The postglacial (ca. 13 000 BP) vegetational and climatic history is reconstructed from the pollen analytical study of the sediments of two lakes located in coastal northern Gaspé Peninsula. J'Arrive Lake (altitude: 56 m) was submerged by the Goldthwait Sea until about 11 400 BP. Euloge Lake, 83 m in altitude and less than 1 km from the shore, escaped the marine invasion. Before 10 400 BP, the vegetation, very scarce at first, evolved to a herb tundra that lasted for over a millenium. A cold climatic oscillation correlative with the Younger Dryas is identified at both sites between 10 700 and 10 400 BP, during this herb tundra phase. After 10 400 BP, dwarf birch and willows colonized the sites, leading to a shrub tundra. The afforestation of the area began only around 9300 BP, with the late arrival of spruce and aspen. This phase was interrupted at 8650 BP by the upsurge of green alder, in response to another cold oscillation. Since 7250 BP, the present forested landscape finally developed in three steps, characterized by (i) a high diversity of forest species until 2500 BP, (ii) a loss of diversity until 1000 BP that favoured spruce and balsam fir, and (iii) an increase of heliophilous trees, shrubs, and herbs. These reconstructions contribute to the late-glacial palaeogeography of Eastern North America through the unravelling of conditions close to the retreating ice.
International audienceThe Molène archipelago appears to be particularly rich in Neolithic and Bronze Age remains and an exceptional concentration of megaliths has been brought to light. Several settlements are confirmed by dry-stone structures or by shell middens. These data give precious indications on the occupation chronology of the area. Moreover they allow us, for the first time in Brittany, to reconstruct everyday life during the late Prehistoric period.A prerequisite to this reconstruction was a better understanding of the evolution of the environment during this period, which locally implies a better knowledge of paleogeographic changes related to Holocene sea-level rise as well as on floral and faunal resources. The results obtained through paleogeographic reconstructions show that the archipelago since 4500 BC was already disconnected from the mainland. The megalithic monuments must therefore have been erected and used by islanders present on the archipelago from the middle of the 5th to the 2nd millennium BC. The distribution of the megalithic tombs reveals landscape occupation strategies which respond to both cultural choices and natural constraints. Throughout the entire period, geographic isolation has continued to increase, although it did not imply strong cultural specificities. Nevertheless, the increasing remoteness of the islands has fostered the search for livelihoods based on the intense exploitation of coastal resources. Despite their focus on the sea, these people did not neglect what inland areas could offer as evidenced by the early agro-pastoral practices in the archipelago
Apport de la géologie marine à la détermination des sources de matières premières au paléolithique dans le massif armoricain : origine possible du silex utilisé sur les stations paléolithique inférieur de Menez-Dregan (Plouhinec, Finistère, France) Implications paléoclimatiques et paléoenvironnementales Contribution of marine geology to determine the source of palaeolithic raw materials in the armorican massif: possible origin of flint used at Menez-Dregan lower palaeolithic stations (Plouhinec, Finistère, France). Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental implications
Évolution des paysages et occupation humaine en mer d'Iroise (Finistère, Bretagne) du Néolithique à l'Âge du Bronze Landscapes evolution and human settlement in the Iroise Sea (Finistère, Brittany, France) during Neolithic and Bronze Age
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