Neandertal Lithic Industries at La Quina

1. An Archaeological History and Early Interpretations of La Quina

The Middle Paleolithic site of La Quina lies at the base of a northwest-facing steeply stepped rise of cliffs in the Coniacien (lower Cretaceous) limestone on the southeast edge of the drainage of the small Voultron River about 1.5 km to the southwest of the village of Le Pontaroux, in the Commune of Gardes-Le Pontaroux, Département de la Charente, in southwest France (at approximately 45° 30’ 32” N, 0° 17’ 42” E). In the regional topography of gently rolling hills and small valleys, the prominence of cliffs directly above the site stands out as a unique physiographic feature. Although the landscape at present is dominated by farmland and frequent stands of deciduous forest, soils tend to be relatively thin, and the bedrock limestone is seldom deeply buried. The small Voultron watershed upstream from the site, covering an area of about 20 km2 , comprises the northernmost extent of the Dordogne River system in this region, via the Nizonne, Dronne, and Isle rivers. Thus, while La Quina is now politically included within the southeastern edge of Charente , it is geographically at the northern edge of the major drainage basin that includes the relatively abundant paleolithic sites of the Périgord. The best known of those sites, however, are considerably more distant from La Quina than a group of important Middle Paleolithic sites that lie within 20–30 km to the north and west in the drainages of the Charente River, including the classic sites of La Chaise-de-Vouthon and Le Placard in the valley of the Tardoire, as well as Petit Puymoyen in the valley of the Eaux-Claires, and Châteauneuf-sur-Charente (Figure 1.1). The Early History of the Site The discovery of the site and its early exploitation are summarized in the publications of Dr. Léon Henri-Martin (Martin 1907b, 1923b)1 and André Debénath and JeanFran çois Tournepiche (1992: 157–164). Surface evidence of an extensive paleolithic “station” was discovered in the locality in 1872 by Gustave Chauvet and a Mr. Vergnaud (Chauvet 1897), most probably during Chauvet’s excavations of that year in front of some small shelters at the east end of the site above the lower cliff scarps. These shelters appear to be those shown as the “Ptes. Grottes” on the later site plans (e.g., Martin 1923a: 13; Henri-Martin 1958, fig. 2). In this initial period of work at the site, Chauvet distinguished two separate localities: a station nord with Mousterian artifacts and a station sud with Upper Paleolithic artifacts (Martin 1907b: 4). These localities were later designated the station amont (“upstream”) and the station aval (“downstream”), respectively, by Dr. HenriMartin (1909b: 177). It is the station amont with which this volume is concerned. Subsequent to the discovery and initial explorations, the construction of a road along the south and east side of the Voultron drainage between Villebois-Lavalette and the small village of Le Pontaroux in 1881 exposed the archaeological richness of the lower slope deposits of the station amont below the cliffs that rose across the stream from the old mill of La Quina. The abundance of large animal bone in reddish sediments gave rise to local stories about the remains of a battle between giants that had soaked the earth with blood (Martin 1923b: 6). News of the discovery of the presence of numerous obvious large flaked paleolithic artifacts in association with the bones “spread like the wind, and all the collectors of the region came to La Quina to gather an abundant harvest in the terraces and in the rough trench made for leveling the road” (p. 8; translation mine). Extensive excavations at the site in the decade following its exposure were conducted by Vergnaud, Fournier, Condamy, and especially Chauvet and Ramonet (Martin 1907b: 4). The goal of most of this activity was primarily the collection of large symmetrical , heavily flaked artifacts and remarkable paleontological specimens. The primary technique of excavation appears to have involved scraping away the most promising artifact-bearing deposits from frontal exposures with heavy crochets until the undercutting of overlying sediments required their removal (Figure 1.2a). Although Chauvet’s notes included schematic stratigraphic sec1 An Archaeological History and Early Interpretations of La Quina 2 Neandertal Lithic Industries at La Quina tions (e.g., Figure 1.2b), there was no systematic effort to define the full stratigraphic sequence at the site (Martin 1923b: 8). The Early Excavations of Dr. Henri-Martin The individual who, without question, was...