Techno-functional approach to a technological breakthrough: The Second Mesolithic of the Montclus rockshelter (Gard, France)
Abstract
In the sixth millennium cal BC, in southern France, the spread of blade and trapeze industries ended a high stability of the technical and economic choices of Epipalaeolithic (Azilian) and First Mesolithic (Sauveterrian) groups. With the Second Mesolithic, the lithic technical system, technical standards, but also the conceptual scheme were substantially modified. To better characterize and understand these changes, a new technofunctional analysis was carried out on the lithic industries of Montclus rockshelter (Gard, France), which offers a significant stratigraphic sequence covering the whole of the Mesolithic (Montclusian facies of the Sauveterrian and Castelnovian). In this paper, we discuss some aspects of this technological breakthrough in the organization of lithic production and functional behaviour during the Second Mesolithic. We will also discuss the technological evolution of the production at the beginning of the Castelnovian sequence.