VOLUME 22: NUMBER 3

October 2014

CONTENTS

Editorial

Christopher Meiklejohn, David Lubell, Mary Jackes, Nicky Milner

2

Traces of plant working in the Mesolithic shell midden of Beg-an-Dorchenn (Plomeur,

France)

Colas Guéret, Bernard Gassin, Jérémie Jacquier and Grégor Marchand

3

The Early Mesolithic in western France: from arrowheads to cultural organization

Sylvene Michel

16

Book news and reviews

Tybrind Vig: Submerged Mesolithic settlements in Denmark

Harry K. Robson

23

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Traces of plant working in the Mesolithic shell midden of Beg-an-Dorchenn

(Plomeur, France)

Colas Guéret

UMR 7041, équipe Ethnologie Préhistorique, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne

colas.gueret@hotmail.fr

Bernard Gassin

UMR 5608, TRACES, Université de Toulouse II - Le Mirail

bgassin@libertysurf.fr

Jérémie Jacquier and Grégor Marchand

UMR 6566, CREAAH, Université de Rennes 1

jacquier.jeremie@gmail.com ; gregor.marchand@univ-rennes1.fr

A European-wide issue

During the first half of the seventh millennium BC, all of Western Europe except the British Isles

had within a few centuries adopted completely new technical norms for lithic tool production which

contrast with the less standardized products made by hard hammer direct percussion in the Early

Mesolithic. This included change at different scales depending on the region, for the acquisition of

raw materials, the introduction of indirect percussion or pressure flaking to extract large and regular

blades, the shaping of cores, the development of new types of weapons (trapezoidal arrowheads or

trapezes) and the production of regular notched blades.

The purpose of the research reported here is to better understand the origins of this phenomenon and

its diffusion mechanisms on a European scale (Clark 1958; Kozlowski 2009; Perrin et al. 2009;

Gehlen 2010). Furthermore, it is important to continue defining the extent of the observed technical

and economic changes, on all levels. With this objective in mind, a group of researchers was set up

to look specifically into the notched blades, as they are often seen as emblematic of the Late

Mesolithic in Western Europe. Known as “Montbani bladelets or blades” in France (Rozoy 1978),

they have been the subject of many debates, especially concerning their function and the manner in

which they were retouched. The most popular theory (Rozoy 1978), was that they were used to

scrape wood for the shaping of arrow shafts. The notches were thus considered as retouch from use

as opposed to being the result of intentional modification.

The first objective of our observations was to test this theory, applying it to technological and use-

wear analysis of several western European data sets. We asked: whether there is consistency to all

the Montbani bladelets; if it is possible to ascribe a particular function to them; whether the notches

are a result of retouching or of utilisation; what is the connection between these tools and the rest of

the lithic industry?

We first studied nine sites in France and Belgium and presented the results in a paper at MESO2010

in Santander and one in the BSPF (Gassin et al. 2013). The present paper gives us the opportunity to

present new data from one of the most exemplary Mesolithic sites of Western France from a slightly

more regional perspective.

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Figure 1: Localization of the Beg-an-Dorchenn shell midden (drawing Laurent Quesnel).

Inshore societies versus mainland societies: the case of Brittany during the 6th

millennium BC.

Research into the Mesolithic in Brittany (Figure 1) has historically concentrated on a few very large

coastal deposits during the first half of the 20th

century. The excavations at the shell midden of Beg-

en-Dorchenn (Plomeur, Finistère) by Du Châtellier provided proof of the presence of pre-Neolithic

coastal populations as early as the end of the 19th

century (Du Châtellier 1881). However, it is

mainly the high-quality excavations led by the Péquarts during the 1930s at Téviec and Hoëdic that

characterized the Breton Late Mesolithic as a coastal phenomenon. In the 1970s, the surveys of

Gouletquer and his team led to the discovery of a large number of inland settlements which

modified this view (Gouletquer et al. 1996). However, these inland sites often turned out to be

poorly preserved because they were in the plough zone, and recent excavations have demonstrated

taphonomic problems such as mixed layers and lack of conformity (Marchand 2009).

The connections between the interior and coastal sites, and their human societies, must be

considered. Unfortunately, the exceptional preservation of bone remains and shells on coastal

deposits have no equivalent on inland sites where soil acidity does not allow their preservation.

Ultimately, the lithic industry remains the only common denominator that allows comparisons

about the function of the sites and their integration in regional mobility patterns. Previous work on

raw materials and technology has already defined the broad outline that characterises the Breton

industries during the Late Mesolithic (Marchand and Le Goffic 2009). What remains is to refine

these observations, describing the different activities and surrounding habitats with different

functions. In this respect, the shell midden collections remain, as always, the reference datasets for a

first approach. Potentially these could benefit from well-defined and better-dated contexts. The

difficulty comes from the nature of the pre-war excavations and from the lack of reliable

stratigraphic information.

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Figure 2: Excavations in the Beg-an-Dorchenn shell midden in 2001 (led by C. Dupont and G. Marchand, photo

G. Marchand)

Therefore, we chose the excavations at Beg-an-Dorchenn led by O. Kayser in the 1980s (Kayser

1985), subsequently by Dupont and Marchand in 2001 (Dupont et al. 2010, Figure 2). These remain

one of the only examples of recent excavations that may allow a functional study of the lithic

industry. Beyond the specific issues of the notched bladelets, the following analysis should be

considered the first attempt towards a better understanding of the functional potential of the Late

Mesolithic industries in Brittany.

Set on the northeastern side of the midden, where the isthmus begins, the Mesolithic shell midden

was probably the largest in Western France according to descriptions from the 19th

and early 20th

centuries. It covered a surface area of 800m² to a thickness of up to 1m according to Du Châtellier

(1881), or even 1.60m according to Bénard Le Pontois (1929). Nevertheless, the current surface

collections of lithics on the whole headland seem to suggest that Beg-an-Dorchenn occupied a

hectare in size, of which the shell midden was only one of the living spaces. The shell midden dates

to 5640 – 5550 cal. BC (Dupont et al. 2010).

The arrowheads are mainly symmetrical trapezoids with concave truncations characteristic of the

Tevecian Beg-er-Vil facies. The identified marine resources (shellfish, crab, fish and birds)

correspond to a broad exploitation of the marine environments accessible from Beg-an-Dorchenn at

low tide. The role of the intertidal zone had the greatest importance in the life of the Mesolithic

inhabitants – the whole economy, as well as the cultural sphere, depended on it. Local exploitation

of resources also included land mammals and plants from an environment widely dominated by oak

with large openings in the canopy.

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Method and approaches

Despite certain reservations due to the macroscopic aspect of the lithic material, it seemed

appropriate to go back over the Beg-an-Dorchenn collection. As functional analyses are almost

absent for the Late Mesolithic in Western Europe, this justified our decision to look into a rather

poorly preserved but well contextualised dataset. The study was carried out during a two-day

workshop held as part of the “Before the Revolution”seminar at the University Rennes 1, 18th

to

20th

April 2011. The sorting, followed by the study of the lithic tools, was done in accordance with

well-established protocols (Keeley 1980): first under a stereo microscope (Olympus SZX12 ‒ 7 to

90x) and then under a metallographic microscope (Olympus BX41M-LED ‒ 100, 200 and 500x). It

is necessary to emphasize the importance of the collective approach on this particular task: every

step was done in groups, particularly the traceological descriptions and the photographs (Leica

DFC295). This method can prove very beneficial as it is likely to mitigate the inevitable subjectivity

each researcher shows during use-wear analysis.

The research at first concentrated on the notched bladelets. It included all the samples that were

identified during the technological study and a second sorting of the retouched and unretouched

bladelets in order to make sure of the comprehensiveness of the first observations. We had never

before had the opportunity to extend our analysis to typo-technological categories other than the

Montbani blades. Due to this, macroscopic and microscopic scanning of 100 unmodified bladelets,

four denticulates on flakes, and 127 retouched flakes, was made in order to set the notched bladelets

into a much larger functional context.

Results of the functional study

Taphonomic perspectives

As expected, the preservation of the material was poor. The original colour of the raw material is

impossible to make out because of a white patina. In several cases, desilification of the flint is also

clearly marked: recent fractures are easy to spot with their chalk-white aspect. Bright spots, classic

signs of deterioration, were also found. The quality of the surfaces on a microscopic scale is not

ideal, with abrasions and striations. The soil sheen is, on the other hand, rather limited, so the

contrasts remain discernible. These taphonomic characteristics are usually enough for traceologists

to consider a collection unsuitable for the observation of use-wear traces. It is indeed unlikely that

the lightest traces would be preserved and the most developed ones may well have been subjected to

alterations likely to affect the interpretation. It also has an impact on the conditions of observation:

well-developed polishes are more difficult to spot on the macroscopic level and very white surfaces

do not make the task any easier at the microscopic scale. Yet, the analysis of Beg-an-Dorchenn

material shows that it is possible to collect some very relevant functional information despite these

problems.

Notched bladelet functions

Of 100 retouched and notched bladelets, only 14 showed functional traces pertaining to 26 use

zones (Figure 3). The notches are much more frequent (20 use zones) but some of the Montbani

blades unretouched edges have also been used (six use zones). While the findings remain limited

depending on the sample in question, in the end the variety of examined use-wear traces allows us

to envisage a rather large range of “chaines opératoires” and modes of operation. These will be

described using the engineering terms “positive-rake cutting”/“negative rake cutting” as represented

in Figure 4. In this case, the notion of "cutting" should not be understood as a synonym of a

longitudinal action, but rather as a means to describe the different variations of transverse actions on

a material.

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Figure 3: Some notched blades from Beg-an-Dorchenn (drawings O. Kayser)

Figure 4: A major technological tool to describe modes of operation for the transverse motions. Differences

between “negative-rake cutting” and “positive-rake cutting” are defined by the value of the rake angle. The

arrow indicates the motion of the tool.

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Figure 5: examples of the use-wear traces observed on the ventral faces of the notched blades.

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Plant scraping

Only one notch (on bladelet 214) shows marks typically associated with plant scraping (Figure 5A).

A rather smooth surface and completely even polish is visible to the naked eye on the ventral face,

cross-marked with several striations. On the back, it becomes uneven and less smooth. On the

dorsal face, the steepest part of the bending removal is the only part covered with an unstriated

polish, which follows the artefact surface. This very dissymmetrical distribution of the use traces

indicates a transverse motion with a negative-rake cutting tool, with the ventral face as a flank

surface.

Gassin studied piece 85 (not illustrated) before the workshop as part of the collective project. This

is more of a long flake than a bladelet. The notches, located on the right edge, show unusual and

well-developed use-wear traces. The dorsal face is characterized by a shiny, marginal polish with a

flat and smooth micro-topography similar to the one described for piece 214, whereas on the ventral

face, the traces appear to be much more developed and very different. The very invasive matt polish

combines with a rounding showing many perpendicular striations on the edge and some micro-

depressions. This combination of traces has long been termed as ‘polish 23’, mostly on Neolithic

tools (Van Gijn 1990; cf. Juel Jensen 1994). For almost 30 years, the debate has set the advocates of

a single use against those who assume a series of uses (Caspar et al. 2005). The unique case of Beg-

an-Dorchenn will not enable any agreement on this debate. Nevertheless, the traces found on the

dorsal face let us identify negative-rake cutting on plants with the ventral face as a flank surface.

A polish from the same family as the one seen on bladelet 214 could also be seen on the

unretouched sharp edge of notched bladelet 65. However, the presence of elongated depressions and

the frequency of striations do not allow us to confirm that this is a result of identical use as the one

found on piece 214. The sharp angle of the edge and the preferential development of use scars on

the ventral face leads us to hypothesize a positive-rake cutting, probably on plants, even though we

cannot categorically rule out the possibility of wood.

The negative-rake scraping of wood or rigid plant material

Six notches are marked with a very marginal shiny polish which bevels the edge on the ventral face

only (Figure 5B). Slightly domed, it is stretched across from the elevated points. The characteristics

enable reconstruction of negative-rake cutting on medium-hard vegetal material, most likely wood

(Figure 6). The extreme scarcity of scars and the limited length of the use zones suggest the material

was only lightly worked small branches of wood or rigid plant stems.

Figure 6: A transverse action with a negative-rake cutting tool, with the ventral face as flank face. Mode of

operating proposed for the medium-hard vegetal material scraping. The arrow indicates the motion of the tool.

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Figure 7: The stripping of vegetal fibers (flax, nettles...) with Montbani blades (right image inspired by Caspar et

al. 2005, fig.13). The arrow indicates the motion of the tool.

An original transverse action on soft abrasive material

Among the use-wear traces, a consistent group is distinguishable. Out of six bladelets, ten notches

displayed wear traces to which may be added three unmodified sharp edges that oppose the notches.

In each case, invasive abrasion marks can be seen on sometimes more than a millimetre of the

ventral face (Figure 5 C and D). The very rough, pitted and matt polish with a tight degree of linkage

shows many transverse striations, which can be occasionally oblique. These are often very long, and

their width varies. One of the characteristics is the discreteness of traces on the dorsal face inside

the notch and a slightly rounded-edge.

These wear traces have a lot in common with those produced by the scraping of hide, but their

distribution and the very concave morphology of the use zones do not fit with this kind of activity.

The best alternative can be found in the work of Caspar et al. 2005) on plant fibres. Their

experiments showed the formation of bluntness associated with a rough matt polish on the ventral

face during the stripping of flax and bast. These traces, described in the Early Neolithic, are very

similar to the ones examined at Beg-an-Dorchenn. The fibres are held tight in one hand and

between the thumb of the other hand and the ventral face of the tool (Figure 7). The ventral face of

the tool slides along the nettle, flax or bast strips in order to loosen the flexible fibres from the rigid

woody parts. This particular operating mode is still unrecognized for the Mesolithic period, but

plant fibre working is well documented by the discovery of ropes and nets from the Early Pre-

Boreal onwards, for example, at Friesack, Germany (Gramsch 1992). It is currently the most

appealing hypothesis for the 12 use zones identified on flint blades from Beg-an-Dorchenn.

Nevertheless, it will be necessary to focus future experiments to test this interpretation conclusively.

Scraping hide outside the notches?

On notched bladelet 168, two rather obtuse areas, one retouched and the other unmodified, are

marked with a rounding that seems to be organised transversally despite the lack of striations The

chronology between the polish and the retouch is quite intricate and observation at a microscopic

scale is not very conclusive. These are undoubtedly use-wear traces which could be linked to

scraping of dry hide and therefore should be carefully interpreted in the absence of all the necessary

evidence.

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Inconclusive comparisons with the rest of the material

In comparison with the findings for the notched bladelets, the research on denticulated flakes,

unmodified bladelets and retouched flakes has provided very little information. The four examined

denticulated flakes are shaped by Clactonian notches with a conspicuous negative bulb. No use-

wear traces could be found. Moreover, the morphology of the potential use zones, in comparison

with the bladelet notches (different angulation, morphology), goes against the hypothesis of a

functional equivalent between both types. In terms of unretouched bladelets, the macroscopic and

sometimes microscopic observation of unmodified edges did not show any zone of use. The lightest

traces could not be recognised owing to unfavourable preservation. Nonetheless, no other

identifiable plant gloss or abrasion traces were spotted under the stereoscope. Using the

unretouched edges of blades and bladelets for scraping plants is not a recurring technical choice on

this site. Lastly, in terms of retouched flakes, the study focused on the intentionally modified pieces.

A new sorting permitted us to put the importance of this type into perspective. In Kayser’s (1985)

analysis, this category assembles the pieces that are identifiably retouched and retouched flakes that

are only edge-damaged. In the end, it appeared that there were probably not many real tools among

the 127 observed flakes, as edge-damaged artefacts had probably more to do with the previously

mentioned taphonomic issues. Among these tools, only one notched flake retouched by bending

showed definite traces of use. The edge of the notch on the ventral face is marked with a shiny, flat

and marginal polish, which can be associated with a delicate scraping of hard animal matter such as

bone or antler.

Interpretation and comparison

Beg-an-Dorchenn notched bladelets: the findings do not fit traditional hypotheses

The use-wear analysis on the notches has highlighted scraping actions on several types of plant

material and therefore an involvement of Montbani bladelets in different operational sequences.

While certain pieces could have been used to scrape wood as suggested by Rozoy (1978), the work

on plants and possibly plant fibres confirms the multi-functional nature of this type of tool.

The elements that seem to be most in contradiction with the commonly accepted model are mainly

in the origin of the notches and the operating modes of blades. Thus, the hypothesis of use-retouch

is nullified if we confront it with functional data. The three accepted types of use each correspond to

work on soft or medium-hard material that cannot produce such conspicuous notches. Experiments

show that the scraping of wood and rigid plants is likely to cause the most damage to fragile sharp

edges. It is thus possible to create direct scars when the negative-rake cutting is done with the dorsal

face as the flank surface. However, these use scars never exceed a millimetre and never reach such

a depth extent.

Finally, the operating modes accepted for the Beg-an-Dorchenn notched bladelets are not

compatible with Rozoy’s (1978) suggestion. The most frequent use wear traces (polishes and

rounding) on the ventral face correspond to movements that place this side much more in contact

with the worked material.

A conclusion that the retouch is intentional rather than use-related therefore seems unavoidable. The

microscopic analysis of the notches incidentally gives useful information about possible

manufacturing methods. The whole sample of used notches is formed by one or several bending

scars (Figure 8). There is no visible negative bulb and the proximal part of the retouch is particular

in that it creates a right-angled edge. These original characteristics could be pointing to a very

specific method of manufacturing notches. The scars indicate pressure-knapping with a tool made

from bone or wood, with a wide point of contact. Experimentally, this type of retouch could be

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obtained by pressing the edge of the ventral face against a branch of wood. This theory has yet to be

corroborated by new tests in order to rule out the possibility of a retouching tool made of hard

animal material.

Figure 8: comparison between an archaeological notch (blade n°89) and an experimental notch, produced by

pressing the ventral face edge of the bladelet on a hazel branch.

Notched bladelets just like any other!

The micowear data obtained from the Beg-an-Dorchenn notched bladelets adds to our previous

microwear studies on Late Mesolithic sites (Gassin et al. 2013). The first analysis that we conducted

on notched blades involved a corpus of 42 used Montbani bladelets at nine sites from North

Belgium to South-East France dated to the Late Mesolithic. The analysis of the Beg-an-Dorchenn

material confirms and supports the body of interpretations that had been put forward previously.

Our research has shown that the technical choices which led to the manufacture and the use of these

notched bladelets maintained a techno-functional consistency throughout the Late Mesolithic

despite stylistic territories and chronological developments. Bladelets and blades chosen to be

retouched, were always extracted by indirect percussion and selected from among the most regular

blanks. In addition, there are not many pieces that have cortical zones. In the case of Beg-an-

Dorchenn, the pattern observed in other sites is repeated. Because of the small size of the available

flint pebbles, a decrease in the quality of the production methods compared with typical Late

Mesolithic standards can be observed. Nevertheless, the knappers selected the more regular blanks

for their production of notched bladelets. It seems that the flakes, which were more numerous, were

not selected for use.

The retouching process also shows consistency. In every sample studied, bending scars obtained by

the pressure technique are the rule. This criterion, which is now worth testing in other datasets,

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seems a key element in the definition of the type of tool that we are interested in here. At Beg-an-

Dorchenn as well as on the other sites examined, some notches that go beyond this pattern still have

to be interpreted: are they badly re-sharpened tools, or technical pieces linked to the micro-burin

technique? In all cases, the knappers appear to have looked for the bending scar as a priority; it is

likely that this particular morphology has been chosen for a functional reason.

The suspected variety of the worked vegetal materials that we observed in the Beg-an-Dorchenn

assemblage can be found on several sites and should be confirmed by analysing more collections.

The scraping of rigid vegetal material (very marginal polish) remains the most widespread one (42

utilized zones), but the invasive abrasive traces, maybe linked to the stripping of plant fibres, are

present in at least three other assemblages (17 utilized zones). On the Essart site (Vienne, France)

especially, the hypothesis of altered polishes by chemical processes was suggested for these

abrasive traces, but it seems that, from now on, we should consider these types of traces to be

evidence of a specific activity.

In the end, the “Montbani” notch appears to have been a process intended to have a regular steep

edge, close to 90°, located on bladelets with thin cutting edges. This objective can be compared

with the one frequently displayed by burin blows in the Linear Pottery Culture of the Early

Neolithic Villeneuve-Saint-Germain group (V.S.G.) from the Paris Basin (Allard et al. 2004) or the

Southern Chasséen culture (Gassin et al. 2006). The fact that these notched bladelets and burins

were almost exclusively used to scrape plant material makes this parallel even more interesting.

In the present instance, the omnipresence of the traditional working of plants and wood with

Montbani bladelets shows once more the importance of these materials during the Mesolithic. The

use of these resources that had become abundant with global warming is well attested in Northern

Europe in a wetland context (e.g. Mertens 2000). However, out of these taphonomic “eldorados”,

use-wear analysis is often the only open door to an entire side of the hunter-gatherers’ technical

system. There are not many functional studies yet, but several analyses conducted in northern

Europe have allowed the recognition of tools that are often not retouched destined for the

transformation of plant material, from the Early Mesolithic to the last of the nomadic pottery

makers of the Swifterbant (Juel Jensen 1993, Van Gijn et al. 2001, Beugnier 2007, Guéret 2013).

The Montbani bladelets are therefore to be seen in a much wider context. It is still difficult to

understand if these emblematic tools are part of totally new operational sequences, linked with the

new lithic technological repertoire of the Late Mesolithic. However, it is unlikely that this

phenomenon is simply a reflection of the adoption of indirect percussion and pressure flaking.

During the 7th

millennium, innovation affects lithic production tradition as much as it affects the

ways of conceiving hunting weapons and other types of tools. The notched bladelets are an example

of these changes in lithic production. We have now to pursue the investigations, especially with

use-wear studies, to understand if this new type of tool is just anecdotic or in contrary an expression

of a whole system spreading far beyond stone tool production.

Functional studies in the Armorican Massif: it is not over yet!

In the 1980’s, discussions about the methodological reliability of use-wear analysis prompted

researchers to focus on the best-preserved collections in order to prove the relevance of their

observations. This situation often had the effect of instilling prejudices towards certain types of

preservation, such as white patina, being presented as an insurmountable obstacle. The example of

Beg-an-Dorchenn emphasises again the importance of evaluating the preservation of all datasets in

order to assess the traceological limits and possibilities of a collection. According to the issues

being investigated or the type of traces searched for, the level of taphonomic impact needs to first

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be assessed. As has been shown here, it is possible to extrapolate microwear information from

lightly patinated flint.

The aims of this study were modest from the start, owing to obvious biases and the condition of the

artefacts. However, in the end, the findings justify closer analysis of even poorly preserved

collections. The quantity of data remains limited, but it can be argued that the level of information

extracted contributes as much as datasets that are in much better condition; especially regarding

understandings of the spread of technical traditions during the Late Mesolithic. For Brittany, the

analysis rekindles the hope of applying functional approaches to collections that may have been

considered unworthy of analysis. It is important to remember that notched bladelets remain just a

small fragment of the lithic industries. Without denying the taphonomic reservations, the use-wear

approach certainly has more information to provide on Mesolithic lifestyles in Brittany.

The shortage of raw material in the Armorican Massif compelled the Mesolithic people to adapt

their lithic system (Marchand and Tsobgou Ahoupe 2009). This regional feature, even though better

described through technology studies, still needs to be understood at a functional level. What is the

status difference between flint and alternative raw materials? Do the poorer-quality raw materials

have consequences for the rest of the technical system? It is now important to identify the Late

Mesolithic collections that present the best potential to begin a more comprehensive microwear

study.. In parallel with the Beg-an-Dorchenn study, limited tests on the Ty-Nancien site, a few

kilometres distant, have already enabled the observation of comparable use-wear traces on material

that isbetter preserved.

As for shell middens in particular, there are still many things to learn from Beg-an-Dorchenn, but

the future of research now lies at the Beg-Er-Vil site (Quiberon, Morbihan, Figure 1). Also explored

on a small surface in the 1980’s by Kayser, this site has been excavated since 2012 and is being

studied now by a research team bringing about 18 specialists together. A wide-scale functional

approach, in close collaboration with technology, is already planned in the next several years.

Acknowledgements

This article was translated by Emilie Condron, thanks to the financial support of the MSHB

(Maison des Sciences de l’Homme de Bretagne), within the framework of the seminar “Before the

Revolution” (dir. G. Marchand). We would like to thank Nicolas Naudinot for his last corrections.

References

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