Ethno-Archaeology and its Transfers: Papers from a session held at the European Association of Archaeologists Fifth Annual Meeting in Bournemouth 1999 9781841712697, 9781407353357

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BAR S983 2001  BEYRIES & PÉTREQUIN (Eds)  ETHNO-ARCHAEOLOGY AND ITS TRANSFERS

Ethno-Archaeology and its Transfers Papers from a session held at the European Association of Archaeologists Fifth Annual Meeting in Bournemouth 1999 Edited by

Sylvie Beyries Pierre Pétrequin

BAR International Series 983 9 781841 712697

B A R

2001

Ethno-Archaeology and its Transfers Papers from a session held at the European Association of Archaeologists Fifth Annual Meeting in Bournemouth 1999

Edited by

Sylvie Beyries Pierre Petrequin

Centre d'etudes Prehistoire, Antiquite, Moyen Age CNRS-UNSA

BAR International Series 983 2001

Published in 2016 by BAR Publishing, Oxford

BAR International Series 983 Ethno-Archaeology and its Tranifers

© The editors and contributors severally and the Publisher 2001 The authors' moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISBN 9781841712697 paperback ISBN 9781407353357 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781841712697 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 197 4 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd/ Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2001. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016.

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List of contributors Paul BENOIT Universite de Paris I, 9 rue Malher, 75004 Paris, France. Valerie BEUGNIER UMR 6636 du CNRS, batiment 1, 250 rue Albert Einstein, Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France. [email protected] Sylvie BEYRIES UMR 7055 du CNRS, Prehistoire et technologie, batiment 1, 250 rue Albert Einstein, Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France. [email protected]. Youri V. CHESNOKOV 145,11/1 kompositorov street, Saint Petersbourg 194355, Russia. Francine DAVID UMR 7041 du CNRS, MAE, 21 avenue de J'Universite, 92023 Nanterre cedex, France. [email protected] Vladimir I. D'IACHENKO 198020 San Petersbourg, Narvskiy Prospekt, 9 Kv. 52, Russia. Alexa DUFRAISSE UMR 6565 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Chrono-ecologie, Universite de Franche-Comte, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besan(on cedex, France. Philippe FLUZIN UMR 5060 du CNRS, Laboratoire de metallurgies et cultures, Universite de technologie de Belfort Montbeliard, 90010 Beffort cedex, France [email protected] Emilie GAUTHIER UMR 6565 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Chrono-ecologie, Universite de Franche-Comte, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besan(on cedex, France. Agnes GEi.BERT UMR 7041 du CNRS, MAE, 21 avenue de J'Universite, 92023 Nanterre cedex, France. gelbert@mea. u-paris IO.fr Jestis Emilio GONZALEZ URQUIJO Departamento de ciencias Hist6ricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros, s.n., 39005 Santander, Spain. [email protected] Olivier P. GOSSELAIN Section de Prehistoire, Africa Museum, 3080 Tervuren, Belgique. [email protected]. Eric HUYSECOM Departement d'anthropologie, Universite de Geneve Carouge, CH 1227, Suisse.

Juan Jose IBANEZ ESTEVEZ Departamento de Antropologia Social y Prehistoria, Universidad Aut6noma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. [email protected] Teresa JUDICE GAMITO Department of history and archaeology, University of Al Garve, 8000 Faro, Portugal. [email protected] Claudine KARLIN UMR du CNRS, MAE, 21 avenue de J'Universite, 92023 Nanterre cedex, France. karlin@mea. u-paris 10.fr Helene T. KIENON Universite de Paris I, 9 rue Malher, 75004 Paris. Yolaine MAIGROT UMR 6565 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Chrono-ecologie, Universite de Franche-Comte, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besan(on cedex, France. [email protected] Leonor PENA-CHOCARRO Laboratorio di Archeobiologia. Musei Civici di Como. Piazza delle Medaglie d'Oro I, 22100 Como, Italy. [email protected] Pierre PETREQUIN UMR 6565 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Chrono-ecologie, Universite de Franche-Comte, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besan(on cedex, France. Jean-Fran(ois PININGRE Service regional de J'archeologie, DRAC Franche-Comte, 7 rue Charles Nodier, 25043 Besan(on cedex, France. Vincent SERNEELS Institut de mineralogie, Universite de Fribourg Perolles, CH 1700, Suisse. Sergev A. VASIL'EV Institut for the Material Culture History, 18 Dvortsovaia Enb. 191186, Saint Petersburg, Russia. [email protected] Olivier WELLER UMR du CNRS, MAE, 21 avenue de J'Universite, 92023 Nanterre cedex, France. [email protected] Lydia ZAPATA Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3DZ, USA [email protected]

Ethno-archaeology and its transfers Edited by S. Beyries,P Petrequin Bournemouth, 1999

Contents Foreword ..................................................................................................................................................... Ui 1, a Palaeolithic site in Siberia: an ethno-archaeological

5

approach

SylvieBEYRIES, SergevA. VASIL'EV,FrancineDAVID, VladimirI. DIACHENKO, ClaudineKARLIN, Youri V.CHESNOKOV .............................................................................................

9

Harvesting without sickles. Neolithic examples from humid mountain areas

Juan JoseIBANEZ ESTEVEZ,JesusEmilio GONZALEZ URQUIJO,LeonorPENA-CHOCARRO, Lydia ZAPATA, ValerieBEUGNIER ......................................................................................................... 23 Salt springs exploitation without pottery during Prehistory. From New Guinea to the French Jura

PierrePETREQUIN, Olivier WELLER,Emilie GAUTHIER, Alexa DUFRAISSE,Jean-Franr;ois PININGRE .......................................................................................... 37 Technical and functional study of ethnographic

(Irian Jaya, Indonesia) and archaeological

(Chalain and Clairvaux, Jura, France, 30th century BC) tools made from boars' tusks

YolaineMAIGROT .................................................................................................................................. 67 Ethnoarchaeological

study of ceramic borrowings: a new methodological approach applied

in the middle and upper valleys of the Senegal River

Agnes GELBERT ..................................................................................................................................... 81 Globalizing Local Pottery Studies

OlivierP GOSSELAIN ............................................................................................................................ 95 Reconstitution of the operating chain in Paleo-iron and steel metallurgy from the archaeological remains: comparative studies with the African ethno-archaeology

PhilippeFLUZIN, VincentSERNEELS,EricHUYSECOM,Paul BENOIT, Helene T. KIENON ................ 113 Oss6noba (Faro, Portugal) an island in the Lagoon

TeresaJUDICEGAMITO .........................................................................................................................123

Ethno-archaeology and its transfers Edited by S. Beyries,P Petrequin Bournemouth, 1999

Foreword Ever since the emergence of ethnoarchaeological theory and the formulation of hypotheses for interpreting the past based upon ethnographic analyses of the present, archaeologists are caught in a crossfire, On the one hand, there is an obvious risk of ethnocentrism in archaeological interpretation, if reference is made solely to western cultural prejudices. "Le caractere "scientifique" des sciences de l'Homme ne peut s'affirmer que par des decentrements voulus du chercheur par rapport aux categories culturelles spontanees de sa propre societe" (M. Godelier, 1999, CNRS magazine, 119/120 : 20). However, the price to pay then becomes a true self-criticism of the methodology used in the analysis and interpretation of archaeological documents. In this background, the ethno-archaeological model is nothing but a work hypothesis that is tested on the living, and can temporarily alleviate scientific imagination constrained by a cultural context and the researcher's personal experience. On the other hand, as is the case for A. LeroiGourhan, the basic comparative method between ethnographical situations and the past might paralyse scientific imagination, if it tries to explain all phenomena by analogy, without using other sets of evidence. We know this method to be unsuitable. Since the ethno-archaeology founders' days, when everything was theoretically explained by the interaction of social factors, techniques and environmental constraints (Binford, 1968) or by common behavioural "rules" (Schiffer, 1976), or ideological representations of social relations (Hodder, 1982), ethno-archaeology has gone through the ordeal by fire and the test of facts. Hopes of setting up cross-cultural laws have faded

away and nowadays nobody would venture to claim that analogy alone is able to generate convincing evidence for interpreting the past. Nevertheless, whether consciously or not, these research methods based upon models are used in all domains of the archaeological research, according to a standard approach in the natural sciences, where present day and experimentation remain the only possible starting point for investigating the past. However, as is true for natural sciences, ethno-archaeological research now aims to put forward new hypotheses from known present situations, to test them in regard to past situations using all possible analytical processes and finally crosscheck them with life-size archaeological experimentation to verify, modify or replace working hypotheses. Such a triple-pole process has become standard in approaching techniques; in many ways, it has now freed itself from the AngloSaxon founders' schools of ethno-archaeology, where comparison with archaeological facts and experimental examination have too often played a poor role. During the 5th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeology ( 14th 19th September 1999), we did not wish to favour the theoretical aspect of transfers from the present to the past. Indeed, in our opinion, one must attempt to explain it for each and every archaeological application. Neither did we wish to favour the theoretical approaches over what's current, which would not take into account what seems essential to us in the ethno-archaeological approach: review of current hypotheses by comparing them with archaeological facts. Thus, the strong impact on the selection of works included in this collection, with a majority of studies on techniques and "chaines opera-

5

ETHNO-ARCHAEOLOGYAND ITS TRANSFERS

toires". It is certainly not a mere coincidence that, in the best Leroi-Gourhan and Haudricourt tradition, French-speaking archaeologists have been the most numerous contributors. Indeed, it seems that it is in the "chaines operatoires" and technical trends that the test on ethno-archaeological hypotheses appear the most efficient in throwing light on archaeological situations, while bearing in mind that these technical processes themselves reflect the social ways. Sylvie Beyries and her collaborators' work on hide processing, shows how a present-day model, provided by Indians from Canada and Siberia, can be used in order to recognise "chaines operatoires", types of tools and wear marks using the spatial distribution of artefacts. The Ul 1 site in Siberia, dating back to 24000-22000 BP, can then be directly interpreted with help from the models; it shows a drying method for hides, tools with narrow-cutting-edge for scraping average-thickness skins and long tools for scraping or softening large specimens. This easy-to-use ethno-archaeological procedure enabling an immediate return to the past is a robust method. Examples of harvesting techniques and cereals processing, particularly the description of their environmental and economic implementation conditions, observed in the Asturias (mountainous area in Northern Spain) and in Jbala (west of Rif chain in Morroco) by Juan Jose Ibanez and his collaborators give some very relevant pieces of information to answer questions raised by the Neolithic sites of the Spanish Cantabrian Mountains and the French Jura, where harvesting has been detected but not the use of sickles. Pierre Petrequin, Olivier Weller and co-workers present a study on materials that only left indirect and hardly decipherable evidence: preparation of salt without evaporation in ceramic containers. The selected ethnographic model is from New-Guinea. Water-absorbent plants are submerged in brine and then burnt; salt crystals are collected after combustion. The archaeological transfer is carried out in FrancheComte over a long period from the Neolithic to Iron Age. Regular probes give evidence of high ash build-ups related to that activity and palynological analyses show variations in the samples of fuel. A link can then be drawn between popula-

tion density and salt production. From the diversity and range of the documented methods, it can be assumed that salt extraction played an important role in social life as well as in exchanges. Yolaine Maigrot delivers one of the first functional studies on tools made from wild boar tusks. After a thorough bibliographic work, she has developed an experimentation protocole consolidated by the observation of ethnographic items from Indonesian tribes (Irian Jaya). Thanks to the well-elaborated documentation, the team was prepared to accurately analyse the archaeological artifacts from the Chalain and Clairvaux Neolithic sites. The results are not congruent with the ethnographic models under study. This is one of the characteristics of an ethno-archaeological approach of techniques: eliminate hypotheses and thus narrow the choice between the remaining potential hypotheses. Olivier Gosselain puts forward a global approach to African pottery. Most of the previous works had emphasised the variety of styles and design but not found an obvious underlying common point. He has worked in Southern Cameroon, focusing on technical behaviours and present-day "chaines operatoires" in pottery production. In this roughly studied domain, it came about that the discreet technical properties of pottery, mostly non-related to form and design, offer entirely different spatial distribution, related to processes and networks of knowledge transfer. Pottery mounting techniques are spread by individuals through networks that can be recognised in the past, and used to reconstruct some migration and historical processes of acculturation. This new approach, insisting on some stability in techniques as opposed to the rapid change in form and design styles, has an important heuristic value. In a different light, Agnes Gelbert addresses technological borrowing by means of a systemic approach of pottery manufacture in the Upper and Middle Senegal Valley. Three such phenomena have been selected. One concerns the fuel choice and the remaining two relate to vessels mounting techniques, the manufacture of moulded pots' bases and the shaping of the body using clay rings. The selected examples clearly show that borrowed phenomena are complex and

6

FOREWORD

do not all depend on a unique procedure; the change in fuel only intervenes following total immersion in another group, whereas the change in mounting techniques can be brought about by indirect contact. Transforming ore is a very ancient African tradition. The study of this subject carried out in the Mali and Burkina Faso communities enables both a functional reconstruction and an environmental approach in the broadest sense of this word. Philippe Fluzin provides a detailed and relevant illustration of the complementarity between archaeometric methods that help evaluating intrinsic parameters of the studied items and the ethno-archaeology observation that document the importance of the know-how and tradition in the resulting iron and steel quality. This original study opens new vistas on the vast complexity of this craft. Judice Gamito gives the only example, in this scientific meeting, of the ascendancy of an environmental determinism, in direct agreement with certain Anglo-Saxon concepts on ethno-archaeology. The study, beyond chronology, of a set of lagoons, in Oss6noba (Faro, Portugal), is proposed as a local ethno-historical model, where the sea and coastal topography would account for both attractive dwelling areas and true natural barriers, favoured by its abundant fish and shellfish resources. However, the value of this model

must be questioned since social facts have hardly been taken into account. On the whole, these different approaches on how to study techniques show that ethno-archaeology is a very open heuristic field provided the investigations are targeted with clearly defined research goals. From our point of view, the evolution of the discipline depends on sharpening our conceptual tools in order to interpret archaeological record that does not speak for itself. As for the artifacts and tools found, the study of techniques appears to be an indirect way of approaching social relations so often considered out of the reach of archaeology. Models with universal values and neo-evolutionist interpretation of societies' history at first dictated by a kind of imperialism in Western and Eastern countries are no longer valid. The ethno-archaeological question could then become the thin wire sustaining the extent of the historical depth of present-days societies under ethnologist study. Displayed pessimism about the value or the interest of such reconstruction of the past must not be a lure; the archaeologist is limited to doing research into societies through technical changes, spatial structure system modifications and cultural scenarios, that ethnology has not yet actually attempted to explain due to lack of historical distance. This may be where both disciplines can come to an agreement in the future.

7

8

Ethno-archaeology and its transfers Edited by S. Beyries,P Petrequin Bournemouth, 1999

Uil, a Palaeolithic site in Siberia: an ethno-archaeological approach Sylvie BEYRIES, Sergev A. VASIL'EV, Francine DAVID, Vladimir I. D'JACHENKO, Claudine KARLIN, Youri V. CHESNOKOV

Abstract. Hide processing is observed in the majority of prehistoric site. Most often, the remains relevant to this activity are not very clear. In the site of Ui, situated in the upper Ienissei Basin, dated about 24000-22000 BP, an original stone construction, oval-shaped made of vertical animal ribs, and particular hearths could be related to hide activities. Moreover, lithic usewear analysis indicated different activities on hide. An ethno-archaeological investigation, based on North Canadian Indian tribes (Athapaskan and interior Salish) and on examples chosen from North Siberia (Dolgan) help us interpret the site in terms of production process: is there only one production process? Are there different sequences of production process represented? What kinds of skin are produced? ...

Introduction

It should be noted that hide processing is always present in lithics and bones assemblages (Sidera, 1989; Philibert, 1993; Beyries, 1996, Texier et al., 1996). These sets of tools are the most permanent element. Thanks to studies carried out on them, we could try to come up with a technical system. The units analysed are not homogeneous: tools are made of bone or stone, their size could be large or narrow, the working edges, straight or convex, the disposition of usewear traces on the edges, central or decentred (fig. 1). All these variations lead us to ask a lot of questions in relation to tools, the context of utilization, and the remains of the different stages of this activity (Beyries, 1997). In order to understand the meaning of this variability, an archaeologist needs to study different techniques of use and their conditions and properties. This evidence could be obtained in different ways: by the standard experimental approach oriented toward the reconstruction of possible process. This approach can be useful to understand the importance

The behaviour and social organisation of prehistoric societies could be reconstructed through the analysis of technical activities. In which case, we must understand gestures and restore them in their socio-economical context. The hide processing attracted the attention of prehistorians studying different ages from the Palaeolithic to Neolithic in connection with clothes manufacture. The remarkable discovery of the frozen body in the Alps (Olzat) in 1991, dated ca. 3,000 BC, is worthwhile mentioning. The majority of the clothes and accessories of the man were made of leather (Spindler, 1997; Egg, 1997). This exceptional discovery gave important elements of reflections to research concerning the hide processing in prehistory. Hides of different animals have been used: wild animals such as bears and deers, and domestic species such as goats and cows were used. Also hides were process in different ways according to the use they were designed for: hat, belts, coat, quiver, etc.

9

S. BEYRIES, S.A. VASIL'EV, F. DAVID ET AL.

Uil, presentation of the site The site of Uil is located on the right bank of the Ui River, 500 m from the Maininskaia hydroelectric power station on the upper course of Ienisei (south Siberia). It was located in remnants of the largely destroyed, 23 to 25 m terrace, 500 m upstream from the Ui river mouth. Excavations carried out in 1981, 85 and 86 revealed the following stratigraphy. The base of the terrace built of slates is overlaid with rubbles and clods (colluvial deposit), followed by the channel alluvium, flood plain and cut-off channel facies. In the upper portion of the cross section one can see a complex interstatification of the flood plain and channel facies of alluvium, containing two living floors. Lower, or second, cultural layer of Uil consist of three habitations horizons and was found at a depth of about 3M in periglacial alluvial deposit with enormous traces of ice wedges. In this paper we shall discuss the second habitation horizon of Layer 2, which is dated ca. 22,000 to 17,000 BP. The faunal assemblage of this layer is dominated by Asiatic wild ass, bison and Siberian ibex, ibex; there are also horse, red deer, hare, fox, marmot, wild yak. The assemblages differ from the megafauna of the Final Pleistocene occurrences in absence of elk, roe deer, and scarcity of red deer. Lithic industry consisted of 851 pieces with low percentage of formal tools (4,8%, which means 41 pieces). The industry is dominated by endscrapers on blades and rounded flakes (24% of tools). These tools could be divided into two groups: small pieces (less than 3 cm long) and larger ones (longer than 5 cm). It is this group of tools which will be take in consideration in this paper. There are also splintered pieces, retouched bladelets, small points, sidescrapers, retouched flakes, denticulated and notched pieces, etc. In addition to lithic, fragment of an antler point and a retouched bone tool on a broken bone and a perforated tooth-pendant were recovered. Several structural features were observed from the excavation. Such features include stone slab concentrations, boulders arranged in a circle and a light, bury hut with a slab-lined hearth in the

a

b C

d

O

1 cm

L...i.....J

Fig. 1. Tools used for hide processing with different morphology. a. flint scrapper from Kokoreva, siberia{Abramova excavation);

b. flint blade from Djei'toun, central asia (Masson excavation); c. bone defleshing instrument from Lundar, Manibota (Steinbring excavation); d. bone scraper fro Djei'toun (drawing M Ballinger).

of intrinsic properties of an implement (weight, dimensions, form, etc); observation of real context: in this case it is possible to observe extrinsic variables like: socio-economical environment, needs, acquisition space, working space, traces on the earth, know-how etc. (Beyries, 1993, 1995, 1997). The last approach seems to be more powerful. It could give us the opportunity to tackle the technical activity as a whole with all its complexity. The analysis of data allows to go beyond the archaeological interpretation, for example: better understanding of the process used thanks to a comparison between archaeological and ethnological remains, or checking if all the production steps have been made on site or just some sequences of it. In this paper we compare the remain from the upper Palaeolithic site of Uil with ethnological observation of two groups who live Canada and one group who lives in Siberia.

10

Uil. A PALAEOLITHICSITE IN SIBERIA

centre. But what is particularly interesting is an oval-shaped structure formed by 21 fractured ribs of herbivores (probably, bison, Asiatic wild ass, and Siberian ibex). These ribs (9 to 27 cm long) were driven into the ground vertically or at an angle. The distance between ribs varies from 5 to 15 cm while two ribs located in the southern part of the structure are separated by distances of 60 and 80 cm. This feature could be interpreted as a device for drying skins (fig. 2). In addition there were two charcoal spots located to the East and West from the oval-shaped structure. Unfortunately, the charcoals were not identified.

Fig. 2. Uil, structure organisedwith herbivoreribs straight on theground.

The ethnological observations

InteriorSalish

Below we shall describe three procedures. Two of them were used by peoples of North-Western Canada: Interior Salish and Athapaskan. The third one is related to the Koriaks group of Eastern Siberia.

Villages studied are located on the Canadian plateau westwards from the Rockies (Richard, Rousseau, 1987). This area is covered by boreal northern forest. Till the 19th century the inhabitants of the are a were half-sedentary fishers and hunter-gatherers with diversified economy (Drake-Terry, 1989; Hayden, 1992; Beyries, 1997). Various floral resources were exploited in different seasons for food and crafts. Roots, bulbs, stems, leguminous plants, pods, flowers, berries were collected for food. Various crafts included manufacture of baskets, totems, boxes and bark canoes, fibber clothes. Exploited territories were as large as 1.000 km 2 (Turner, 1992). Salmon fishing is the most important activity nowadays. Fish is essentially the economic base of the population: fish flesh is consumed while grease is extracted from bones and eggs, and fish skin was used before for making bottles (Teit, 1906; Romanov, 1985, 1992; Alexander, 1992; Kew, 1992; Beyries, 1995). Mostly cervids are hunted, moose and red deer are abundant in this forested area (Kennedy, Bouchard, 1992). Till the beginning of our century other animals were also caught: marmot, hare, porcupine, bobcat, squirrel, etc. Hide processing has only little importance now. Some women are occupied with domestic manufacture of moccasins and traditional clothes for feasts. Earlier this activity had important economic and social implications during the practice of potlatch.

Group presentation

TheAthapaskan The groups under study inhabit the piedmont of rocky mountain area on the elevation 250 m. This area is covered by northern boreal forest. In the past, the Indians were hunter-gatherers with low level of sedentarity. The reservations are rich in hydrocarbons, which serve the base for economic self-independence. The traditional economy was based on hunting, the territories exploited occasionally were larger than 10.000 km 2. Traditional economy is based upon diet in relation with hunting. Hunted species include moose and red deer, caribou, ibex, beaver, wolverine, bear, etc. The economy was shaped by seasonal variations. Vegetal resources were slightly exploited; berries were consumed and bark was used for making dishes and baskets (Brody, 1988; Beyries, 1997). Now mostly women process hides for domestic production of moccasins.

11

S. BEYRIES, S.A. VASIL'EV, F. DAVID ET AL.

.

'·

· . '1-..\\ ll , )V •

I:. /

Fig. 3. Moose hide stretched on a big frame (3,5 m side) (Canada) (drawing M Ballinger).

TheKoriak

of a group life, from birth to death). Only women, with the exception of saddle manufacture, execute hide processing.

The Koriaks inhabited mostly the northern part of Kamtchatka. They inhabited both tundra and forest sites along rivers. The population now is less than 10.000 persons. The Koriaks are characterised by two different and complementary life styles: inhabitants of maritime territories hunted sea animals or are sedentary fishers, while interior peoples were nomadic reindeer herders. Today families are sedentary, their occupation is river fishing (salmon) and hunting in the vicinity (bear, elk), only shepherds conduct reindeer herds. Vegetal resources are exploited for food and technical needs. The traditional Koriak culture is essentially based upon reindeer exploitation: be it technically (the Koriak showed the most elaborated skin treatment among northern peoples) , socially (the clan system is tied with reindeer) or symbolically (reindeer is associated with all stages

Descriptions of techniques

TheAthapaskan The first stages of the treatment, defleshing and dehairing, take place on a frame (fig. 3). The size and configuration of the frame depends on the type of skin treated (moose, roe deer, beaver, etc.). These devices is supported by trees and wedged by sticks. Defleshing is mostly applied to fresh skins. If the skin is unsuitable for immediate treatment, it is left to dry and then soaked again. Later it is put on a frame the size and the form of which depend on the skin size. If a medium-sized skin is treated

12

Uil. A PALAEOLITHICSITE IN SIBERIA

a

3cm I

Fig. 4. Toothedflesherused for defleshinghide stretched on a frame (drawingM Ballinger).

(beaver, roe deer) , a craftsman stands facing the frame. If bigger skins (moose) are treated he or she must sit over the device. Defleshing is executed with a bone tool made of red deer of moose metapodium. One of its extremities is beveled and later denticulated to facilitate the extraction of grease. The other end is prepared to joint the chord. This widespread implement is not substituted by metal equivalents (fig. 4). Dehairing is executed at the same frame, which is only turned. The operation needs perfect technical skills. For thick skins, stone tools were previously used whereas now often metal implements are used. These tools are heavy (500 to 550 g). The thick portions of a skin (neck, the portion along the vertebral column, back) could be carefully soaked. As we have mentioned above, the craftsman works sitting or kneeling. It allows it concentration of the weight of the body on the active end of the tool. The use-wear traces concentrated in the central portion of it (fig. 5) (Beyries, 1997).

b

Fig. 5. Scraping dry hide on a frame. a. position of the tool; b. organisationof useweartraces.

For skins of smaller size (beaver, roe deer, etc.) the tools are the same, but less heavy (300 to 350 g). Skins are fixed on light vertical frames (fig. 6). A craftsman works standing face to a skin. In this case hands are disjoined, so one hand is near the working edge of the tool, while the other holds a handle. Motions are linear along the skin, followed by half-circular motions with gradual lifting of the implement. During the contact between the working edge and the treated surface, a tool deviated from its axe, thus making lateral blows at the skin. Usewear traces are decentred along the edge (Beyries, 1997).

13

S. BEYRIES, S.A. VASIL'EV, F. DAVID ET AL.

Fig. 7. Hide drying under the sun during spring and summer (British Columbia}.

Fig. 6. Deer hide stretched on a small frame (British Columbia) (drawing M Ballinger).

All these operations are executed at specialised working places, which are regularly cleaned. From the archaeological point of view the operations rest only on few discernible traces. The fractured working edges of stone tools and occasional bone implements (if the latter are preserved in the soil) could be discovered. Wooden frames put on the ground also let no visible traces.

Fig. 8. Hide drying with fire place during fall (British Columbia}.

season, from June to July, a skin is put down on the ground to dry under the sun and after hung up on a stake for stretching (fig. 7). The stick is a trunk of a tree. From the archaeological point of view, these stages of the hide processing leave no traces. At Fall, a special fireplace is arranged, where half-dry poplar is used as fuel. It produces charcoal with minimal smoke and intensive heat. A tetrahedron structure is installed over the fire (fig. 8). The skin is alternatively placed at the structure during several minutes for drying and attached to the stake for stretching. There are a lot of stakes and numerous oval-shaped charcoal spots, which resulted from these operations.

After cleaning, the skin is soaked and dried. The next step is greasing, traditionally with the use of marrow. The timing depends on the thickness of the skin and the temperature. The procedure produces good quality leather. Villon (1889) reported that the skins tanned with marrow are stronger (35%), than those tanned with vegetal substances. Later softening takes place. It lasts for a number of days. The operation is executed in different ways according to seasons. During the warm

14

Uil. A PALAEOLITHICSITE IN SIBERIA

When the skin is practically dry, softening begins. Depending on the thickness of a skin and the object being made, the procedure could vary in length of time, from several hours to several days. Different procedures are used; the dried skin is stretched on a vertical frame. the craftsman works with cranted tool (the same as used in dehairing), standing face to the device. The skin of medium thickness (roe deer, small red deer) can be suspended at the transversal timber. The craftsman holds the skin in one hand and kneads fibers with the aid of the scraper by longitudinal motions. The last operation is smoking. A skin is disposed over a fire to allow tar to cover the skins, thus making it waterproof. A special fireplace is arranged for this operation. The hearth is deep (20 to 30 cm) to avoid the contact of the skin with occasional sparks, which could make holes in the skin, thus deteriorating it and reducing its price. The aim of this fireplace is not to produce heat but rather to produce long-term smoke.

Fig. 9. Fleshingbeams used for scraping wet hide with linear tools (Canada) (drawingM Ballinger).

TheSalish For some medium-sized skins, the skin process is supported by a wooden frame. We shall discuss the details of this method below. In general, in spite of the size of the skin, the soaked or fresh skin is processed when put on a wooden support with convex surface. Defleshing and dehairing are executed in the same way and with the same implements. Implements with straight or slightly convex edges are used; now we are dealing with metal tools, but bone tools are still in use. The support is disposed at an angle of 45° to the ground, sticks support it. The skin is on the support, the craftsman, sitting behind the device fixes it. Implements are used the same way as described above and the motions followed from top to bottom. In spite of widespread use of metal tools, bone implements are also utilized, these are made of moose ribs, radio-ulnae, scapulae (Tepper, 1994; Beyries, 1997). This procedure is executed with water nearby because a skin must be soaked during all the treatment (fig. 9 et 10).

LJGm

Fig. 10. Wet-scrapertools (elkmetapodium) (drawingM Ballinger).

After the skin is greased with brain, soaked, wringed and dried in the wind. The softening is the last operation. It is accomplished by putting through a reap and streching ... then smoked. In both groups, skins of small animals, like squirrels, are treated with pebbles (fig. 11). After disembowelling, the inner side is scraped

15

S. BEYRIES, S.A. VASIL'EV,F. DAVID ET AL.

Fig. 12. Coating of the hide with urine, reindeerexcrement and alder bark {Siberia).

Fig. 11. Scraping of squirrelhide with pebble (British Columbia) {drawingM. Ballinger).

with abrasive pebble to clean the surface from the rest of the flesh, at the same time softening the skin.

TheKoriak In general, this group used dehaired skins mostly for saddle manufacture. Rarely these are used for clothes protecting against the frost. Dried skin is treated with stone scrapers (basalt, quartz, jasper). Later the mixture of reindeer excrements and urine covers the cleaned skin. The skin is rested in humid milieu for one (for small-sized skins) or two (for larger ones) days. After that the mixture is carefully moved away and a new cycle of scraping takes place. One operation is considered as finished when the skins are prepared for bedding or tents, when skins are prepared for clothes all the operations are repeated. If a coloured skin is needed, the alder bark is added to the mixture mentioned above (fig 12). The skin lies on a flat wooden plank wedged by a stick driven into the ground. The plank rests

Fig. 13. Reindeerhide scrapingbeams {Siberia).

on the craftsman's hip. The angle between the plank and the ground varies according to the position of the working person. When small skins are processed (skins of young deer and leg skins are treated separately), the craftsman works sitting on the ground with stretched legs around the plank or kneeled; in this case the angle between the plank and the ground is acute (fig. 13). When the skin of adult animals are treated, the craftsman works sitting on a box supplemented by a pillow, his legs stretched under the plank. This position allows for making an obtuse angle with the ground. The skin is put on a wooden plank and fixed in the upper portion

16

Uil. A PALAEOLITHICSITE IN SIBERIA

between the edge of the plank and the body of a craftsman. Another skin could be put between the skin at work and the plank. The implement used has a convex working edge, 2 to 3 cm thick, and 3 or 5 cm wide. Light stone blades are used for small skins, while heavy pieces served for bigger ones. The blade is put into the centre of a straight wood handle. The craftsman holds the implement by two narrow ends of the handle. The tool is balanced at the centre, motions followed from the top of the skin to the bottom. Working angle is acute. Besides the central portion of the blade, a zone 2 to 3 cm long of the lower surface is in contact with the skin treated. Use-wear traces are thus localised in the central portion of the edge, but also at the lower surface of the blade near the edge (fig. 14). Cleaned skin is softened without any implements: the craftsman kneads the fibres using hands and/ or feet. To smoke a skin, it is put on the overhead cover of a hut on a fixed height between the top where skins are blackened by tar and the bottom.

a

Back to the archaeologicalsite Now we are returning to the Palaeolithic site in question trying to use the evidence discussed above for the interpretation of the occupation. We have described 3 processes. Each of them is characterised by specific tools or by specific organisation of usewear traces in relation with the functioning of the tools.

b

Fig. 14. Scraping dry hide on a beams.a. Position of the tool; b. organizationof useweartraces.

In what production process are we?

dimensions. The hold of the tool depends on the position of the fixed skin and the type of the handle; thus the use-wear traces are located mostly at the very edge of tools. The traces at the narrow tools are decentred, while larger implements demonstrated traces near the center of the edge. It depends of the size of the hide, the position of the body and the position of the hands. The techniques used by the Koriak is based on the use of tools with convex edges. Two sizes are used. But the usewear traces are always located on the edge and on the surface. The traces are centred on the working edge.

The lithic tool kit for skin processing from the Palaeolithic site consists of convex endscrapers. The technique used by the Salish could be definitely excluded because it is based up on the use of tools with straight working edges. The techniques used by the Athapaskan and the Koriak are based on the use of tools with convex edges. What are the arguments which can we used to determine the choice of the technique?. The techniques used by the Athapaskan are based on the use of convex working edges of two

17

S. BEYRIES, S.A. VASIL'EV, F. DAVID ET AL.

O

1 cm

L....J........J

Fig. 15. Scraperfrom Uil (drawingM. Ballinger).

18

Uil. A PALAEOLITHICSITE IN SIBERIA

Fig. 16. Hide stretchedon the ground to dry.

The observations of the lithic material of Uil show two different types of scrapers - narrow and wide and two patterns of the localisation of usewear traces (fig. 15); these are decentred on narrow tools, which could indicate the use of elbow handles, thus we could deduce being in presence of the techniques used by the Athapaskan, which is the only method which can produce this display of traces. On the contrary, large tools show a concentration of traces at the center. In the last case the microwear traces are just on the cutting edge, very few traces are present on the surface of the lower face. So, the angle between the working edge and treated surface is obtuse, thus we could exclude the use of the technique used by Koriak. These two classes of tools could be associated with different stages of skin treatment with the use of wooden frames. It should be noted that the first stage of the treatment, defleshing, is not represented at the site. The site did not produce bone tools suitable for this operation. In this case we could envisage the use of stone tools for this process. Meanwhile the analysed tools gave no evidence of traces of fresh skin processing and percussion traces (this last action is the only effective way at this stage when a skin is supported by a frame). Thus we assume that narrow implements were used for scraping of skins of medium thickness (red deer or roe deer), while larger tools served for scraping large hide or softening.

a

b

Fig. Ila. Ovalashes traceson the ground; b. oval ash traces after hide drying during fall (Canada).

Charcoal spots could be interpreted as traces of fireplaces which actually functioned during Fall for drying and initial stages of softening (fig. 17a-b). However it should be added that only the detailed micromorphological analysis could give us clues as to the characters of the fireplaces and the identification of charcoal. Skin preparation for storage and consequent final treatment as well as tanning of some skins also took place at the site. Nevertheless, during the period concerned (ca 22,000 to 17,000 BP) , the permanent cold did not allow this type of transfer.

It seems that the oval-shaped structure made of 21 ribs was used to put the hide to dry before the succeeding stages of processing (fig. 16). The dimensions of the structure (1.5 to 0.85 m) could indicate the processing of the skins of mediumsized animals (like red deer or roe deer) .

There are no traces of fireplaces for hide smoking; this procedure is not necessary; however these operations could take place in the inhabited space without particular fireplaces.

19

S. BEYRIES, S.A. VASIL'EV, F. DAVID ET AL.

Acknowledgments

Conclusion

This work would not have been possible without the financial aid of the French Ministry of Foreign Affair and

The method used has given us an opportunity to put forward a tentative reconstruction of the activities at the prehistoric site. Like in other methods the results obtained are essentially depending on the accuracy of raw data collected during the fieldwork. This assembling of data must be precise and oriented toward future laboratory studies, which seems to be the only way for such reconstruction. Only when all these conditions are met, can we cross all the elements for the final interpretations. Besides, when all these conditions are suitable, we dont' believe that ethno-archaeology, when it comes to techniques knowledge, can give just one solution. This method allows eliminated hypothesis. It proposes one or several possible solutions but we know that other solutions may be possible.

the aid of Prehistoire et Technologie

(ERA 28 du CRA du

CNRS), and l'Institut du Monde Polaire In the field. The help of Michelle Ballinger was invaluable. Thank you to Brian and Huguette Hayden, Keary Walde, for their continuing assistance and welcome. Thank you to the chiefs Attachie, Metechea and Peters for showing us hospitality on their lands. Without the know-how of Annie Acko, Jack Askoty, Jessie Attachie, Dave Bethke, Steven Eldhon, Marge Miller, Tamara Wilde, ..... nothing

would have

been possible. Thank you to Natalia, Zoi:a, Tania and all the women who shared whith us not only their know-how but also their scrappers. Last but not least, the welcome of Samuel Acko at Doig river and Maissie Metechea at halfway River makes up touching memories. The archaeologycal Uil

has been

supported

by the

excavation of

Central

European

University Research Support Scheme.

Bibliography

EDHOLM (S.), WILDER (T.), 1997.- Wet-scrapebraintanned buckskin. Paleoteclmics,Boonville, Californie. 307 p.

ABRAMOVA (G.), 1983.- Problemes relatifs a l'etude du Paleolithique dans la region de J'Ienisse·i (Siberie). L'Anthropologie 87 (2), p. 207-213.

HAYDEN (B.) (ed.), 1992.- A complex culture of the British Columbia plateau: traditional Stf'atf'imx resource use, B. Hayden ed., UBC press, 568 p.

ALEXANDER (D.), 1992.- Salmon availability, technology, and cultural adaptation in the Fraser river watershed In: A complex culture of the British Columbia plateau: traditional Stf'atf'imx resource use, B. Hayden ed., UBC press, p. 177221.

KENNEDY (D.I.D.), BOUCHARD (R.), 1992.- Traditional and contemporary land resource une by Ts'kw'aylaxw and Xaxli'p bands. In: A complex culture of the British Columbia plateau: traditional Stf'atf'imx resource use, B. Hayden ed., UBC press, p. 266-354.

BEYRIES (S.), 1993.- Experimentation archeologique et savoir-faire traditionnel: J'exemple de la decoupe du cerf. Techniques et Culture 22, p. 53-79.

KEW (M.), 1992.- Fraser Lillooet salmon fishing. In: A complex culture of the British Columbia plateau: traditional Stf'atf'imx resource use, B. Hayden ed., UBC press, p. 177221.

BEYRIES (S.), 1995.- Preparation et stockage des saumons sur la Fraser river (Colombie Britannique): evidence archeologiques. Anthropozoologica,n° 21, p. 123-130.

LEVIN (M.), POTAPOV (L.), 1964.- The peoples of Siberia. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 945 p. MASSON (0.), 1889.- Aboriginal skin-dressing- a study based on material in the U.S. National Museum. In: Report of National Museum. (Ed. Smithsoniam Institution) Government Printing Office, Washington, p. 533-589.

BEYRIES (S.), 1997.- Ethnoarcheologie: un mode d'experimentation. PrehistoireAnthropologie Mediterranneennes, t. 6, p. 185-196 (traduction fram;aise de !'article n° 39).

PHILIBERT (S.), 1993.- Quelle interpretation fonctionnelle pour Jes grattoirs ocres de la Baima Margineda (Andorre)? In: Traces et fonction: Jes gestes retrouves, P. Anderson, S. Beyries, M. Otte, H. Plisson ed., ERAUL 50, p. 131-138.

BEYRIES (S.), 1997.- Systemes techniques et strategies alimentaires: I' exemple de deux groupes d' indiens de Colombie-Britannique. In: "L'alimentation des hommes du Paleolithique", M. Patou-Mathis (ed.), ERAUL, n° 83, p. 73-92. DRAKE-TERRY (J.), 1989.- The same as yesterday: the lillooet chronicle the theft of their lands and resources,Lillooet Tribal Council, 340 p.

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RICHARD (T.H.), ROUSEAU (M.K.), 1987.- Late prehistoric cultural horizon on the canadian plateau, Department of archaeology, Simon Fraser University, publication n° 16, 102 p.

Uil. A PALAEOLITHICSITE IN SIBERIA

ROMANOFF (S.), 1985.- Fraser Lollooet salmon fishing? Northwest Anthropological Research Notes 19 (2), p. 119-160.

TEIT (J.), 1909.- The Shuswap indians, Memoirs, American Museum of Natural History, vol. 4, p. 443-756. TURNER (N.), 1992.- Plant resources of the Stl'atl'imx (frase river Lillooet) people: a window into the past In: A

SIDERA (I.), 1989.- Un complement des donnees sur Jes societes rubannees: J'industrie osseuse a Cuirry-les-Chaudardes, BAR international series, 208 p.

complex culture of the British Columbia plateau: traditional StJ'atJ'imx resource use, B. Hayden ed., UBC press, p. 405-

469. SPINDLER (R.), 1996.- Der Mann im Eis: neue Funde und Ergemisse, New-York, Springer-Verlag, 320 p.

VASILIEV (S. A.), 1990.- Paleolithique du bassin superieur de l'Ienissei (d'apres les fouilles pres du village de Ma·ina). L 'Anthropologie 94 (4), p. 763-782.

STEINBRING (J.), 1966.- The manufacture and use of bone defleshing tools. American Antiquity 31 (4), p. 575-581.

VASILIEV (S. A.), 1992.- The late Palaeolithic of yenisei: a new outline. Journal of World Prehistory, (6), p. 337-383.

STEINBRING (J.), 1992.- The lunar deflesher: a unique decorated bone tool. Manibota Archaeological Newsletter, 24 (1), p. 1-3.

VASILIEV (S. A.), 1993.- The upper palaeolithic of Nothem Asia. Current Anthropology, (34), p. 82-92.

TEPPER (L. H.), 1994.- Earth line and morning strar: nlaka 'pamux clothing traditions, Canadian museum of Civilisation, 137 p.

VASILIEV (S. A.), 1996.- The late Palaeolithic of Upper Yenisei Area (as represented by milticomponent sites near the Mania village). St Petersburg, Petersburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 224 p. (in Russian).

TEXIER (P.-J.), LEMORINI (C.), BRUGAL (J.-P.), WILSON (L.), 1996.- Une activite de traitement des peaux dans !'habitat mousterien de la Combette (Bonnieux, Vaucluse, France), Quaternaria Nova, (6), p. 369-392.

VILLON (A.), 1889.- Traite pratique de la fabrication des cuirs et du travail des peaux. Librairie polytechnique, Baudry et Cie editeurs, Paris, 616 p.

21

22

Ethno-archaeology and its transfers Edited by S. Beyries,P Petrequin Bournemouth, 1999

Harvesting without sickles. Neolithic examples from humid mountain areas Juan JoseIBANEZ ESTEVEZ,Jesus Emilio GONZALEZ URQUIJO, LeonorPENA-CHOCARRO,Lydia ZAPATA, ValerieBEUGNIER

Abstract. Neolithic in Cantabrian Spain and in the French Jura are both affected by the sickle paradox: the presence of cereal agriculture without any evidence of lithic sickles for harvesting it. Ethnography provides us with examples of the same situations in different areas around the world. We examine the factors that may be involved - ecogeographical condition, field size and social organization, straw use, type of cereal involved, height of the plant and harvesting skills - and we study various alternative techniques. Finally, we resort to archaeological data to suggest that (qui tar probably) some of these alternative techniques may have been used in the French Jura and in Cantabrian Spain during the Neolithic.

The archaeologicalproblem: Neolithic agriculturewithoutsickles

this argument (Cava, 1990: 101; Gonzalez Morales, 1992: 196 and 1996: 883). However, recent research has changed our view of this period. The existence of Neolithic groups from the beginning of the 5th millennium cal. BC, practicing agriculture at least from the end of this millennium, has been confirmed (Arias et al., 1999; Arias, Altuna, 1999; Gonzalez Urquijo et al., 1999; Zapata et al., in press). The use of adequate methods of archaeobotanical sampling has shown that these first Neolithic groups cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare) and emmer (Triticum diccocum) (Zapata et al., 1997; Zapata, 1999). In this new scenario, the absence of sickle elements is, at a first glance, paradoxical. Use-wear analysis of the Neolithic sites of Arenaza and Kobaederra (Biskay) did not allow us to find any of these tools (Ibanez, in press). For the rest of the Neolithic Cantabrian sites during the 5th millennium, the absence of glossed tools is also documented. Only from the Final Neolithic and Chalcolithic, in the 4th millennium, have some isolated examples of sickle elements been

Traditionally, the introduction of production economy on the Cantabrian coast of the Iberian Peninsula was considered to be a delayed phenomenon with only scarce impact on the local communities (Apellaniz, 1975a, 1975b; Cava, 1988: 62). According to this reading, the first manifestations of the Neolithic economy would have appeared at the end of the 5th millennium cal. BC, coinciding with the introduction of megalithism (Gonzalez Morales, 1992, 1996). From that moment on, the economy of the Cantabrian communities would have been based on animal husbandry, while the consolidation of agriculture would have taken place some millennia later. Ecological factors seemed to explain this delay, since it is a humid mountainous region, badly adapted for the cultivation of cereals (Jarman et al., 1982; Zvelebil, Rowley-Conwy, 1986; Cava, 1990; Gonzalez Morales, 1992). Moreover, the absence of sickle blades in the archaeological records of lithic tools backed up

23

]. ]. IBANEZ,

J. E. GONZALEZ

URQUIJO,

L. PENA-CHOCARRO

ET AL.

Bearing in mind that the number of archaeological sites where use-wear analysis of lithic tools has been carried out is, for the moment, limited, a first hypothesis might suggest that the absence of sickle elements could be due to a lack of exhaustive research. The absence of glossed tools on other archaeological sites in both regions could be explained by the fact that sickle elements were used for short periods, so macroscopic gloss was not developed. We think that this hypothesis is improbable. In our experiments of harvesting spelt with reproductions of Neolithic sickles in Asturias, macroscopic gloss appeared after short periods of work (3 or 4 hours). In fact, it is known that the humidity of the crops favours the formation of gloss (Gonzalez Urquijo et al., 1994). So the contrast of the lack of glossed tools in these humid regions with respect to other dryer areas, where glossed tools are common, speaks in favour of the relevance of the sickle paradox. Another hypothesis can be put forward: the cereal was transported from neighbouring areas. However, it seems difficult to believe that an important and continuous exchange of a voluminous product like cereals could take place in the Neolithic. Moreover, pollen analyses of the Jura sites have demonstrated that the fields to grow crops were located near the villages (Arbogast et al., 1995; Petrequin et al., 1998). The cultivation of cereals without sickles seems to indicate that other alternative methods of harvesting were used. Because of this, we have resorted to ethnographic information to establish the alternative methods and conditions in which the use of these methods is chosen.

observed, such as two elements from the Final Neolithic site of Ordunte, one element at the Chalcolithic level of Santimamifle and another one in the sepulchral Chalcolithic cave of Pico Ramos (Ibanez, Zapata, in press). Use-wear analysis of these objects indicates that they were used as sickle insertions. Neolithic lake dwellings of the French Jura are also affected by the sickle paradox. These sites are located on the fringes of the two lakes of Chalain and Clairvaux, within an isolated valley, at an altitude of 500 metres (Petrequin and Petrequin, 1988). In this region of middle mountains, small agricultural communities settled down on the lake shores from the Middle Neolithic till the Iron Age, a long chronological sequence stretching from c. 3900 BC to c. 800 BC (dates in solar years by dendrochronology). From the beginning, the subsistence of the groups was marked by shifting agriculture. The cultivated cereals were barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum aestivum/durum) and emmer (Triticum dicoccum). The pea (Pisum sativum) and two oily plants, flax (Unum usitatissimum) and opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), were also grown (Lundstrom-Baudais, 1989; Baudais et al., 1997). However, in the Jura as on the Cantabrian coast of Spain, sickle elements are very scarce. Four settlement sites were studied, dated from the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC: Clairvaux, la Motte-aux-Magnins V (3700-3600 BC); Chalain 3 VIII (3200 BC); Chalain 3 VI (3150 BC); Clairvaux, la Motte-aux-Magnins ABC (2980 BC) (Petrequin, 1989, 1997, 1998). Very well-preserved, these lake-dwellings provide a great deal of finds and between 200 and 900 flints of more than one centimetre. All this pieces were selected for use-wear analysis and among this group of artefacts, only one sickle-element has been identified with certainty (Beugnier, 1997). This tool, which consists of a long and very regular blade imported from Switzerland, is dated from the Middle Neolithic and was retrieved at la Motte-aux-Magnins V still fixed in a wooden haft. Concerning the other lustered implements recovered in the sites, it is assumed that they were involved in craft activities to collect wild plants such as reeds (Phragmites).

Resortingto ethnography The available ethnographic evidence shows a great variety of harvesting methods (Sigaut, 1978). The election of a particular technique depends mostly on the characteristics of the cereal to be harvested, whether the cereal is hulled or naked. In hulled wheats such as einkorn ( Triticum monococcum), emmer ( T diccocum) and spelt ( T spelta), the semibrittle rachis allows just the ears to be plucked, leaving the stems behind.

24

HARVESTINGWITHOUT SICKLES

A common method of harvesting spelt ( T. spelta) and emmer ( T. dicoccum)in some small villages of Asturias (northern Spain) is ear plucking. At the beginning of September, the ears are collected with the mesorias (plucking clamps), a tool consisting of two wooden sticks of around 50 cm, which are tied with a rope at one end. The upper parts of the stems are held between the two sticks. By pulling up the tool, the ears are snatched off the straw, falling into a wooden basket (fig. I). With this method the stems are left in the fields. Later the stems can be cut with scythes, being reserved for later use as bedding for cattle or, more commonly, burnt, in order to use the ashes as manure for the next crop. The ears are stored in aerial granaries (horreos). When the grain is used for human consumption, the ears are lightly scorched over an open fire, to eliminate the awns. Later, they are dehusked in a water mill by the friction of the rotatory milling stones. The upper one is set higher to allow the spikelets to pass through and the husks are stripped from the grain without the grains being crushed. In the past it seems likely that this type of wheat was dehusked by pounding in stone mortars with wooden hammers (Alvargonzalez, 1908; Ortiz, Sigaut, 1980; Pefla-Chocarro, 1996, 1999). This type of mortar worked together with a swinging wooden board or beam with a mallet at one end. A man at one end operated the beam with his feet, and by tilting the swinging board the mallet fell, pounding the spikelets within the mortar. Apart from in Asturias, this method of harvesting is attested in Nepal and in the Caucasus (Pefla-Chocarro, 1996, 1999). In Nepal the tool is made of bamboo or of wood hardened by fire, and its shape and use is similar to that of Asturian tools. G. Toffin (1983) documents their use among the Tamang, in the upper part of the Ankhu Khola River, in central Nepal, where they are used for harvesting wheat and barley. The same community uses sickles for harvesting other types of cereals. Other communities in the region use sickles only for harvesting all types of cereals. G. Toffin considers that the utilization of this tool is related to ethnic and cultural factors, representing the survival of an ancient technique in areas that are isolated from southern cultural influences. The other communities in the region

Fig.

1. Useof mesoriasin Asturias.

would have accepted the use of the sickle, abandoning the wooden harvesting tool. The same type of tool is also used in the Caucasus (Steensberg, 1943; Sigaut, 1978). In this case, their use has been related to the harvesting of certain types of wheat, such as spelt and different combinations of T. timopheevi, T. palaeocolchicumy T. macha (Bregadze, 1982). Some classical authors (Plautus, Servius, Plinius and Columella) mention a tool named mergae, whose use is described by Plinius and Columella (White, 1967). Plinius in his Historia Naturalis (L. 18. 296) points out that, in some places, the cereal was cut with sickles and, later, the ears were torn off between two pitchforks. Moreover, Columella in De Re Rustica (2. 20.3.) mentions that many farmers only harvest the ears using forks and combs. According to the literary sources it seems that plucking was one of the harvesting techniques used by the Romans although the way in which the "mergae" were used is still unknown.

25

]. ]. IBANEZ,

J. E. GONZALEZ

URQUIJO,

L. PENA-CHOCARRO

ET AL.

loose volcanic grounds, which means that it can be easily uprooted. When the plants are brought to the processing area, the stems are cut in the middle, in order to separate the ears and the roots. To do this, the bundles of barley are taken with both hands and are passed along the dented edge of an iron blade, which is inserted into the shaft of a working bank (fig. 2). The parts of the stems bearing the ears are processed later by trampling (animals are used for this) or by winnowing. In fact, the cutting of the stems is carried out in order to facilitate this phase of processing. If the roots were not previously separated, the soil that is attached to the roots would contaminate the grain, as winnowing is useful for separating the grain from the straw but not for cleaning the grain from the ground. The uprooting method was used in the XV century in Lanzarote by the aboriginal comunities. Abreu Galindo in his chronicle of the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands, writes: They sowedbarleyby turning over the land with the horns of billygoats, and, when ripe, they uprooted it and cleaned it (Abreu Galindo, 1602?/1977). If these techniques of cutting the straw after harvesting were used in Prehistory, we would find that the glossed lithic tools used for separating the ears and the roots would show the same type of use-wear traces as the sickle blades. However, there are other methods for processing cereals that have been harvested by uprooting, which, avoiding the problems of grain pollution, do not include stem cutting. One of the traditional processing methods in the Basque country consisted of taking the bundles in both hands and striking the ears against a hard object, in order to obtain the grain (see also Llaty, 1995). This method was used for processing small quantities of naked cereals. In Andalucia (Southern Spain), this technique was used to process einkorn. In both cases the cereal was harvested with sickles. In the mountainous region of the Jbala (west of the Rif chain, Morocco) , einkorn {T. monococcum) is cultivated as a marginal crop, when compared with naked wheats and barley. The main reason for cultivating einkorn is not to acquire grain, but straw, which is used for roofing the houses. Normally, einkorn fields are small,

Fig. 2. Toolfor separatingthe earsand the rootsof barley, in Lanzarote (Canary Islands).

A variant of the aforementioned method, which is used for harvesting hulled cereals, consists of plucking the ears by hand. This method is in use in some areas of Asturias for harvesting spelt, as in the villages of Somiedo and Proaza. Plucking by hand, a method that is more timeconsuming than harvesting with mesorias,is carried out in extremely small fields, when the grain is strictly for domestic use. In some cases, older women who consider that they are not skilful enough to use the mesoriaschoose this method. (Pena-Chocarro, 1999). Uprooting of the plant can be used to harvest both hulled and naked cereals. Plinius, in his Historia Naturalis (LXVIII, 297), mentions the method of uprooting, without specifying the areas where it was carried out. In Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands) this method is used for harvesting naked barley. This barley has a short stem, so harvesting with sickles is very uncomfortable. Moreover, it is cultivated in

26

HARVESTINGWITHOUT SICKLES

just big enough to produce the straw needed to restore part of the roof each year. The more extended fields of naked wheats and barley are

harvested with sickles. Einkorn can be harvested cutting with sickles very low down, near the ground (fig. 3), although uprooting the plant is also a common system (fig. 4). The uprooting can be carried out by hand or using a tool with a bent iron blade (mugtaf), which is also used for cutting branches for feeding the animals. The blade of the tool is used for pulling at the base of the stem, in contact with the ground. The sickle can also be used for uprooting, introducing the pointed extremity into the ground and pulling out the plant. The use of these methods in Prehistory would generate glossed lithic tools, which would show a very abrasive polish when subjected to microscopic analysis. The uprooting method bears some advantages as against cutting with sickles. First, the straw is longer, and, second, as the roots are attached to the stems, the resistance of the straw to degradation by atmospheric agents is higher. In fact, when the straw that has been cut with sickles is used in the roofs, the area that deteriorates first is the extremity where the cutting has been carried out. The advantage of using sickles is that the work is quicker and more comfortable, whereas uprooting cuts the hands. In Morocco, both methods can be used indistinctly, including for harvesting the same field, though the use of sickles is preferred when extended fields are harvested. When the wheat has been harvested, the bundles are taken in both hands and the ears are beaten against a stone or a trunk of wood (fig. 5). Another method for separating the ears consists of taking the bundles in one hand and striking the ears with a wooden stick. Later, the ears are trampled by animals, so as to break them into spikelets. The spikelets are brought to the storage area, inside or near the house. For dehusking hulled wheats, before human consumption, three methods are used:

Fig. 3. Harvesting einkorn with sicklesin theJbala (Morocco).

Fig. 4. Uprootingeinkorn in theJbala.

27

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Fig. 5. Processingeinkorn by striking the bundles against a stone to obtain the ears.

Fig. 6. Dehusking einkorn with the rzama.

1. Pounding with a carved wooden hammer (rzama). This method is used when a small quantity of einkorn is being processed and it is carried out on the floor of the kitchen (fig. 6). 2. Also for small amounts a second technique has been recorded. It consists of rubbing the spikelets against the surface of a large flat basket made of palmetto leaves. A circular piece of cork is used as a rubber. Sometimes the same might be done using just the palm of the hand instead of the rubbing piece. This method and pounding with a rzama can be complementary. 3. One of the commonest methods consists of dehusking inside holes excavated in the earth like sunken mortars (zouaba)with a curved parabolic section. Einkorn spikelets are placed inside, and pounded using a wooden mallet (migib) (fig. 7). 4. A fourth method is that of dehusking in rotary querns. Rotary mills are commonly used in rural areas of Morocco for cereal grinding. For dehusking einkorn, a sheet of cork is introduced

in between both stones. The softness of the cork allows the grain to be free from the glumes without being crushed. In addition, sheets of cork directly fixed to the ground are used to dehusk einkorn. In this case, the upper stone is placed on top of the cork sheet, which works as a lower stone. In both modalities a drive shaft is fitted to the upper stone. Spikelets are introduced through the middle hole. In the Rif region, the uprooting of the plant can occasionally be used for harvesting naked cereals. During very dry years, the plants are small and their distribution in the fields is irregular and of low density, so harvesting with sickles is hard and time-consuming. In these cases the uprooting method is preferred, the roots of the bundles being shaken against a stone, in order to eliminate the clay lumps that are attached to them (Peii.a-Chocarro et al., in press; Gonzalez Urquijo et al., in press). Likewise, in Turkey, barley is harvested by uprooting, which is carried out by hand or with a

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Ecogeographicalconditions In Zureda (Asturias, Northern Spain) we were able to verify experimentally that harvesting with the sickle, using Neolithic sickles, was up to 3 times faster than the gathering process using mesorias (Gonzalez Urquijo et al., 1994; Ibanez et al., 1998). However, with the local system the later work is reduced, since it is not necessary to separate the straw from the ears. In contrast, in Zuheros (Andalucia, Southern Spain), where einkorn is harvested with sickles, threshing work is relatively expensive. What can have led to choosing between these two options in each context? In Zuheros (Andalucia), in an arid Mediterranean climate, with very hot dry summers, the passage of time in which the harvesting has to be done is limited to about a week. If the reaping work is extended, as the farmers told us, the wheat becomes too dry and when cutting is attempted the ears fall, leading to a loss of part of the production. In Zureda, on the other hand, in a damp Atlantic climate, harvesting can be drawn out for up to three weeks, without the effect witnessed in more dry areas. In fact, at times they lay down tools before the working day is over. Moreover, the steep topography of the region allows for cultivation at different heights, so the maturing process of the plants is progressive. In Zureda they opt for a technical solution that involves prolonged working in the fields, because the atmospheric and topographic conditions allow this. Nevertheless, in Zuheros harvesting becomes a strategic moment to be carried out in a short space of time, for which it is necessary to use a tool that lets the work be done quickly.

Fig. 7. Dehusking einkorn with a woodenmallet (migib).

sickle with a long haft and a blunt edge. This tool is used to strike the plant at the base, near the ground, to uproot it (Hillman, 1984). The uprooting method is also used to harvest emmer in the Turkish region of c;orum and Merzifon (Hillman, 1984), for barley in Palestine (Dalman, 1933, cited in Steensberg, 1943), for wheat in some regions of Northern China (Maurizio, 1927; Leser, 1931, cited in Steensberg, 1943) and for barley in Scandinavia, when the plants are thin and short (Steensberg, 1943). Uprooting with only the bare hands is represented in the Tomb of Renni, Ancient Egypt (Steensberg, 1943).

Field size A second factor that favours the use of alternative methods is the harvesting of small fields. In Asturias, where a mountain economy is developed, the role of the cereal is marginal with respect to other resources, and cereals are cultivated for domestic uses. In the Rif Mountains, where the straw is the principal reason for the cultivation of einkorn, it is a marginal crop with respect to other cereals. We have observed that

Factors that favour the use of harvesting metods alternative to the use of sickles Different factors can condition the choice of the harvesting method.

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ond phase. In Morocco, where the straw must be collected complete, in order to roof the houses or to make saddlebags, both uprooting and cutting with sickles are used. In fact, sickles are effective tools in contexts where the straw is used as bedding or food for the animals, but it must be said that there is not a strict correlation between sickle use and a need for straw.

the more extended fields of einkorn tend to be harvested with sickles, because of the uncomfortable nature of the uprooting method. However, the fields of naked cereals are always harvested with sickles. The small size of the fields is related to the destination of the production and the social organization of work. Cereals harvested with alternative methods are cultivated in a domestic scale economy and no surplus production is intended. In Asturias, spelt is used to make a traditional type of bread (bollu) that is consumed by the family and can be shared with friends or relatives. In the Rif, the amount of einkorn that is sown is calculated bearing in mind the quantity of straw needed for restoring the roofs of the houses of the family. Normally, neither the grain nor the straw is exchanged or sold in the market. Because of this, einkorn is not subjected to the payment of the azzaka, the religious tax that is given to poor people and is applied to products for exchange. Einkorn, like other products that are collected and used in the domestic economy, such as honey or firewood, is free of this tax. In this domestic-scale economy the social organization of work is very simple. The family that owns the land sows, harvests, processes and uses the cereal. In Asturias, in the past, some poor neighbours could help in harvesting, having in exchange the food during the working days. This help must be explained within the framework of a network of social solidarity more than as a real economic relationship.

Type of cereal involved The cultivation of hulled cereals also favours the use of alternative methods, as the semi-solid rachis of these plants makes it easy and efficient to pluck the ears, leaving the straw in the fields, simplifying the processing of the crops. The use of mesoriasin Asturias, the Nepal and the Caucasus provides good examples of the relevance of this factor.

Height of the plant A fifth factor deals with the height of the plants. Low cereals, because of occasional environmental conditions, as we have seen in Morocco, or because of the natural characteristics of the plants, as is the case of the barley in Lanzarote, are very difficult to harvest with sickles, so uprooting is preferred. When the quantity of the crop is important, and massive processing methods are used (threshing sledge or using animals for trampling), the roots can be separated by cutting. However, despite the problem of grain being affected by soil pollution, the crop can be massively processed without resorting to the cutting of the roots, as it is carried out in Northern Morocco during the dry years. For small quantities of grain, more domestic methods of processing can be used, such as striking the ears against a stone, avoiding the risk of the grain becoming mixed with the ground.

Strawuse The type of use that is intended for the straw also conditions the choice of the harvesting method. F. Sigaut (1996) has pointed out that if straw is required for use then that means a sickle must be employed. However, we think that this affirmation, although it is partially exact, should be rounded out (Ibanez et. al., 1998). In Zuheros (Andalucia), einkorn is harvested with sickles, despite the fact that the straw is not used, and only the grain is saved for feeding the animals. In Asturias, spelt is harvested with mesorias, and, later, if the straw is needed, it is cut during a sec-

Harvestingskills Finally, the limited technical ability of the worker who is harvesting may involve the use of

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alternative methods, like plucking the ears or uprooting the plants. That is the case of some older women in Asturias or of children in Turkey. However, these are isolated cases, so this factor seems to be episodic and therefore of limited use for making analogies concerning the prehistoric past. All in all, the factors that would permit finding contexts where sickles are not used are: 1. Wet climatic environments during the harvesting season and steep topographies, as the period for collecting the crop is long enough to use methods that are slower than cutting with sickles. 2. The marginal use of crops as food supply, which implies the cultivation of small fields. 3. The cultivation of hulled cereals, which can be harvested by plucking the ears. 4. The fact that straw is not used, so that there is no need to cut it, either in a first phase with the ears attached, or in a second phase, after they have been removed.

the Cantabrian coast the relevance of cereals for the first farming communities was marginal. On the archaeological sites certain continuity in economic resources with respect to the Mesolithic groups can be observed. The hunting of red deer, roe deer and wild boar is still important for the Neolithic groups. The recovery of huge quantities of shells (oysters, mussels, razor shells and cockles ... ) reflects the exploitation of the swamps and of the open coast. Some wild fruits were gathered, principally hazelnuts and rosaceae. Some of the wild apples are cut down the middle, which could indicate that some techniques of preservation were carried out, as has been observed in other European areas (Zohary, Hopf, 1993; Helbaek, 1952 and Monk, 1988, cited in Wiltshire, 1995). The pollen diagrams show that a certain impact on the forestal mass, probably due to human activities, only took place in the 4th millennium, parallel with the development of megalithism (Peflalba, 1992; Iriarte, 1994; Zapata, 1999). Indeed, at these more advanced moments, cereal farming was not intense. In the sepulchral Chalcolithic site of Pico Ramos the presence of cereal pollen and of sickle elements show that the group buried there cultivated cereals. However, the analysis of trace elements of the human bones indicates that the food supply was principally based on marine resources (Baraybar and de la Rua, 1997). In the Jura, during the 4th millennium BC, the Neolithic groups were also strongly dependent on wild forest resources for their subsistence. At this time, the pollen record indicates that the woodland environment of the lakes was slightly affected by deforestation (Richard, 1989). The density of the population was relatively low and the small farming communities were not established in permanent villages but practised shifting agriculture (Petrequin et al., 1998). In this context, the Neolithic groups lived largely off forest products. A great array of fruits and wild plants was collected, the most common being strawberry, blackberry, crab apple, hazelnut and sloe (Lundstrom- Bau dais, 1989; Bau dais et al., 1997). Moreover, until 3000 BC, the remains of wild animals were dominant in the bone refuses. Precisely, in 3700-3600 BC, hunted fauna represented 99%, in 3200 and 3150 BC, 60% and 77% with red deer

The archaeologicalcontexts: the Cantabriancoast and the Jura The Prehistoric contexts that we are studying, the Cantabrian coast of Spain and the French Jura during the 5th and the 4th millennium BC, share some of the characteristics of the places where harvesting methods of uprooting or plucking the ears are carried out. During the period of harvesting the weather is relatively wet and the temperature is moderate. This is especially true in Spain for the 5th millennium BP, as the degree of humidity was higher than in the present (Bell, Walker, 1992; Peflalba, 1992). In the Jura, during the 4th millennium BC, the climate was midler than now but still typical of a mountainous zone, i.e. hard and humid with important daily and annual contrasts (Arbogast et al., 1995). These climatic characteristics should have allowed the harvesters to extend the period of work for some weeks, so methods of harvesting that are slower than cutting with sickles could have been used. The archaeological data at our disposal show that the size of the cultivated fields was small, in comparison with European Neolithic areas. On

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as major game animal (Arbogast, Petrequin, 1993). After 3000 BC, a numerical increase in the population has been demonstrated together with the opening up of new fronts of deforestation (Petrequin et al., 1998). Concurrently, cereal fields could have been expanded. Nevertheless, the human impact in this mountainous region remained limited. As a matter of fact, at the very beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, hunted animals still represented 40% of the bones and the pollen spectra attested the presence of the primary forest not far from the settlements. In the villages, cereals were stored inside the houses or in small granaries, appearing in association with the houses. On two of the sites (3200 and 3150 BC), the spatial distribution of the glumes and the weed seeds indicates that the doorstep of each household was the place for the winnowing after the dehusking process (Arbogast et al., 1997). Where the production of flour is concerned, complete grinding-stones are not present on these sites because they were re-used, crushed or taken away. However, the presence of resharpening flakes and big fragments of grinding-stones around the fireplaces inside the houses show that the surroundings of the fireplaces were probably the area where milling activities took place. The straw was not commonly used. The roofs of the houses were thatched with bark (Monnier et al., 1997) and the livestock was probably fed with small branches of elm, ash, ivy and mistletoe, according to the botanical identification of the soil litter found in the villages (Petrequin et al., 1998). Moreover, in these very well preserved lake-dwelling sites, while some fragile elements of the cereal, like glumes and rachis, have been documented, the more resistant cereal stems are clearly missing. These results suggest that straw was not important in the technological system of the groups. In a woodland environment where vegetation is abundant, the relevance of this material as building element or food supply for the livestock seems limited. In all events, at Chalain and Clairvaux, wild forest products were preferred. This could have been also the case in the Cantabrian coast, though we do not have any data about this question. In other respects, the analysis of the organic remains on the sites of Clairvaux and Chalain

shows that cereals and particularly emmer were introduced in the villages and stored only in form of ears. On the contrary, there is little evidence attesting the storage of grains or bunches of cereals. Straw and charred grains are very scarce, while glumes and rachis are numerous. Among botanical elements emmer glumes are outstanding. On the basis of these results, LundstrbmBaudais (1989) came to the conclusions that emmer was stored in form of ears and dehusking was carried out inside the villages. In some contemporaneous sites in Switzerland, concentrations of charred ears have also been recovered (Jacomet and Schlichtherle, 1983: 173; Maier, 1991). In these cases the upper part of the stem was attached to the ear, so the cereal was probably harvested by cutting the stems very high (Jacomet, 1990; Schlichtherle, 1992). Another method that could explain the appearance of ears with a small part of the stem would consist of the harvesting of the cereal (by sickles or uprooting) and cutting the stems near the ears in a later phase. This method is ethnographically and historically documented. In the Basque country a saw was used to separate the ears from the straw, and the ears were stored in the granary (PenaChocarro and Zapata, in press). Two people took the plants by their extremities and a third cut the stems near the ears. Varro, in his book On Agriculture (LI, SO), mentions a similar method for ear cutting in the Umbria region during the Roman period. However, in the case of the sites in the Jura, only the ears have been collected, without the stems, so the ears were plucked. This implies that either the cereal was harvested by plucking up the ears or that the crops were harvested by uprooting, the ears being separated from the straw later by plucking. The absence of straw on these sites leads us to think that the first possibility is more probable. The stems would be left in the fields and burnt later for use as manure. The ears could have been picked by hand and gathered one by one. Ethnographically this is a marginal method, which is used only for very small fields. The need for using a tool for collecting groups of ears was probably evident to these Neolithic communities. Thus, they could use tools similar to the mesorias,which could be made of

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wood, bone or shell. Future research on the Jura sites, where organic material is well preserved, should test out this possibility. With this technique, the straw would have been left in the fields, being eliminated later by burning. In the absence of sickles, another possible system of harvesting, both for hulled and naked wheat, was the uprooting procedure. This could be carried out directly by hand or by using a bent tool to pull out the roots. In this technique, the processing might involve the bunches being held by hand and the ears being struck against a hard object. Another possibility is that, despite the soil present in the roots, the cereals were processed by using animals to trample them or by beating them with an implement. It is probable that, in other Neolithic regions of Europe, what we have called alternative methods were also in use. For example, on the Neolithic sites of Denmark, during the 4th millennium cal. BC, sickles are very scarce, and on some sites are not present at all (Juel Jensen, 1994). Despite this, agriculture is attested to by archaeobotanical analysis and by the numerous ploughmarks that have been found (Thrane, 1991). Only after the 3rd millennium does the appearance of sickles begin to be more common. The role of agriculture is considered to have been very marginal during the first phases of the Neolithic in this area (Madsen, 1982).

of sickles and improvements in their efficiency may be connected to the social need for intensifying the cereal supply (see Ibanez et al., for the case of the Neolithic in the Near East). The absence of sickle elements on the Cantabrian coast of Spain and in the French Jura during the Neolithic indicates that sickles were not commonly used in both archaeological contexts, either for cutting stems or for uprooting plants. Because of this, other alternative methods of harvesting must have been used. Ethnographic examples have shown that certain other methods of harvesting can be used, like plucking the ears or uprooting the plants. These methods are used in humid environments and in areas where the importance of cereals as food supply is marginal. In humid environments, the period of harvesting is more extended, so it is not so necessary to use a tool for intensive working, like the sickle. Moreover, in these contexts, straw is not important for the peasant economy, as the ecosystem, rich in plants, makes it possible to use them for construction and for feeding the animals. When cereal is a marginal and complementary food supply, the cultivated fields are small, so they can be harvested in short periods without having to resort to the use of sickles. These small fields have to be explained within a domestic-scale economy, where there is no excess production and the social organization of work is very simple. The cultivation of hulled cereals also favours the use of alternative methods of harvesting. These circumstances are present in the two archaeological contexts that we are studying. We are dealing with humid environments of steep topography, where the role of the cereal as food supply was complementary to other resources, hulled wheats were commonly sown and straw was not useful. For the Jura, the existence of small granaries and areas of cereal processing and milling attached to each house suggest that cereals were used in a domestic scale economy. We suggest that on the Cantabrian coast of Spain and in the Jura during the Neolithic, uprooting and/ or plucking of the ears were the methods most commonly used for harvesting. The arguments for this interpretation are the absence of sickles and the similarity of the eco-

Conclusion The ethnographic examples that we have presented allow us to understand some of the characteristics of the first agricultural techniques on the Cantabrian coast of Spain and in the French Jura. These examples show us that the sickle is a very effective tool for contexts where the harvesting period represents a strategic moment in the process of cereal supply. The sickle allows for a reduction of working time in the fields, which can be important in areas where, because of the dryness during the harvesting period, the task must be carried out in a short space of time. This tool is also useful for harvesting extended cultivated fields and in contexts where straw is important for the peasant economy. In this way, the use

33

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nomic, social and environmental factors that are present both in the archaeological contexts and in the ethnographic examples where alternative methods are used. The special conditions of preservation of the organic material on the Jura sites allow us to establish our interpretation more precisely. The storage of ears without straw indicates that a method of plucking the ears was used, either for harvesting or for processing the crops. The possible use of tools similar to the mesoriasshould be considered in this context. Perhaps in other Neolithic regions of Europe alternative methods of harvesting were also used. It will be necessary to study the variability in the harvesting methods in different European areas

during the Neolithic, in order to know the technological choices, and, what is more important, the environmental, economic and social factors that conditioned this variability. Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Fundaci6n Marcelino Botin for funding the research project Etlmoarchaeology in Morocco: Implications for the study of the Neolithic societies. Much of the

ethnographic

information that has been presented in this

paper was gathered during the development of this project. S. Beyries and P. Petrequin invited us to take part in this workshop.

R. Ontaf:t6n,

A. Pessina,

X. Gorrotxategi,

M. J. Iriarte and M. J. Yarritu offered valuable information. We wish to express our thanks and debt of friendship to everyone concerned.

Actes des xve Rencontres internationales d'archeologie et d'histoire d' Antibes, 20-22 octobre 1994, APDCA, Sophia Antipolis, p. 19-41.

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Clairvaux et Chalain {Jura}, III, Chalain station 3, 3200-2900 av. ].-C. Maison des sciences de J'homme, Paris, p. 299-

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IBANEZ (J.J), in press.- La funci6n de los utiles retocados en el yacimiento Neolitico de Kobaederra. Campaf:tas de 1995, 1996 y 1997. Isturitz, Sociedad de Estudios Vascos.

PENA CHOCARRO (L.), 1996.- In situ conservation of hulled wheats species: the case of Spain. In: S. Padulosi, K. Hammer,]. Heller (eds), Hulled Wheats. IPCRI, Rome, p. 129-146.

IBANEZ (JJ), ZAPATA (L.), in press.- La funci6n de los utiles de silex de! yacimiento de Pico Ramos (Muskiz, Bizkaia). Isturitz, Sociedad de Estudios Vascos. IBANEZ (JJ), GONZALEZ URQUIJO (J.E.), PALOMO (A.), FERRER (A.), 1998.- Lithic Tools for Agriculture in the Middle Euphrates: The Sites of Tell Mureybit and Tell Halula. In: A.B. Damania, J. Valkoun (eds), The Origins of

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PENALBA (C.), 1992.- La vegetaci6n y el clima en los montes vascos durante el Pleistoceno superior y el

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36

Ethno-archaeology and its transfers Edited by S. Beyries,P Petrequin Bournemouth, 1999

Salt springs exploitation without pottery during Prehistory. From New Guinea to the French Jura PierrePETREQUIN, Olivier WELLER, Emilie GAUTHIER, Alexa DUFRAISSE,Jean-Fram;oisPININGRE

Abstract. In Western Europe during prehistoric times, the exploitation of natural brines - from salt springs or from sea water - has been the focus of intensive research; with the well-known protohistoric briquetages, it is possible to demonstrate the moulding of salt cakes, for long distance distribution and exchange. Some indicators (such as large groups of villages or valuable objects in graves around some of the salt springs) allow us to assume for other regions, the existence of Neolithic and Protohistoric techniques of salt exploitation, without any briquetage. During three scientific expeditions to New Guinea, the authors had the opportunity to study present-day techniques of salt spring exploitation, in which specific plants are soaked in the brine to be then burned; the salt crystal formations are then hand picked from the ashes, and finally compressed in the form of packets or cakes with plant wrapping. This specific ethnological model shows that some form of salt exploitation may leave very few archaeological traces, and indeed fewer still than in the case of briquetage. The scientific approach consists then in studying the regional distribution of dwellings, graves and hoards; at the same time one has to recognise and date charcoal accumulations in the in-fillings of marshy basins associated with salt springs. Such an ethnological approach has been tested in the French Jura. Core samples near the points of emergence of natural brine show that for some of these springs, salt has been extracted by means of soaked and burned plants. The seasonal exploitations are likely to be as early as 4000 BC (with clusters of fortified settlements), and this would explain the oldest organisation of Neolithic communities in the region. Later exploitations have been conclusively demonstrated from 3000 BC to the first century BC, with an intensity correlated with the relative density of the population in the region. In present-day New Guinea and in the Jura from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, salt spring exploitation could have been a way for social regulation, where salt, a "hot food", could be highly valued.

will be better understood, when it is made clear that this site supplied the Swiss cheese-trade, the Valais and a part of Lombardy since the Middle Ages (Hammerer, 1984). Going back in time, beyond the earliest texts, it is not a foregone conclusion that the salt springs with the greatest reputation in medieval times, were then exploited (fig. 1). Out of some fifteen clusters of salt springs in North-Eastern France, only for those of the Seille valley has it been conclusively demonstrated that they were the

During the entire Middle Ages, the exploitation of salt springs has played a major historical role in North-Eastern France, and in particular in Lorraine and the Jura (fig. 1). There was intense competition to obtain the regional monopolies for the control and commercialisation of the "white gold" coming from the salt-bearing levels of the Trias, and the classic examples are those of the salt springs of the Seille valley (Moselle) and of Salins (Jura) (Finot, 1866; Brelot, Locatelli, 1981). What the salt monopoly of Salins meant,

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1971). However, the step between the observation of charcoal deposits, and the demonstration of the production of salt in crystallized form without the use of baked clay receptacles, is not an easy one. And it is not, as has been seen, that because certain salt springs were intensely exploited during the Middle Ages, that they were also exploited during protohistoric times (Millotte, 1963). Yet it was this process that Brun followed in 1992, in his attempt at modelling the role played by the Jura in the economy of the Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age, following in the footsteps of Harke (1979), of Spindler (1983) and of Bender et al. (1993), amongst others. In the cases of Salins and of Lons-le-Saunier, considered as two important centres of salt production, it is not the few protohistoric objects found close to the Puits a Muire at Salins (Piroutet, 1926) that provide convincing proof. Furthermore, given the lack of positive proof for protohistoric salt exploitation, one wonders why the salt springs of Salins and Lons-le-Saunier are mentioned, whilst others are generally ignored by archaeologists. At this stage of the presentation, it becomes evident that in the absence of briquetage (Gouletquer et al. 1994, Weller to be published), or pottery destined for the heating of brine or as moulds (Cassen, 1987; Weller, 1993, 1994, 1998), other factors were either consciously or unconsciously taken into consideration, which could, in a roundabout way, support the hypothesis of very early salt exploitation.

Fig. 1. Location of principal areas of salt springs in Eastern France, associated with the Trias salt deposits. Until 1966, the salt exploitation had only been demonstrated for the Seille valley, in Lorraine, where the accumulations of briquetage have been chronologically placed between the end of the Bronze Age and La Tene, with some slight evidence for the Early Bronze Age (Bertin de].}

object of intense exploitation for the production of salt-cakes, during the entire Iron Age (Keune, 1901; Bertaux, 1976), and possibly since the Early Bronze Age (Blouet et al., 1996). As concerns the cases of the Seille, at Salonnes, Vic-sur-Seille, Moyenvic and Marsal (Moselle) , the proof for the production of salt-cakes was found in the early accumulations of briquetage and baked clay moulds, estimated at 3000 m 3 (Bertaux, 1976), always in relation with a salt spring (Keune, 1901). Despite this well-known briquetage, the other clusters have not yielded any traces of briquetage, even though the existence of charcoal bearing strata dated prior to the Roman Era was recognised at an early date at Grozon (Jura) (Vionet, 1861; Guichard, 1891); an observation repeated a few years ago at Lons-le-Saunier, right next to the Puits Sale (Petrequin in: Millotte,

A particularinterest in the salt springs The hypothesis that a correlation exists between the salt springs exploited during the Middle Ages and the fortified hill forts dated back to the Middle Neolithic II, in other terms, during the first half of the fourth millennium BC (solar years), has been tested by Petrequin, Jeudy and Jeunesse in 1996. This allows us to assert that the distribution of all the fortified sites in FrancheComte (fig. 2) for this period owes nothing to chance. A first group of 19 sites corresponds to the greatest density in Franche-Comte, centred on

38

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

the region of Montbeliard and the Belfort Gap; this group is clearly related to the exploitation of the stone quarries of Plancher-les-Mines, used in the manufacture and distribution of pelite-quartz adze blades (Petrequin, Jeunesse, 1995). This correlation is best proven by the abandonment of most of these sites with the advent of the generalized use of metal. Two groups of respectively five and six sites, in the vicinity of Lons-le-Saunier and of Salins, suggest a good correlation with the salt springs with the greatest concentration of brine during the Middle Ages. This is not to be taken as proof for the exploitation of salt since the Neolithic, but rather as the basis for the hypothesis of an in terest in the salt springs, which is the first step in an attempt to prove that salt extraction occurred. Four groups centred on the Middle Doubs valley and on the Haute-Sa6ne each have only two fortified sites; none of which can be correlated to the salt springs exploited during the Middle Ages (fig. 1). We have already suggested elsewhere (Petrequin et al., 1996) that the distance of a day's march between the epicentres of these groupings could correspond to the hierarchical territorial organisational web, repeated for each grouping. The same procedure was followed by Piningre (1998), who plotted the Bronze Age metal hoards found in Franche-Comte, taking into consideration the size of each hoard (fig. 3). It can be seen that the two richest hoards from the Late Bronze Age - at Larnaud and Briod - are close to the salt springs bearing basin of Lons-le-Saunier. This relative wealth of bronze objects not only demonstrates, as is the case for the Neolithic, an attraction for the natural salt springs, but rather the manufacture of salt as a commodity for exchange. This distribution would also suggest that, during the Late Bronze Age, the supposed production of salt was more important at Lons-le-Saunier than at Salins, where the metal hoards are fewer and more modest. These indispensable cartographic approaches do not however teach us anything about the possible relationships between the bronze hoards found in the regions of Gray and Besarn;on, with salt springs possibly today obliterated by erosion and neglected; neither do they teach us anything

e large fortified

settlement

MIDDLE NEOLITHIC II HILL FORTS

Fig. 2. Distribution of Neolithic II fortified villages in FrancheComte. At the end of the Vth millennium, and during the first half of the J[lh millennium BC (solaryears}, the location of the fortified villages and enclosures owes nothing to chance. A majority of the sites is concentrated in the region of Belfort and Montbeliard, where the attraction of pelite-quartz quarries used for polished blades is not in doubt. Two other areas of concentration appear, however, around the two most important groups of salt springs of the Jura, around Salins and Lons-le-Saunier (drawing P. Petrequin}.

about the form and method of possible salt production without the use of baked clay receptacles, given the long known fact that briquetage did not exist in this region.

The exploitation of salt springs in the Highlandsof lrian Jaya In fact, to deal with salt production, these cartographic approaches are a last resort, used for lack of direct evidence for the exploitation, to evaluate the consequences of the exchange mechanisms. In the case of Salins, which finds itself at the western exit of the "Transjurassienne"

39

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o

1 a 10objects

0

11 a 50 objects

E.GAUTHIER

We therefore consider that an alternative approach needs to be developed to take into consideration the possible phenomenon of salt exploitation, even if the disappearance of the salt dictates an indirect approach. For this European archaeological problem, we have turned towards the ethnology of present-day populations. Specifically, it involved finding and documenting present day examples of salt production by agriculturists, using the brine of salt springs without the use of baked clay recipients. Given the average climatic conditions of North-Eastern France during Neolithic and Protohistoric times, the hypothesis of evaporation in largely open recipients without additional heat, is not tenable. We tested the hypothesis without conclusive results, which is not surprising in a region with average rainfalls varying between 900 and 1 100 mm a year. Because two of us (A.-M. Petrequin and P. Petrequin) already worked in Irian Jaya, the western and Indonesian part of New Guinea, the Highlands region was selected to collect the data for an ethnoarchaeological model, in a social context that was already well understood (Heider, 1979; Larson, 1987; Le Roux, 1948; O'Brien, 1969; Ploeg, 1969; Pospisil, 1963). Three successive field studies, each lasting two months (19941996) allowed a large corpus of previously unknown data to be collected regarding ten salt springs, spread out over 375 km of the central range of Irian Jaya (fig. 4). The reader who is interested in a better understanding of the context within which salt is exploited is invited to refer to Weller, Petrequin and Petrequin (1996) for the technical means of extraction and to Petrequin, Petrequin and Weller (to be published) for the social context within which production occurs and its implications in terms of the functioning of society and the ideological signification of the exchange of salt cakes. Our objective here is not to detail all the methods of salt extraction used in New Guinea, but rather to outline only the essential technical traits. We will then set forward an ethnological model for the production of sodium chloride, using fire, but not pottery, which is at the origin of the long distance exchange of salt cakes, which today still plays an essential role in the social reproduction system.

0

0

EEi

700-900 m

[ill]

over900m

LATE BRONZE AGE HOARDS

Fig. 3. Distribution of hoards of bronze objects from the Late Bronze Age in Franche-Comte. It will be noted that there are a large number of bronze hoards around Lons-le-Saunier and Grozon, suggesting a level of relative wealth for the communities close to certain salt springs in the Jura department (drawing ].-F.Piningre and P.Petrequin).

- this way, which since Neolithic times, was the most obvious route via Pontarlier and Vallorbe across the folds of the Jura - was it really used for exchanges in which salt played an important part? Can the shift in the regional epicentre from Lons-le-Saunier towards Salins from the Late Bronze Age III/Hallstatt C to Hallstatt D, be explained in terms of the interest in the salt springs with the heaviest concentration of sodium chloride - and that by far - of the Jura Revermont, or else in terms of a shift in control as between the epicentre of the Mediterranean economic world and its north-western fringes? The hypothesis of salt extraction does not appear to carry much weight, when we know that another regional centre shifted to the eastern fringes of the Burgundian plateau, without there being any question of a saline natural resource being involved.

40

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

total mineralization~

NaCl grade

25

so 100 g/1

100 1996 - A. Couturaud

SODIUM CHLORIDE GRADE AND SALT SPRING MINERALIZATION

Fig. 4. In the Highlands of Irian Jaya (IndonesianNew Guinea), betweenthe Lakes Paniai and the Baliem valley,the salt springs with the highest concentrationof salt are subjectto heavy exploitationfor the manufacture of salt cakes (Yotali,Deba, Wandai, Hitadipa), or bundles of salt gorgedstrands (/iwika, Tengkele,Hitegima). Based on analysesmade at the Avignon Hydro-Laboratory(drawingP. Petrequin).

Right from the start, we must insist on the attraction of salt springs, however low their concentration of salt, everywhere in the Highlands. The example of the oozing spring at Kurima, with only a 5 gr /1 concentration of NaCl is particularly remarkable (fig. 5). From a radius of a day's walk, the men of the Dani group from south Baliem go episodically to Kurima, to collect a few decilitres of natural brine, out of a small basin lined with leaves; this rare and precious liquid, collected with the help of a fistful of absorbent vegetable matter, is transported in small gourds and given to the sick people to drink. Salt and brine are in fact considered "hot" foods, the same as pork fat, and in the same manner used medicinally. One wonders how the Dani found these minuscule springs, which are often lost in the clayey quagmire of steep slopes, and hidden under the canopy of vegetation. The answer to this question always lies in terms of the observation of the behavioural pattern of birds and of hunting techniques. Birds are extremely sensitive to traces of sodium chloride solutions, and often visit salt springs; to the extent that several of these saline pools are set up as hunting spots. In a hide made

Fig. 5. In Irian Jaya, the smallest salt or mineral spring, even with very low levels of sodium chloride,is the subject of special attention. At Kurima (Dani group of South Baliem), an oozing of saline wateris exploitedfor its curativeproperties;the naturally saline water, barelyperceptibleto the pallet, is transportedin gourds entirelycoveredwith engravings {photoP. Petrequin).

of leaves, a bamboo tube is directed at a small artificial perch set up just above the brine; the bamboo will direct a three-pointed arrow, shot by from a bow, at the bird drinking the brine. There is a general interest in natural brines, however feeble the natural flow, and its saline

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types of salt cakes

100 1996 - P. Petrequin, 0. Weller

DISTRIBUTION OF SALT CAKES

Fig. 6. In the Highlands of Irian Jaya, almost all the salt extractedfrom the most highly concentratedsalt springs, circulatein the form of large cakesof crystallisedsalt, wrappedin vegetablematter. The cultural identificationis evidencedby the cylindricalcakesto the West (Moni and Ekari groups},rectangularcakesin the centre (Dama]and WesternDani) and bundles of salt gorgedstrands or salty ashes to the East (Dani of the CentralBaliem and Yali) (drawing P.Petrequin).

as well as in the middle of a garden area, amidst a few isolated houses (as is the case of Kurima). It would appear therefore that the social and economic importance of the salt springs does not reside in the consumption by individuals of the brine in its raw state for its curative properties. In fact, the reputation of a particular spring begins to spread beyond the local communities (10 to 20 km from the spring) as soon as it is the subject of transportable salt, in the shape of packets of dry salted hemp, or as real salt cakes, hard packed under a waterproof vegetable wrapping, proof against the intense humidity and perennial rains between 700 and 2000 meters (fig. 6). Two groups of springs are thus known at either extremity of the central range: to the East, Hitegima and Jiwika (fig. 4), with a salt content of between 30 and 40 gr /1; and to the West, the Land-of-Salt, Hitadipa, Wandai, Yotali and Deba, with a natural concentration of sodium chloride which can reach 84 gr /1. The true poles of attraction coincide with the highest levels of salt content; this does not however exclude certain springs with a low concentration of salt, such as Hitegima in the

content. It is a social reflex for the Dani to drink some of the saline solution and to eat vegetables, considered "mild" (compared once again to pork fat), soaked in the brine, every time they pass close by a salt spring. Thus, the Sosiga salt spring (Weller, Petrequin and Petrequin, 1996) is no longer exploited for the manufacture of salt crystals since salt is on sale in Indonesian general stores nearby; nevertheless it is still the subject of a modest, but regular, exploitation by women, who soak edible vegetable matter in the mildly saline solution, for family consumption, and for sale at the market of Bilogai, distant good day's walk. Although every spring has its "owner" - by which is meant a person responsible for the rituals that ensure the continuing flow of the saline solution - no single spring has brought about any particular concentration of the population; the brine is simply consumed, either by way of one or two gulps, or else by way of small bundles of vegetable matter soaked in the brine. The springs can be found deep in the forest, far from the permanent settlements (for example Mili-Mili),

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SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

Fig. 7. ]iwika salt spring (Dani group of Central Baliem). The pool of the salt spring is isolated from the torrent nearby by a wide dam made of large blocks and earth. The exploitation, undertaken mostly by women with a few men, is by means of strands of banana tree, split, beaten and crushed (photo P.Petrequin).

Fig. 8. ]iwika salt spring (Dani group of Central Baliem). The fibres from the trunks of banana trees, after being left to soak in the natural brine during the morning, are laid out to dry on a sandstone boulder. Also visible is a packet containing mashed and salted ginger roots (photo P.Petrequin).

Baliem valley, which were also the subject of regular exploitation for the production of real salt cakes.

Tengkele), which allows for easy access even in times of trouble; - the control of these springs, which are the "property" of a lineage, is of a ritualistic order; in fact, within the context of egalitarian societies with war leaders, it would prove almost impossible to put up any physical resistance to a group of warriors intent on exploiting a spring; in fact, the ritual control of the flow of the salt spring, which is believed to emanate from corporal fluids of a supernatural feminine power, is accepted and respected by all; - the method of exploitation is by way of a small task-force, made up mostly of women from a same neighbourhood and a few armed men, for an undertaking of short duration, which corresponds to a low level of production; - the generally low level of salt content, coupled to the poor porosity of the banana tree fibres are a further two technical reasons for the modest production. The "archaeological" traces of such means of exploitation of salt springs are, as one can imagine, slight and eminently fragile. Other than the weir made of loose stone and alluvium, which marks the boundary of the pool in which the vegetable matter is soaked (fig. 7 at back), the slow burning of the packets of salt impregnated vegetable matter leaves very little charcoal, which has little chance of being trapped in the local sedimentary levels. The same is true for the wood,

The EasternHighlands and the productionof black salt To the East of the Highlands (fig. 4), in the Baliem valley (Dani group of central Baliem) and at Tengkele (Yali group), the men and women come from the local villages at no more than two hours walk, for a few days' exploitation. The technique used is to soak fibres and strips of banana trunk, previously split, beaten, crushed and gorged with brine for a few hours only (fig. 7). The salted fibres are then laid out to dry on sandstone blocs next to the spring (fig. 8), then made into skeins and transported on a pole to the village. There, they will be dried over several days in the sun, and wrapped in oval packets (fig. 6, on the right), then slowly turned to charcoal over a small fire set up in a depression in a rock, easy to sweep clean. These salty ashes with a high charcoal content are once again wrapped up for exchanges over short distances. This method of exploitation calls for several remarks: - these salt springs are set apart from the permanent habitations (about three quarters of an hour's walk at Jiwika and half an hour at

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which is particularly used as fuel, for house construction and the making of fences. The making of salt plays a small part and the archaeological traces of this activity, an even smaller part. It is therefore probable that the archaeological remains associated with the making of salt will not even be noticed by the archaeologist, who will in any case be more interested in the permanent habitats (and we have seen the reasons why), and that the relative "wealth" produced by the manufacture of black salt is insignificant compared to that associated with the breeding and exchange of pigs; only the remains of the structure around the pool in which the vegetable matter is soaked is susceptible of surviving and being recognised. It would appear that we are here facing a social and technical system which goes only a little way beyond the direct consumption of brine, used for curative and ritualistic purposes; socially important, but with a low level of economic benefits.

traversed at high speed the 5, 8 or IO days march which separates them from Sinak, Ilaga or Mulia to the East of the Land-of-Salt (Larson, 1987). This region is therefore densely populated by the traditional "owners" of the salt, the Moni, and visited by groups of males, strangers to the region, who nonetheless have local alliances or partnerships for the exchange of salt cakes, or for the manufacture of these by themselves. Around the principal salt springs can be heard spoken not only Moni, but also Ekari, Dani, as well as Dem, Damal, Wano, Wolani, between all these groups of men who come to try their luck at exchanges and to have access to the salt. The first missionaries, in the 1960s understood this well, in building their first churches, first near the Yotali springs and subsequently near those of Wandai (Weller, Petrequin and Petrequin, 1996). There are thus two social forms of extraction, using the same techniques to obtain the white salt crystals from the highly concentrated brine. The first of these social forms, that of the Moni, the permanent inhabitants, sees both men and women tied by bonds of lineage or friendship, in the same work group, manufacturing cylindrical salt cakes together (fig. 6 on the left). In fact it is this shape of salt cake which will be carried to the West, to the territory of the Ekari, themselves great producers of tobacco packed in cylindrical shapes. The social form external to the region, in which the Western Dani hold a privileged position, groups several tens of men - women are virtually excluded - associated together during the several weeks expedition to the salt; in the same way it is also almost exclusively men who go episodically to exploit the glaucophanite rock quarries in the region of Yeleme (the Source-of-theStone-Axes),between the Yamo and Tariku valleys (Petrequin and Petrequin, 1993). The method of extraction is identical to that of the Moni, except that the salt is packed in long quadrangular flat cakes (fig. 6 on the right), somewhat similar in shape to the long polished axe blades, extracted at Yeleme and used for compensatory payments. These salt cakes will circulate to the East, as far as the Baliem valley, and help define the cultural differences between the populations to the West of the Land-of-Salt (Moni, Ekari and Wolani) and

The WesternHighlands and the productionof white salt It is a different matter for the exploitations in the Land-of-Salt, at the eastern end of the Highlands, at the salt springs which are still today massively exploited at Hitadipa and at Wandai (fig. 4 on the left), for the production of salt cakes destined for long distance exchanges, up to 270 km as the crow flies. The population concentration in the valleys surrounding the salt springs is particularly remarkable (fig. 9). The groups of hamlets join together, with large populations similar to those in the Baliem valley (I 50 or more people per km 2), in the neighbourhood, but not around, the salt springs. We are in the territory of the Moni, who are happy to see the arrival of groups of men coming from outside their territory, with loads of goods (in particular sea shells, polished stone axe heads and pigs) to exchange for food staples during their stay to exploit the salt springs. In fact, people come from all over to exploit the salt springs of the Kemabu and Dorabu valleys: Eraki entrepreneurs, coming from the region of the Paniai lakes, or still further West (Pospisil, 1963) and groups of Western Dani warriors, who have

44

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

52 m

/ f

~~\ ~.,

(

y

'

,. ... •=:•

·~~./

••:.:t ~l

••,.

....,. Dorabu

.,.

,,~-.~

' t,t•\~1 it~

•• ~·-==• .r. ----✓...J ,.

. 3965 m

.4150 m

! 1-u •.r .

0

SALT SPRINGS AND POPULATION DENSITY

10

*

1996- 0. Weller

to llaga and North Baliem

1 Yotali

2 lnae

3 Wandai

4 Sosiga

~

5 Hitadipa

track

•

hamlet

salt spring

Fig. 9. In the Highlands of Irian Jaya, slightly to the East of Lakes Paniai, thephenomenon of thepopulation densityaround the prin-

cipal salt springs, in the territoryof the Mani, is evident. This attractionis explainedboth by the directaccessto the salt springsand the presenceof peoplefrom outside coming to exploit them, who bring masses of goods for exchange (drawing 0. Wellerand P Petrequin, from Le Roux 1948).

ple diet. An agreement is reached with the "owners" of the land, and the exploiters of the salt for the time being, who will receive regular deliveries of sweet potatoes and cooking leaves, in exchange for cowries, pigs, or manufactured goods. The exploitation of the salt by groups foreign to the region is therefore beneficial socially and economically for the Mani, who have rights (but ritual obligations in particular) over the salt springs. To be able to soak the vegetable matter in the brine, a retaining basin has invariably to be constructed. The permanent basins are built directly at the source of the salt spring. That of the Wandai salt spring, half an hour' walk below the village is one of the most spectacular (fig. 10). Its dam of horizontal planks, propped up by stakes and lined with earth on the interior (fig. 11), has been built according to a classic type of agricultural terrace on a steep incline. It is in fact the remains of a more complex succession of basins, as at Hitegima, which allowed for a greater quantity of vegetable matter to be soaked by larger work groups. The construction and maintenance of such permanent basins is the responsibility of the "owner" of the salt spring; by this we understand the representative of the lineage, which, at

communities to the East (Dem, Damal, Wano and the Western Dani). We have said that the methods of extraction were identical: the soaking of vegetable matter in the high concentration of brine (young shoots of Urticaceaein the region of Hitadipa and straight split stands of pepper near Wandai and Yotali). But what else is needed for the extraction of salt, where diverse linguistic and geographic work groups succeed each other during the entire year? The first requirement is for buildings to shelter the men, or at least those who do not have the indispensable social links to be lodged by an ally in a nearby hamlet. Thus around each spring there are two to five wooden houses, identical to the normal houses. It is in fact strange to see the Western Dani, who live in round houses in their villages, lodge in Mani-style rectangular buildings. These buildings are not rebuilt each time a work group sets itself up; they are sold by the people who build them, or by the departing work group, and will be resold in turn to the next group. Next the work group requires sustenance, especially sweet potatoes, which constitute the sta-

45

P. PETREQUIN,

0.

WELLER,

E.GAUTHIER

Fig. 10. The Wandai salt pool (Mani group) is built on a slope, right next to where a highly concentrated natural brine (84 gr/I) oozesout. This shallow pool, covering some 20 m 2, is used to soak bundles of split pepper tree (photo P.Petrequin).

Fig. 12. The Yawekumumba spring at Hitadipa (Western Dani group) is isolated from the torrent by a small temporary dam made of sand. gravel and rocks. In this pool, the people exploiting the spring soak young shoots ofUrticaceae, transported in rolls of 25 to 30 kg (photo P.Petrequin). Fig. 11. The dam of the Wandai salt pool (Mani group) is built of horizontal trunks, propped up by vertical stakes and lined with earth. The seepage through the dam feeds substantial crusts of crystallised salt (photo P.Petrequin).

the time of the first ancestors, were taught the rituals which make the brine flow from the body of a supernatural being. Other basins, particularly those near gushing torrents, are more modest, such as those at Hitadipa (fig. 12), since these are regularly destroyed by the spate waters. In these situations, the basin often needs to be rebuilt and the lowest basin is never more than a row of large stones holding back the gravel and sand dam. A production unit therefore comprises wooden houses and at least one basin for soaking. Additionally there needs to be a dry flat surface, usually terraced, covering at least 100 m 2, to stock the fire wood and to burn the brine gorged vegetable matter. Downhill from this terrace the

Fig. 13. After being soaked for 24 to 48 hours in the Hitadipa spring (Western Dani group), the shoots ofUrticaceae are burnt on a pyre of hardwood, usually at night once the rains have stopped (photo P.Petrequin).

charcoal remains of the large fires used to "cook the salt" are daily decanted (Petrequin, Petrequin and Weller, to be published).

46

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

Fig. 14. Hitadipa spring (Western Dani group).

Fig. 15. Hitadipa spring {WesternDani group).

In the morning, once the flames of the pyre have subsided, the men settle in a circleto sort the salt crystals from the charcoal with wooden tweezers {photoP.Petrequin).

The salt concretions, ground and humidified with brine, are moulded and compacted in a wrapping of leaves {photo P.Petrequin).

Having set the stage for the exploitation, let us now review the sequence of operations, taking as example the salt spring of Yawekumumba at Hitadipa (Weller, Petrequin and Petrequin, 1996). On the first day of an exploitation by 8 men, the wood for the fire is cut. A hard wood is selected which will produce a fine ash and large pieces of charcoal. After bringing in the wood, sometimes from several kilometres away, it is split and set to dry above the hearth. On the second day, the salt spring pool is cleaned and the dam strengthened. The men then go to cut in the forest - and here again at several kilometres from the salt spring - the young shoots of long plants that have a porous structure (Elatostema macrophylla Brogn., of the Urticaceaefamily). These tender and edible plants are transported as large rolls, weighing 25 to 30 kg each. Late in the afternoon these rolls are

laid out to soak in the brine of the salt pool (fig. 12). Whilst the shoots of Urticaceae slowly gorge themselves with brine, the third day is devoted to the collection of the vegetable matter in which the salt will be wrapped (leaves, bark and rattan) which is found at higher altitudes, in another ecoclimate. At the end of the afternoon the firewood is used to build a square pyre, on the terrace in front of the house. During the night of the 3rd and 4th day, the rain stops falling at around 2 o'clock in the morning. The rolls of Urticaceae are taken out of the basin, where they have been soaking, untied, and stacked on the pyre which has just been lit (fig. 13). The combustion will continue till 7 o'clock in the morning, whilst the men control the strength of the fire by throwing on additional brine, and also stack up the imperfectly burned wood and brine gorged vegetable matter. Towards

47

P. PETREQUIN,

0.

WELLER,

E.GAUTHIER

POPULATION DENSITY

D 750

LOW DENSITY

-

HIGH DENSITY

·1 500 · · ................

: :4;2~ :

Number of inhabitants in each linguistic group

250

: 1.ici. : 2s.o: · : · · 400·

60

300

400

Sentani basin

· 250 . 230

>so: · · · 1 200 · ...........

200

: JOO: :

335 60

· · 400 · ..

· 200

50 . : 150 .. 150. 30

8 000

: :1 000:

7 000

· · · · · · · · · · 2 700 · · ............... . 8 000 Documentation:

SALT PRODUCTION AND POPULATION DENSITY

Silzer, Heikkinen Clouze, 1991

Fig. 16. In the Highlands of Irian Jaya, the exploitation of salt springs and the circulation of crystallized salt cakes only concerns the areas of the highest concentration of the population. In other areas -and in particular the Lowlands- salt is not appreciated and is excluded from the exchanges (drawing P. Petrequin).

by its quality from the black charcoal-rich salt produced at the eastern end of the Baliem valley, using banana tree fibres.

8 o'clock in the morning only a heap of ashes, hot charcoal and salt concretions in the shape of the internal structures of the vegetable matter remains. The selection process gets under way (fig. 14); the men all group themselves in a circle and, with the help of wooden tweezers, select on the one hand the white salt concretions which they place in a large wooden platter to be later pounded, and on the other, the charcoal which is systematically rejected and discarded below the terrace. The powder of the salt concretions and the salt bearing ashes are finally placed in rectangular moulds, kneaded with brine, compressed and wrapped (fig. 15). After being drained, the salt cakes are pressed, then dried over the hearth for at least a week, until they form compact blocks, the "Salt-Stone", capable of being transported over long distances. The average yield is 5 rolls of Urticaceaeto produce a large 5 kg salt cake. The yield on that particular day was 13 kg of salt for 12 rolls of vegetable matter, the result of 4 days' work by 8 men. The final product is a light grey coloured salt, occasionally almost white, which contains very little charcoal, and thus differentiates itself

Saltto reproduce society Salt production will continue until each man has a load of 5 to 10 salt cakes, at which point the men will set off for home. These quasi-white salt cakes, of cylindrical western shape or quadrangular eastern shape, will be used for exchanges and compensatory payments. Their area of utilisation is strictly tied to the linguistic groups of the Highlands (Silzer and Heikinen-Clouze, 1991) and to the areas of the highest population density (fig. 16). We have estimated the total production from the Highlands' salt springs at approximately 2 500 kg a year. It is a lot given the method of extraction, and little given the size of the population impacted by the circulation of the salt, that is to say, some 400,000 people. The salt definitively does not therefore come across as a means of satisfying biological needs. As is the case with the Baruya of Papua New Guinea (Godelier, 1969), the salt of the Dani and the Mani is used for

48

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

commercial exchanges; but it is particularly used by the young warriors, caught in the constraining system of compensatory bride prices and blood price, to rapidly acquire wealth in a prestigious manner. Associated with pigs, cowry shells and stone axes (fig. 17), the salt cakes will be ceremoniously given by the Western Dani to compensate for a loss in battle or to re-establish an alliance (Larson, 1987; O'Brien, 1969). Just as much as the pig, this substitute for human lives (Lemonnier, 1990), and stone axes which represent women or prestigious ancestors (Petrequin and Petrequin, 1993), salt is used to reproduce society. This is best understood when you hear some of the myths regarding the origin of salt being narrated. For the Western Dani and for the Yali, it is a supernatural feminine being pierced by arrows shot by men, whose blood gave rise to the salt springs; for the Moni, it is the snot of another feminine power that is at the source of the natural brines. In each case - in the same manner as with the polished stone axes destined for exchange - "cooking the salt" involves a genuine anthropomorphic cuisine with corporal substances emanating from a superior being, from the time of the distant forebears. By producing salt or polished stone axes, a fundamental act is repeated, which harks back to the relationships existing between men and other beings from the time of primordial ancestors. This spirit of the salt, which has sacred connotations, is the only way of explaining the particular value attached to this "hot" food in the social exchanges and in curative treatments, the only occasion, in fact, when the salt is consumed in small quantities. And as a final demonstration of the phenomenon of attraction that salt carries for the Dani, we must mention the phenomenon of their territorial expansion from the valley of the Baliem (fig. 18), well known since at least the beginning of the twentieth century. A section of the Dani population has been involved in a process of migrating towards the less densely populated fringes. These colonising movements are not without an objective: they are targeted towards the West from North Baliem, in other words towards the Land-of-Salt and the Sourceof-the-Stone-Axes (Larson, 1987). As of today, Hitadipa and its three salt springs, previously

Fig. 17. In the lands of Moni and Ekari people, in the western region of the Highlands of Irian ]aya, the cylindrical salt cakes and pigs are, with cowry shells, the most highly prized goods for exchange and compensatory payments. Each constitutes a "hot" food - if you can believe the myths - and substitutes for human lives {photo P Petrequin).

under the control of the Damal and of the Moni, has steadily come under the control of the Dani from the region of llaga. The same phenomenon was occurring further to the West, near the Wandai salt spring, when the first firm contacts were established with the western civilisations, in the sixties.

Towardsan ethnographicmodel of salt productionwithout pottery We are in full agreement that the communities of the Highlands of lrian Jaya bear no social relationship with the Neolithic and protohistoric populations of Western Europe; you cannot reasonably draw conclusions about the past from present-day particular social organisations and their specific myths. The ethnoarchaeological

49

P. PETREQUIN,

0.

WELLER,

E.GAUTHIER

1995 - P. Petrequin

Fig. 18. In the Highlands of lrian Jaya, the Dani communitiesof North Baliem and the WesternDani are in full expansion. The territorial conquestsand migrationsare particulary orientedtowardsthe West,in the directionof the wealthrepresentedby the salt springs in the land of the Moni, and the quarriesof glaucophaniterock, used for polished axe blades,in the regionof Yeleme. Documentation:Larson, 1977, completed(drawingP. Petrequin).

tion can only exist if there is salt extraction and the manufacture of transportable salt cakes; as against the use of the brine in its natural state as a beverage, or to soak vegetable matter, which do not appear to be reasons enough to affect the spatial distribution of the population. There must however be degrees of attraction. In the case of the egalitarian societies with war leaders or entrepreneurs, the hamlets are clearly set up near the salt spring exploited, yet we have never seen an instance of territorial control sufficiently strong for one community to build its village on the site of the spring; which is the only method of exercising total control over its exploitation. The risk is however too great, in an environment in which wars and violence are endemic, for any one group to risk such a move. There is thus a noticeable difference, which we will have to look for in a European archaeological context, as between these two scenarios: total control over the salt spring, or else less rigid means of control, which allows those outside persons who are deemed allies to have access to salt production. Behind these two methods of control, different social mechanisms are at work.

approach has nothing to do with primary comparisons, and everyone agrees that you cannot paste a present-day example by way explanation of long-disappeared ways in which society functioned, without additional proof. We are concerned, as in the instance of the natural sciences, with proposing working hypothesis, developed from the observation of presentday examples. These models will then be tested against the past, to breathe new life into the archaeologist's thought processes, and make him think outside his traditional cultural box. Modelling thus, a mass of archaeological data has to be brought to bear, as well as a sophisticated battery of research techniques to compare the model with the archaeological field data, modifying the model, changing it, or even abandoning it in favour of some new model. To come back to the issue of the techniques of salt extraction without the use of pottery, we wish to remind you of the primary keys for establishing an ethnoarchaeological construct based on the present-day examples from the Highlands of lrian Jaya. The first key is the pole of attraction that the salt springs represent for the habitat. This attrac-

50

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

The second key to the model is the erection of the system to collect the brine, and the associated holding basins in which to soak the vegetable matter - this is always the case, even for salt springs situated where the potential exists for their destruction by spate waters. The chances, however, of identifying such archaeological sites is slight in areas subject to active erosion. For basins with a longer life expectancy, the idea of a certain monumentality and that they involved a collective effort can be retained: large holding basins with wooden retention walls in the case of the Moni, split level basins with small retaining walls made of stone in the case of the Hitegima, basins with heavy retaining walls made of large blocks and earth in the case of the Baliem Dani and the Yali at Tengkele. These constructions and their related excavations to extract the brine at the lowest possible level, where it comes out of the rock or the salt-bearing clay, must certainly leave durable archaeological remains. These remains are all the more numerous, given that the sources of the salt springs are often unstable, so that the works associated with the collection of the brine has to be redone, or else completely rebuilt, as soon as the brine begins to be contaminated by surface rain water, or underground fresh water. The third key to the model concerns the traces of buildings erected at the site, and within sight of the spring. The remains of such buildings, often built on prepared terraces, can also leave durable remains. How can you however distinguish between the remains of a permanent settlement, occupied by the owners of the land, and those of buildings used by groups of people from the region during their visits to exploit the salt springs? The answer must lie in the observation of the waste generated, since in the second instance, there is not likely to be any traces of craft activity other than that associated with salt extraction. As a fourth key to the model, we propose the search and observation of charcoal associated with the production of salt. In New Guinea, hundreds of cubic metres of wood are burned every year in front of the buildings used for the extraction of salt, and the charcoal is cast downhill. Two points worth making: - the mound and the remains washed down below the points of extraction contain up to 10%

of recognisable charcoal and up to 50% wood ash in black sediments; - the natural sediment traps in the water system below the salt extraction works, in which the charcoal can be deposited and mixed with the silt deposited in the still waters, can turn the clay black. A longitudinal transect of the valley will demonstrated beyond doubt, that the large admixture of charcoal is in direct association with the salt spring. The risk of confusion arising as between these massive accumulations of charcoal and of fine sediments with charcoal on the one hand, and the small amount of charcoal generated by slash and burn agriculture on the other is close to nil. The specific determination of the charcoal, coming essentially from the pyres, will be a useful way of determining from where the wood came, and the time span covered, particularly since this material is perfectly datable using the AMS radiocarbon method. The issue of the vegetable matter impregnated with brine and subsequently burned is more difficult, since this vegetable matter will have been to a large extent consumed during the burning process, and the chances of recovering charcoals, even as small particles, are extremely slight. It is possible however that the analysis of the pollens at the combustion sites or close by could show up unusually high concentrations, pointing in all probability to human activity. The pollen analyses in fact constitute the fifth key to the model. Studying the sedimentary sequences deposited just below the area of exploitation, the history of the forest clearing could be read. In fact it should be possible to identify clearing with a view to agriculture (in which the pollens of certain cultivated plants will be well represented), and clearing in connection with the exploitation of a salt spring at a time when there was no permanent habitat and consequently no agriculture in close proximity. The possibility of properly interpreting the pollen count diagrams is however directly tied to how well the pollen has been conserved, and the recording of the chronological sequences; this means that marshes and humid depressions must be given preference for the test boring and extraction of core samples.

51

P. PETREQUIN,

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WELLER,

E.GAUTHIER

or salt springs, is regarded in high esteem only in those regions with a high population density; that is to say in the basin of lake Sentani in the direction of Jayapura, where we see a modest use of sea-salt extracted by evaporation in ceramic pots (Weller, Petrequin and Petrequin, 1996 - we are however unsure whether this is a really long-established traditional form of extraction); and in particular in the Highlands between the basins of the Baliem and of the Paniai, where the population densities frequently exceed 100 people/km 2. It would appear that under these conditions, the production and gift of salt for compensatory payments would appear to be the mechanism used for regulating society, in which there are exchanges of "wealth" or anthropomorphic objects for the "ideal" reproduction of society (Godelier, 1996); thus, the salt cakes are handled and exchanged as are pigs (Petrequin, Petrequin and Weller - to be published). Further to the East in the Highlands, where there are no salt springs, the inhabitants are in the habit of eating vegetable "salt", extracted from the leaves of certain high altitude epiphytes, such as Asplenium AcrobyumChrist,whose sodium chloride content is only 2%, whilst carbonates and potassium chlorides predominate. It is these different keys from the ethnoarchaeological model from the Highlands of Irian Jaya that we will look to test on the archaeological situations of western Europe.

The sixth key to the model in fact concerns the relative variations in the conditions of sedimentation at or downstream the point of the salt exploitation. To obtain salt using fire, whatever the technique used, of necessity implied the use of large quantities of wood for combustion. The cutting of so much wood in a forest environment, continued over many generations, will necessarily affect the way in which rain waters collect and run off, creating new types of erosion, and affecting the hydro graphic balance of the rivers. In the low lying lands downstream, and in the sediment traps that side pools and dead meanders represent, to recognise a more rapid rate of sedimentation (thickness of sedimentary deposits during a known time frame) can be an indicator of such accelerated forest clearing; however, the renewal of erosion can do just as much. The seventh key to the model involves the economic and social consequences associated with salt production and the exchange of salt cakes. Here we have a more classic aspect of archaeological studies - as we have seen - where we seek to identify in the vicinity of salt springs, special concentrations of wealth in the form of hoards of imported goods, or of grave-goods. Coming back to the social context, possibly the most difficult to interpret, particularly since the model from the Highlands of Irian Jaya, of a society with war leaders, is only one of many possible structures that society can take. In Irian Jaya, there are no hoards of valuables, no tombs of persons who reach a temporarily pre-eminent position, simply because the structures of power are handed down through the mechanism of the exchange process and the redistribution of wealth. This seventh key to our model is therefore inadequate, and is likely to show up the limitations of its applicability to European prehistory in short order; unless, that is, we agree to look at other ethnographic models, clearly constructed with a view to interpret the functionings of societies built on the inequalities of man. The eighth and final key is to determine the relationship that might exists between the production and distribution of salt on the one hand and the population density on the other. Taking a North-South cut of Irian Jaya, it would appear that salt, whether extracted from the sea

A first application of the ethnoarchaeological model: the example of Franche-Comte No sooner returned from New-Guinea, that we re-established contact with the terrain of application for our model - Franche-Comte - by way of a Joint Research Programme devoted to the review of possible exploitation of the salt springs prior to the Middle Ages. The first stage was devoted to library research and the examination of archives. At the last census made by historians (research by Brelot and Locatelli, 1981), 33 salt springs were identified in this region. Our first contact with the terrain and the results of preliminary test borings, rapidly

52

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

* 0

Salt spring Salt pool

!:::,. Sallings

HAUTESAONE

D 700-900 m

LJ POTENTIAL

over900 m 1999 - P. Petrequin

RESOURCES OF SALT

Fig. 19. In the FrenchJura and the easternedgeof the plain of the river Sa6ne, the region of Franche-Comtecontains a high potential of salt spring, salt ponds and salty fields, consequenton the proximity of the Trias geologicallevels. Overall, the springs with the highestsalt contentare in theJura, with its thick layersof Keuperrock-salt.In the regionsof Haute-Sa6neand the Daubs, the gypsums and claysbearless salt, hence the lowersalinity of the springs and salt ponds (drawingP Petrequin).

53

UPSTREAM GROZON

18

DOWNSTREAM GROZON

8 GROZON

1 GROZON

12

GROZON

11 bis

GROZON

4

:--0 "O

tn, e-1

~

0 C

.z 0

~ r r

tT1

?'

r,:i,

'I--=-------=====' ll,,,, ,.....

··.I I·-,.

C"l

~

21 tT1 ;o

~

Roman Era

54 12474± 70 BP

1111 charcoal

bearing sediments

-::

charcoal density

1999 - P. Petrequin

Fig. 20. Longitudinal stratigraphic cut of the Grozon basin (Jura}, well known for its exploitation during the Middle Ages. This schematic stratigraphy, whose overall length is approximately 600 meters, is based on bores and hand bore samples. The depression has been created by the underlying salt being dissolved; the infill since the Middle Neolithic reaches down 12,5 meters. Wood charcoal coming from the exploitation of the salt is well represented throughout the sequence, except for the Roman Period. The AMS radiocarbon dates are calibrated to 2 sigma (drawing P Petrequin}.

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

2 000 AD

fI

1236 10151023

1 000

!

649

361

0

1 19

456

1 000

1081

I

1325 12691

I

1591

I

'V"V

_

9~8

I

241 4071

Il l

776

894

I

1161

I

r816851650

I

1027 I 0559 -•21

1 000

924

684 674

662

9

,V

f

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)2

722 760

1 000

936

1058 1105

1384

1503 1491

2 000

2 000

3 000

I I

I I

874 887

2 000

·················· Tl

3 000

3515 3334

37261 3750

4000BC ---------------------------------------3965 solar years

4 000 1999 - P. Petrequin

Calibration: 2 sigma (95,44 %), Calibeth 1991

Fig. 21. Chronologicallisting of the 31 AMS radiocarbondates. calibratedto 2 sigma, obtainedfrom the charcoalsedimentsrelatedto the exploitationof salt in Franche-Comte. Theseexploitationsare representedsince the Middle NeolithicII, at the dawn of the IVth millennium BC; they becomemoreprevalent from the EarlyBronzeAge to La Time. The hiatus during the Roman Era is probablydue to an interdictionto exploitthe salt springs of theJura, whilst the Mediterraneansalt was commercializedin the wholeof Gaul (drawingP.Petrequin).

1/20 000 maps issued by the National Geographic Institute, as well as on the old land cadastres of the 19th century, known as the "cadastres napoleoniens". Fram a situation of only 33 salt springs or indeces of salt known for FrancheComte in 1981 (fig 1, boxed in area), we ended up with 150 localities to be prospected (fig. 19), without being able to evaluate the value of such indications without doing new field-work; so they all had to be tested to ensure coherence in the research work. Over the past three years, the prospection and test borings have been undertaken, locality by locality. We first had to interview the local people, to clearly identify the given place names, which

demonstrated that since the Neolithic, topographical depressions and the lower valleys had silted up over several metres, leaving us in a state of doubt as to the completeness of the known salt springs and those listed in the sources. In theory, everything led us to believe that many springs could have been covered up with the acceleration of forest clearing for agriculture, and in particular since the Late Bronze Age, as demonstrated by the pollen diagram from "La Gizia" at Le Miroir, Sa6ne-et-Loire (H. Richard, 1995, Laboratoire de chrono-ecologie, Besarn;:on, unpublished). We therefore invested in a systematic search for toponymic markers tied to salt and natural salt springs, by an examination of the 1/25 000 and

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often shifted from one map to another, from one survey to another. Having identified the place name, a summary physical survey allows the depressions or low spots, most likely to have silted up, to be identified. The test bores were made using either a hand borer (model with open drill or Russian-type pollen borer for water gorged sediments), or else using a motorised borer (APAG EO borer), when the sediments are hardpacked, or that these exceed a depth of 7 m. The test borings were systematically undertaken at three different points: the first upstream the salt spring, the second at the salt spring, and the third downstream. This process, costly in terms of time and energy, allows for any high charcoal content sediments, carried a short distance, to be identified, and their origin determined, by comparing the three core samples together. Once charcoal bearing sedimentary strata have been identified in relation to a potential salt spring, new drillings are made for cores samples to ascertain the geometry of the sedimentary infill (fig. 20), and the chronology of the charcoal bearing deposits determined, using the radiocarbon AMS method of dating. Lastly, a final core sample of 10 cm diameter allows samples to be taken for pollen and charcoal analysis. Finally, if the extraction of salt during prehistoric times is demonstrated, the archaeological context within a radius of 10 to 20 km around the salt spring will be taken into consideration, in each case. This lengthy and ambitious process has already born fruit, notwithstanding the fact that the research has not yet been completed. On the basis of 29 radiocarbon AMS dates and 2 conventional ones, no less than 9 salt springs have been proven to have been exploited during prehistoric times, starting from the beginning of the IVth millennium BC (fig. 21); we are still waiting for the dating results for 2 salt springs; and finally, a salt spring exploited in the Middle Ages for which we have no records has come to light (Plainoiseau, Jura). Our interpretation of the territorial organisations during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages will be substantially modified, as demonstrated by the application of some of the ethnoarchaeological model test keys.

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First key: the attraction of settlements The example of the Middle Neolithic II enclosures (fig. 2) in relation to some of the exploited salt springs (fig. 22) gives credence to the earlier hypothesis of a territorial organisation in Franche-Comte, in which salt plays an important part and in which the population sought out high points, where they could erect stone-built fortified enclosures, inside of which they built permanent dwellings clustered together. This is certainly the case for the salt-bearing depressions of Lons-le-Saunier and of Salins, as well as for the group of enclosures of Dole, Rougemont and possibly that of Jussey. The situation is clear to the point that we can question whether the counterexamples of Besanc,:on and Vesoul (enclosures without the exploitation of salt), and of Gray (salt exploitation without enclosures), reflect an ancient reality, or rather insufficient archaeological evidence or insufficient test bores. We should not however minimise at all costs the essential role of the high reliefs of the terrain on the western slopes of the Jura and the plateaux of the Haute-Sa6ne. These enclosures allowed the population to exercise a control at least over the territory visible from their fortified village. The highest yielding salt springs - meaning those with the highest concentration of salt - are in the category of those within sight and hence controllable: Le Chateau at Montmorot, as an example, is barely one kilometre from l'Etang du Vieux Saloir and two from Le Puits Sale; the same goes for Salins, with Le Camp of Chateau and the sites, today destroyed, of Fort Belin and of Fort Saint-Andre. Here we have a level of proximity to the salt springs which no longer allows us to apply the social model from New Guinea. We even know of a village, dated to the La Tene III period, which was built around the salt springs of Grozon, indicative of the total control of the access to the salt for a period of time. This association of high-yielding salt springs with fortified villages will be repeated on at least three occasions in Franche-Comte: during the Neolithic II in the first half of the fourth century BC, at the end of the Bronze Age and during the Late Hallstatt period, suggesting if not

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

identical social organisations, at least similar, in that based on an unequal right of access to the natural resources, in communities in which the exchange of prestige objects between the elite constitutes part of the basis of social reproduction (Brun 1992, Petrequin, Cassen, Croutsch and Weller 1997). At other times, the social network appears to be organised in a less unequal manner, and the salt springs are exploited, as in New Guinea, by groups neither living on the spot, nor even close to the natural salt springs. This is particularly the case for Grozon during the Neolithic and possibly for a part of the Bronze Age. The pollen diagrams (see 7. 5) allows us to more specifically tackle this question.

The recent dating of the oak lining n ° 9 of Les Fontaines Salees at Saint-Pere-sous-Vezelay (Yonne) (Lacroix 1966), to 2440 BC (dendrochronological analysis by V. Bernard, UMR 6566, CNRS and University of Rennes, unpublished), demonstrates that the fitting out of salt springs during the Neolithic and Protohistoric periods was certainly more frequent than thought, because stable conditions below the water table permitted the long conservation in this instance.

Third key: remainsof buildings and construction We have already seen that at Grozon, a complete village was built around the group of salt springs, most likely as from the Middle La Tene. The remains are easily identifiable because of the lengthy occupation and because archaeological test bores have been made on several occasions. The difficulty of identifying the remains of habitations increases when archaeological excavations are not possible and that the only means available are surface surveys and boring for samples. Nevertheless, clues exist, such as evidence close to some salt springs. At Jouhe (Jura), right next to a mildly saline spring, a grindstone made of sandstone from Serre is a serious marker that the spring was known at least from the Iron Age, even if our test bores did not bring to light any evidence of exploitation. At Grozon (fig. 20), throughout the stratigraphic levels, fragmented and burned animal bones were probably trapped in the swamp just below the temporary buildings, which, according to the radiocarbon dates, succeeded each other in a sequence from the IVth millennium to the first century BC. Of the buildings however, not a trace; the chances of preservation are slim, since they were most likely built on dry ground, and not in the swamp, thus in an area subject to the effects of erosion. This is probably the case for Salins as well, where Piroutet in 1926, reported finding artifacts from the Early Bronze Age and Late Hallstatt, several tens of metres from Le Puits a Muire. It would seem, that to have any chance of success, the archaeological excavations should be effected

Second key: collection ponds Considering the methods used to prospect, including boring for samples, the work undertaken to create the prehistoric retaining basins is the most difficult to identify. At Le Puits Sale of Lons-le-Saunier, in a first test bore, we sliced through superimposed fir trunks at a depth of seven metres, which have every chance of belonging to a wooden retaining basin made of logs interconnected by grooves cut to half their diameter. This structure has been dated to La Tene. It is interesting to note that at that time, deforestation on the western edge of the Jura mountains had reached a level such, that they had to obtain straight tree trunks at higher altitudes several kilometres away, for the structures associated with the exploitation of salt. This is in fact not an isolated find. In 1862, "whilst exploiting the ashes in the vicinity of Le Puits Sale, another smaller square well was discovered" (quoted by Odouze 1991). Furthermore, during works undertaken between 1744 and 1752, "we discovered the remains of the third salt spring between Lons-le-Saunier and Montmorot, which had been completely forgotten, in association with which we found conduits, wells, and reservoirs all made of oak, without the use of stone, which proves their antiquity" (Perrin 1850).

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close to the edge of the swampy ground, where the chances of preservation begin to be reasonable, and with the exploitation structures and habitations close by. We can cite by way of proof the case of Tourmont (Jura): in 1448 "whilst digging to have access to the spring ... , the workers came across two oak troughs, which were probably no more than the remains of a previous exploitation" (minutes of April 9, 1448, quoted by Prinet 1896). The same observation is repeated at Grozon, regarding a depression near the salt spring: "after clearing the historic level, I continuously come across hearths with the remains of meals, bones and the antlers of deer ... and two pretty little axes made out of serpentine" (Guichard 1891). These swampy sites require, however, a particular level of expertise to be methodically excavated, as well as a substantial investment in test bores, which is today beyond the means available for research or a evaluation project.

Fourthkey: clay sedimentswith wood charcoal As of the present state of the project, the test bores have on 12 occasions brought up very fine clay deposits with heavy concentrations of charcoal. In 11 of the 12 instances, the longitudinal sedimentary profile of the valley has demonstrated that the origin of the charcoal had to be close to a salt spring exploited during the Middle Ages (8 instances), or reputed to have never been exploited (3 instances). It has to be said that the risk of confusion arising as between charcoal generated as a consequence of salt production, metal working, or intensive deforestation is slight, particulary given that at Salins in 1789, when the brine was evaporated in metal cauldrons, 3 to 5 cubic meters of wood were needed to obtain 50 kg of salt (Moulun 1968). To give an idea, if not the quantity of salt extracted, at least an indication of the volume of charcoal and other material cast into the river, the case of Salins is exemplary: the charcoal from the production of salt in the XVIII th century is visible in the fine alluvial silt almost as far as the confluence of the Furieuse and the Laue, 10 km downstream the salt works; as for the charcoal

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from the Neolithic exploitation of salt at Salins around 3000 BC, this is still present in large quantities in the fossilized meanders, 7 km below the area of exploitation. Over a period of several thousands of years, an enormous quantity of fuel was thus burned to produce salt. A longitudinal cut of the basin of Grozon, where three salt springs are presently underground, shows that the present-day marsh occupies a depression which has been progressively sinking, as the underlying gypsum and rocksalt has dissolved (fig. 20). This depression has always contained a swampy marsh, fed by the Grozonne river, and subject to period flooding, when some of the charcoal floated in and settled in ring-form sedimentary layers. The clay sediments were fluid to the point that the medieval weir protecting the spring, built of infill so as to also support the boilers and the buildings associated with the salt production, sank into the swampy soil and had to be regularly built up. The programme of systematic dating of these charcoal deposits using the radiocarbon AMS method, allows us to already track the evolution of the salt exploitation since the Neolithic (fig.21). The first analyses of wood types for the Middle Ages (Dufraisse 1999) show up the rapid changes in the supply of combustible material. We have to say that, in Jura, the presence of different types of vegetation according to the altitude, is very useful to show modifications of the areas concerned with the supply of wooden combustible. In this way, at Lons-le-Saunier (Le Puits Sale, bore S3), the charcoal diagram shows firstly the exploitation of a waterside forest on water gorged land, concurrently with the exploitation of an oak forest. Secondly, the waterforest is progressively disappearing, as a consequence to the intensive exploitation of trees around the salt springs. Thirdly, the exploitation of oak forest itself is decreasing, as the exploitation of beech forest begin to increase; such a growth of beech proves the extension of wooden supply in the direction of higher grounds. Finally, the results of the charcoal analysis show an almost complete disappearing of the waterside forest and the replacement of beech forest, in the way of depletion, by an oak-hornbeam forest, favoured

SALT SPRINGSEXPLOITATIONWITHOUT POTTERYDURING PREHISTORY

by a new forestry management of the low altitude plains. At Salins 1, which is more deeply set into the Jura First Plateau, the results of charcoal analysis shows the exploitation of a beech forest; the progressive increase in beech trees can most likely be explained in terms of the extension of the area of supply, particularly in the direction of higher grounds, where, in forests, the proportion of beech is more important. In fact, this is the same trend as for more recent times: the forests were reserved for the exploitation of salt within a radius of 12 km from Salins in 1556, 24 km in 1581 and finally 28 km in 1726, in line with the increasing requirement for combustible material. An identical analysis of tree types is currently in progress for the sequence covering the Neolithic-La Tene sequence in the marsh at Grozon, by comparing this sequence with that for the evolution of the forest in the Middle Ages, by tracking the eventual changes in the source of supply and the make-up of the forest itself.

mean that the primary purpose of the deforestation was not to increase the area of agricultural land. A hiatus in the pollen count covers the end of the La Tene and the Gallo-Roman periods, possibly in relation to an end to salt extraction. As from the Early Middle Ages, the anthropogenic pollen count reaches close to 25%, the arable and pasture land is then much more extensive, probably related to the presence of an important agricultural community in the Grozon depression. This first pollen count diagram allows for a first appreciation of some of the social conditions related to salt production. From at least the middle of the Bronze Age, the people exploiting the salt did not live right next to the salt bearing depression; it was most likely a seasonal exploitation (as evidenced by the very fine stratification of the sedimentary deposits), but the deforestation was already advanced, such as in areas of extensive agriculture, whilst the pollen count associated with agriculture is modest. Only with the advent of the Iron Age is the land close to the springs extensively given over to cereal crops, whilst the forest lands remain constant; possibly due to the establishment of an agricultural community able to control the access to the salt springs.

Fifth key:interpretation of the pollen sequences The marsh in the Grozon depression (fig. 20) has been the subject of a pollen analysis from bore n° 8. The markers of anthropogenic changes to the environment {Cerealia, Plantago, Rumex .. .} attest to agricultural activities in the vicinity, as from the end of the Middle Bronze Age. The drop in the pollen count of most tree-types during the Late Bronze Age is due to the increased area of deforestation, coupled to a marked increase in the pollen count of other types of vegetation, possibly in direct relation to the deforestation, the increase in erosion and of sedimentation. By contrast, the pollen count attribuable to agriculture remains constant, so that everything points to increased deforestation associated with increased salt production. During the Iron Age, forest lands appear to have substantially declined, with a considerable increase in the percentage of herbaceous types. Considering, however, the increase in deforestation, the pollen count associated with agriculture still appears to be low, which could

Sixth key:the rate of sedimentation At Grozon (fig. 20), we dispose, for the first time, of a number of radiocarbon AMS dates sufficient to tackle the variations in the rates of sedimentation in the sinking depression at the level of the salt springs. The objective is to evalue the rates of sedimentation consequent on the repeated periods of deforestation associated with salt production. For the purpose of this study, we have assumed that the rate of subsidence of the basin has not known substantial fluctuations. The rate of sedimentation, calculated in centimetres per annum was constant (0,20 cm/p.a.) from the beginning of the fourth millennium BC till the middle of the second millennium BC, which is to say from the Middle Neolithic II to the Middle Bronze Age. For that period, the production of salt has been proven using other criteria as

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tion of grave mounds from the Early Bronze Age (fig. 23) clearly indicates that hierarchical differences are most clearly marked around Salins, the highest yielding salt spring of the entire region. We could stop at this finding, which, so far as Franche-Comte is concerned, would supply the explanation for all the archaeological data. In our view, however, the question is more complex. If you compare the grave-goods from the tumuli of the Salins region with those of the graves of Western Switzerland (where there is a total absence of salt springs), it will become apparent that the differences of social status are not flagrant between these two areas. Only the tombs of Charcier and Chapelle-sur-Furieuse (Mordant, Petrequin 1989), with dagger, axe and gold spirals are able to stand comparison with the Swiss burials. Furthermore, when you know that both of the salt springs at Lons-le-Saunier (Montmorot, Etang du Saloir) and that of Salins were exploited in equal mesure during the Early Bronze Age, you need to question the reasons for the demonstrations of high status at Salins rather than at Lonsle-Saunier. The question therefore has to be asked as to whether it is the salt which is the basis for the display of certain evident forms of social privileges (in which case the void in the region of Lonsle-Saunier cannot be explained), or else whether it is rather the control of a route used for the exchange of goods - of which salt is one - which explains the wealth accruing to certain individuals on the East-West route across the Jura, which is to say on both sides of the range (Brun 1992). The question of the "value" of salt has to be continuously reexamined, since its value is a direct function of the forms of social control exercised over its exploitation and exchange. In the Highlands of lrian Jaya, the social context does not favour wealth creation by individuals and an entire region benefits from the salt, in a more general manner. During the Middle Neolithic in Western Europe, the advertised status by means of long polished green Alpine stone axes (Petrequin, Croutsch and Cassen 1998) has been placed in direct correlation with the volume of salt production (regions of Halle, Bad Nauheim, Gulf of Morbihan). On the other hand, other salt producing regions, such as the Jura and Lorraine,

identified higher up, but would not appear to have been large scale. The first instance of accelerated sedimentation is in the Late Bronze Age (0,60 cm/p.a.), which correlates with the brutal increase in the rate of erosion suggested by the pollen count diagram. After a period of slower sedimentation, the phenomenon accelerates once again (0,75 cm/p.a.) during the second half of the Hallstatt period. The Roman period is marked by a slowing of the rate of sedimentation, to barely more than that during the Neolithic, and corresponds to a total interruption in the production of salt, substantially proven by the absence of radiocarbon dates in the whole of Franche-Comte (fig. 21), whilst the Romans imported their own salt from the Mediterranean (Gras 1995). Production resumed slowly in the Early Middle Ages (0,35 cm/p.a.), followed by an extraordinary intensification in salt production, historically known to have culminated at Grozon from the tenth to the twelfth centuries, with a very rapid rate of sedimentation approaching I cm/p.a. The conditions thus proved to be ideal, in a small yet deep sedimentary basin such as that of Grozon, to obtain a chronological view of salt production. This view must remain relative until such time as we can establish the comparative yields as between the process involving the soaking and burning of vegetable matter (prehistoric process) and the medieval manufacturing process based on heating the brine in metal cauldrons.

Seventh key: economic and social consequences A further view of the production and exchanges can be reached, by evaluating the arrival of specific objects denoting wealth, at least those buried as hoards, and those fossilized in the tombs of the privileged few. The diagram of radiocarbon dates (fig. 21) allows us to suggest that, during the Early Bronze Age, two groups of salt springs were exploited in Franche-Comte: Salins and Lons-le-Saunier (fig. 22). Furthermore, the cartographic distribu-

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SALT SPRINGS EXPLOITED FROM NEOLITHIC TO IRON AGE

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Fig. 22. In Franche-Comte, the prehistoric exploitation of salt springs was particulary marked in the Jura, around the springs of Lons-le-Saunier and Salins. Other lesser centres appear further North and further to the West, in relation to the most ancient groups of Neolithic enclosures (compare with fig. 2) (drawing P.Petrequin).

Fig.23. Distribution of grave mounds from the Early Bronze Age in Franche-Comte. Only the region of Salins is involved in the phenomenon of advertised status, as compared to the Late Bronze Age {see fig. 3}, when the region of Lons-le-Saunier was better endowed. This phenomenon of social inequality does not appear to be in direct relation to the salt springs of Salins and Montmorot, which were both in full production at this time. In the case of the "wealth" relative to Salins, the role of the exchanges with Switzerland via the route across the Jura appears to be of paramount importance (drawing P.Petrequin}.

are unaffected by the phenomenon of the social status attached to these long stone axes, whilst the Parisian Basin, which is not a salt producing region, is directly implicated in this regional accumulations of distinctive status symbols. It would thus appear that salt production was one of the elements used by inegalitarian social organisations; but it was not the only one, and it is not even certain that it was always the most important. The creation of inegalitarian system, will assuredly never be simplistically explained as being caused only by the manufacture of highly prized products. Furthermore, there could be a hierarchy in the value of such products; such that for the Bronze Age at least, metal takes pride of place, as in the Valais, where salt springs are rare, or else in Lorraine, where bronze hoards appear to be in relationship with the copper ore of Fareberswiller, 45 km to the North of Chateau-

Salins (Veber 1998), rather than with the high yielding salt springs in the Seille valley.

Eighthkey:populationdensity As we made progress with our research programme, we were tending towards a political geography associated with the exploitation of salt. Overall, at the regional level, and for a time span covering seven millenniums, there is no doubt that the trend of salt production was on the increase. The exception is probably the Roman period, for the reasons we have seen: the man-

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