been carried outin the east and southeast of France. Black or dark brownsoils are widespread in the Alsace plains (X. Boes,unpublished data), west Languedoc (Middle Aude Valley),calcareous Provence (Boissinot and Brochier, 1997), thearea east of Lyon (Franc, 2005) and the Massif Central(Limagne, Velay: Gachon, 1963; Daugas and Tixier, 1977;Berger, unpublished data). For central Europe, the

description of many sediment profiles from Germanfloodplains emphasizes the occurrence of a so-called‘‘Black Floodplain Soil’’ (BFS) (synthesis by Rittweger,2000). Absolute dates are lacking for Central Europe, butthose published by Stobbe (1996) for the Wettereau BFS(4890755BP: 3800–3530 cal BC and 5210755BP:4230–3810 BC) fit the MRV dates (second-half of theVth and first part of the IVth millennia cal BC; Berger,2003). The proposed ‘‘BFS’’ terminology is not retainedhere because it implies this palaeosol always has an alluvialnature, which is not the case in the study area. The systemicanalyses carried out in MRV have shown that the blackMN soils also developed on the slopes of the calcareouspiedmonts (Berger, 1996). The type and the exact genesis ofthese soils are not always well established (pseudo-chernozems, gley-tschernozems, tschernitsa, smollitsa, an-moor, etc.), mostly because pedological analyses arelacking. Rittweger (2000) suggests that BSF are mainlyproduced by gentle erosion, fed by lateral transport of finematerial from the surrounding chernozemic soils. Thecomposition of homogeneous humic acids has beenanalysed by W.W. Jungmann (quoted by Rittweger,2000, p. 152). It indicates that humus in BSF and in thechernozems has undergone the same genetic processes.Micromorphological analysis of black soils of the MRV ledto the same conclusion (Berger, 1996, 2003).

4.3. Sustainability of the system

The exploitation of deciduous oak forests, which is inactual fact rather opportunistic, is a perennial system on ahuman scale, because it is based on long lasting trees(Joffre et al., 1999; Plieninger et al., 2004; Olea and SanMiguel-Ayanz, 2006). But the system is quite fragile in thelonger-term because there is no possibility of quickadaptation to any environmental change. Grazed,trimmed, exploited, the deciduous oak forest loses anypotential for sexual or vegetative reproduction (Pulidoet al., 2001; Leiva and Fernandez-Ales, 2003). The seedpool in soil is reduced through predation by herbivores.The shoots are also jeopardized by trampling, grazing andfire. After a few dozen years, the natural self-reproductiveforest turns into a ‘‘real fossil-forest that will only surviveas long as the existing trees will be alive’’ (Quezel andMedail, 2003, p. 39). As regards oaks, survival durationcan be long and can probably reach several centuries.Nevertheless, these vegetal formations bordering ecologicalequilibrium are threatened by climatic hazard. If theecological balance is upset, if trees are killed, the weath-ering of soils will compromise the productivity of the wholesystem, while the resources directly linked to oak exploita-tion would have disappeared. Such an agro-sylvo-pastoralsystem is destined to collapse in the long term. Itssustainability (several centuries, maybe a little more thana millennium) during the MN seems possible to us only inthe absence of major climatic disturbance. It can beassumed that large-scale recurrent forest fire and erosion


resulting from torrential precipitation were not majorfeatures of the Chasseen environment. The end of blackpalaeosol development corresponds approximatively to theAtlantic/Subboreal transition, i.e., a period of globalcooling and hydrological changes recorded in variousregions in the world around 3600–3000 cal BC (Magnyand Haas, 2004). Wetter conditions prevailed over middlelatitudes in west-central Europe (Starkel, 1991; Langdonet al., 2003; Blaauw et al., 2004; Magny, 2004), incoincidence with a period of weaker solar activity indicatedby a maximum of 14C atmospheric content dated from5600 to 5200 cal BP (Stuiver et al., 1998). The Chasseenagro-sylvo-pastoral system apparently disappears duringthis period, as shown by the erosion or illuviation of thepluricentennial black soils and the spatial reorganisation ofsettlement including the temporary abandonment of thelower plains (Berger, 2003; Berger, forthcoming).

5. Conclusion

We propose a system of landscape management by MNpopulations that implies a particular relation between thesesocieties and trees, especially deciduous oak. This agro-sylvo-pastoral interpretation of palaeobotanical and pa-laeopedological features observed in the MRV answerssome questions about the relationship between thepopulations and their environment, but some aspects stillneed to be clarified.

For example, regional-scale integration of archaeologicaland environmental data from archaeological sites in cavesor rock-shelters and open-air contexts, as well as from off-site sequences, is required to address the question ofsettlement pattern. This includes the manner in which siteson the plain were linked with sheepfolding sites insurrounding areas, and whether or not transhumance wasinvolved. Results from Neolithic sheepfolds show that treefodder was probably an important part of livestock diet(Thiebault, 1997; Argant et al., 1991; Delhon et al., inpress), but its actual importance and that of extensivegrazing still have to be assessed. Finally, the quantitativeand qualitative importance of agriculture in an economicsystem considered to be predominantly based on pastoralproduction remains poorly known.

During MN, the stabilisation of the landscape by adehesa-like system, whose characteristics are black soils,grassland development and oak exploitation related topastoral activities, permits a sustainable (at least for severalcenturies) sub-optimisation of resources (Joffre et al.,1999). It thus appears that the social organisation ofsemi-nomadic Chasseen communities was highly adaptedto the natural conditions prevailing in the MRV duringalmost a millennium.

Acknowledgements

Various research programs concerning the MRV and/orthe MN have improved the pool of data concerning the

topic of this paper: ATP of CNRS ‘‘Archeologie spatiale en

Vallee du Rhone. Espaces parcourus/Territoires exploites.

Le groupe Neolithique et son territoire’’. A. Beeching andJ.L. Brochier dir. (CAP-Valence); CIRCALP program‘‘Circulations et Identites culturelles alpines a la fin de laPrehistoire’’ (1997–1998), A. Beeching dir., the rescuearchaeological excavations on the Mediterranean TGV-Lines, the ACI program of the French Research Ministry‘‘Les paleoincendies: origine, regime et impact sur le

fonctionnement des eco-anthroposystemes dans le bassin

mediterraneen nord-occidental (Languedoc-vallee du Rhone-

Cote d’Azur) depuis le Tardiglaciaire’’ (J.F. Berger dir.).We are also grateful to T. Kohler and M. Ilett forcorrecting the manuscript, to J.L. Brochier for scientificexchanges and discussions about Middle Neolithic land-scapes, and finally to J.A. Lopez-Saez for organising a visitof the Spanish dehesas during the end of summer 2006. A.Balbo and L. Martin kindly provided us the photograph ofFig. 9.

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