Lower and middle Pleistocene human settlements in the Middle Loire River Basin, Centre Region, France
Introduction
The Middle Loire River Basin, in France, corresponds roughly to the administrative limits of the Centre Region (Fig. 1). Since 1981, systematic archaeological surveys have inventoried the fossil alluvial formations of the main tributaries of the Loire River and characterized them. Prehistoric sites were located and excavated, involving multi-disciplinary studies, in order to locate them in the chronological and palaeoenvironmental framework of the Quaternary. This research was carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture (Regional Direction of the Prehistoric Antiquities; then Regional Service of Archaeology) and the Department of Prehistory of the National Museum of Natural History of Paris, with the assistance of the District Council of the Centre Region and of the Indre and Loir-et-Cher Departements.
This article presents the results of work undertaken in the valleys of three tributaries of the Loire River in Centre Region: the Creuse, Cher and Loir Rivers. Each valley was studied along approximately 100 km and was subdivided in several sectors according to the geological characteristics of the different bedrock.
During Lower and Middle Pleistocene times, the general uplift of the Paris Basin and the succession of the glacial–interglacial cycles have allowed the continuation of valley incision and the deposit of alluvial formations, of which many remnants are preserved on the slopes. According to the defined sectors, the surveys made possible to inventory the remnants from five to eleven alluvial formations deposited successively (Despriée et al., 2003, Despriée et al., 2004). Archaeological sediments with industries related to Mode 1 or with handaxe industries (Mode 2) were discovered in some of these alluvial formations, locally preserved on the slopes of the present-day valleys.
The main part of these formations contains artifacts typologically ascribable to Early, Lower, and Middle Palaeolithic. To date, 80 prehistoric sites are thus inventoried in these various sectors of the three valleys. Their geological or archaeological situations were commonly specified during field surveys or excavations. Such multi-field excavations and multi-proxy studies are in process in fourteen sites (Fig. 1) (see for example Sun et al., in press, Marquer, 2009). One of the priorities was to locate these fluvial formations within the chronological Quaternary framework, despite the lack or the rarity of suitable materials such as carbonate or paleontological remains. The Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating method was developed and systematically applied on optically bleached quartz (Voinchet, 2002, Voinchet et al., in press). Approximately 300 samples were taken from the various observed remnants, frequently on specific new sections from the substratum to the top of the alluvial formations.
Section snippets
Early Paleolithic sites
Evidence of the presence of Mode 1 lithic assemblages were recognized in the remnants of alluvial formations preserved in the valleys of the Creuse River (sector “Massif Central”), the Cher River (Sector “Berry”) and the Loir River (sector “Haut-Vendômois”) (Despriée et al., 2009).
Prehistoric sites with Handaxes (Mode 2)
Since the middle of the XIX century, handaxes have been described in the Middle Loire River Basin in relation with alluvial deposits of the Loir River (Bourgeois, 1865), Cher River (Saint-Venant, 1889) and Creuse River (Hubert, 1905). At the beginning of the XX century, these tools were locally the subject of systematic inventories in some districts (Florance, 1922). The number of artifacts collected is locally large, but the stratigraphical conditions of their discoveries are very imprecise,
Discussion
In the various studied sectors, the fluvial systems include 5–11 alluvial stepped formations. The periglacial characters of these deposits are apparent. After the incision, soliflucted deposits are almost constantly present. Raw materials come from the geological levels of the bedrock or from older alluvial formations. Both alluvia and bedrock are frequently cryoturbated. In the terraces deposited between 400 and 600 ka, the hiati of sedimentation are underlined by ice wedges or polygonal cells.
Conclusion
Numerous alluvial formations with periglacial characters were recognized in the valleys of three tributaries of the Middle Loire Basin, the Creuse, Cher and Loir Rivers. During the Quaternary, these rivers flowed into grabens induced by tectonics. In the rare preserved outcrops of the highest formations, some prehistoric localities of Early Palaeolithic (=Mode 1 industry) were discovered. ESR ages of these fluvial remnants are coherent with the geological observations and confirm the presence
Acknowledgements
Thanks to: 1) Professor François Sémah, Director of the Department of Prehistory of the national Museum of Natural History Paris, and Professor Henry de Lumley, Director of the Institute of Human Palaeontology Paris, for their continuous support to the various research projects carried out on the Palaeolithic settlements in Centre Region; 2) Ministry for Culture, subdirection of Archaeology, Direction of the Prehistoric antiquities and regional Department of the Archaeology of the Centre
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