l Preistoria Alpina v. 39 (2003) Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali Trento 2003 ISSN 0393-0157 La Combette (Bonnieux, Vaucluse, France): a Mousterian sequence in the Luberon mountain chain, between the plains of the Durance and Calavon rivers P IERRE-JEAN T EXIER, J EAN-PHILIP B RUGAL, E MMANUEL Dsscr.xux, C RISTINA L EMORINI, J OSE A NTONIO LOPEz S AEZ , ISABELLE THERY & Lucv WILSON. ABSTRACT - Integration ofdata from various fields of investigation shows that the La Combette rock shelter was, at least during the Middle Palaeolithic , situated on the southern margin of a more northerly settlement area. The shelter appears to have been used several times as a refuge by small groups of hunters venturing into the southern reaches of a larger territory, so that they could exploit the resources offered by a mid-altitude mountain environment. Key words: La Combette, Mousterian sequence, Durance and Calavon rivers. Parole chiave: La Combette, sequenza Musteriana, Durance e Calavon Pierre-Jean Texier - CNRS, UMR 6130-CEPAM, 250 rue Albert Einstein, F-05 650 Valbonne. E-mail: [email protected] Jean-Philip Brugal- CNRS, UMR 6636 et GDR 1051-MMSH - BP 647, 5 rue du Chateau de I'Horloge, F­ 13094 Aix-en-Provence . E-mail: [email protected] Emmanuel Desclaux - Laboratoire du Lazaret, 33bis Bd Franck Pilatte, F-06300 Nice. Cristina Lemorini - Museo delle Origini, Dip. di Scienze Storiche,Archeologiche, Antropologiche dell' Antichita, Univ. "La Sapienza" di Roma, P.leAldo Moro 5, 1-001 85 Roma. E-mail : musori @rmcisadu.let.uniromal.it Jose Antonio Lopez Saez - Laboratorio de Arqueobotanica, Departamento de Prehistoria, Instituto de Historia, CSIC, Duque de Medinaceli 6,E-28014 Madrid. E-mail: [email protected] Isab elle Thery - CNRS, UMR 6l30-CEPAM, 250 rue Albert Einstein, F-05650 Valbonne. E-mail: thery@cepam .cnrs.fr Lucy Wilson - Department ofPhysical Sciences, University ofNew Brunswick in Saint John, P.O. Box 5050, CA-Saint John, NB, E2L 4L5. E-mail: [email protected] 1. INTRODUCTION ving a level ofresolution which has only rarely been possible in the past. Located in the heart ofthe Luberon mountain chain (1 125 m), the site of La Combette (327 m) 1.1. Geologic and geographic outline contains a 7 metre thick stratigraphic sequence, with several layers ofextremely well-preserved Mouste­ By establishing direct connections between pos­ rian occupations. The shelter is oriented eastward, sible areas of raw material supply and the lithic arti­ has a surface area ofnot more than 50 sq.m., and is facts discovered at the site, an archaeopetrographic located in a narrow valley beside a spring. Multidi­ study has given us the outline ofthe territory covered sciplinary studies have resulted in palaeoenviron­ by the Mousterian groups who used the La Combette mental and palaeoethnologic reconstructions ofthe rock shelter. This territory features great geographic al use ofthe site within a well defined territory, achie - and geologic unity. It is naturally limited westwards . •, F 78 07 ARDECHE Vaison ­ la-Romaine I 11 ./ r • Les Arg i l ie rs ~ Baqnots­ COrn I Malaucene. ...... 1909m ) e Noyers­ sur-Ceze sur-Jabron t t I • Mont Ventoux • ~ o r a n ge 5Cl V 1826m ~ "( s eaumes' s Montagne de Lure ~ oe-versse /) B d I'A be CARPENTR.AS r:;/~o.rmo i ro/n u.J <5 au e I ser Saint-Etienne- • Bedarrides IS' _ • les-Orgues • IS' , ~~ I ~/ 5 e • Pernes-tes- ~ M t de V a UC\U 04 FOR CALQUIER GARD Fomaines Berigoule 0 n s • L'lsle-sur- ) ALPES DE • Remouhns la-Sorgue Bnquets - - i Aramon • • Gordes CoJ\<§' ~ H A ~T E - P R O V E N C E <f • • APT Relllanne • Valensole• La Combene Les Peyrards {Orn Manosque Bonnieu x • b e Saint-Remy ­ LU - 2000 m de-Provence Montagnetu • 500 m 13 200 m BOUCHES-DU-RHONE 150 m Eyguieres• 83 ARLES Lambe sc lOOm Salon-de­ • VAR • Provence ~ Om o~ 10 l~km Echelle 1 : 600.000 (1cm = 6 km) Fig. 1 - Locations of the principal Mousterian stratified sites in the Vaucluse (France) . by the Rhone corridor, southwards and eastwards by slopes, dissected by erosion through the brightly ochre­ the wide valley of the powerful watercourse that the coloured series ofthe Albian-Cenomanian. Durance used to be (before human alteration ofits flow These three geographic sectors are connected the Durance's discharge could be up to 3000 mvsec), geologically to the sub-alpine area , which consists of and finally northwards by the southern slopes ofMount calcareous series, including the Urgonian facies lime­ Ventoux and the Lure mountain, whose highest points stones which have played a major role in the morpho­ approach 1900 m (Fig. 1). After the chasm at Mirabe­ logic, tectonic and hydrologic development of the re­ au, and guided by the mid-Durance fracture zone, the gion (BRGM, 1986, 1998). The most southerly ofthe­ course of the Durance is oriented first of all NNE­ se, the Cretaceous Luberon chain, marks the boundary SSw, before turning NW-SE at Peyrolles and running between the sub-alpine area and Provence. It is orien­ i I for about 50 km along the southern side ofthe Lube­ ted E-W,about 50 km long, ranges from 5 to 10 km in I ron anticline. It reaches the Rhone south ofAvignon , width, and has an average altitude of 800 m. not long after passing through the Orgon Gap, which The only way through the Luberon, from south marks the western end ofthe Luberon chain. to north, is through the gorge of the Aiguebrun stre­ The landscape of this region is thus one of ex­ am. This passage was thus , even during the Middle treme contrasts.The dry calcareous mountains, ofcon­ Palaeolithic, an ideal location for ambushing animals, siderable height (Mt. Ventoux - 1909 m, Lure - 1876 especially those such as horse and deer, which are re­ m, Luberon - 1125 m), and the karstic remnants, of latively poorly adapted to steep , rocky, terrain. It was Barremian-Bedoulian age (the Vaucluse mountains, also an excellent location for finding mountain goats and the Albion and St. Christol plateaus, extending in their preferred environment. The La Combette rock from 600 to 1200 m), contrast, on the plains leading shelter is located near this passage. down to the main rivers, with gentler and more humid Several lines ofevidence indicate that the latest 79 Neandertal occupations of the shelter (levels A, B/C, tant reef-building episode, form the geologic under­ and D), were due to small groups ofhunters in search pinning ofthe region. ofmountain goats and horses. These hunters were tho­ Tectonic activity was responsible for a major roughly aware ofthe specific features ofthis mountai­ advance ofmarine waters from the south to the north, nous environment, and in particular they knew of its around 20 million years ago . During the Upper Mio­ lack of lithic raw materials. cene, 10 million years ago , the Luberon underwent a At the base ofthe sequence (levels E and FIG), process offolding and tilting, and then was thrust sou­ the faunal data are comparable, except that in this case , thwards. Around 8.5 million years ago, the sea retrea­ deer are the main species, since the climatic condi­ ted, making way for continental sedimentation. The tions were more favourable for their development (end sediments were rich in quartz grains, gravel and de­ of isotope stage 4). On the other hand, the sources of bris of organisms which followed the progression of raw materials used, the technical traditions, the use of the sea. They contributed to the formation of the mo­ fire, and the organisation of space within the shelter, lasse, which in particular covers all of the northern are very different than in the upper layers. side of the anticline in the area of Bonnieux. It is in this molasse layer that the rock shelters of La Com­ bette and of the Baume des Peyrards are found (de 1.2. The present climate LUMLEY, 1969). It took about three million years at the end of The local climate is as much affected by the the Miocene for the Luberon to take the shape that we corridors ofthe Rhone and the Durance, as by the high know today. The Aiguebrun, which existed even befo­ reliefbounding the region to the north and south. Con­ re the formation ofthe chain, following a fault, cut its sequently, it can show quite dramatic variations. Nowa­ way progressively downward through the ant icline as days the southern side ofthe Luberon benefits from a it rose, making a deep canyon. mild Mediterranean climate, while the plain ofApt has Around 5.5 million years ago, during the "Mes­ a humid Mediterranean climate, and the grassy sum­ sinian Crisis", the level ofthe Mediterranean was con­ mit ofthe Grand Luberon shows that it is subject to a siderably lowered, causing the downcutting of the colder, mountainous climate. The vegetation of the canyons ofboth the Rhone and the Durance, and fur­ summit zone is adapted to the rigourous conditions ther accentuating the gorge ofthe Aiguebrun. caused by the combined effect ofaltitude, wind, sum­ The beginning of the Quaternary is marked by mer drought and low winter temperatures. the intense erosion and sedimentation which accom­ In the valleys and combes, where springs and panied the advance and retreat ofthe Alpine glaciers. perennial rivers are rare, the occasional humid areas A whole system of fluvial terraces was created at the shelter a specific flora and fauna. The mistral wind same time as a thick layer of colluvium accumulated, comes from the north, starting at the entrance to the smoothing the contours ofthe steep hillsides (BRGM, Rhone corridor, and is cooled by passing over the hei­ 1986 , 1998).