Landscapes evolution and human settlement in the Iroise Sea (Finistère, Brittany, France) during Neolithic and Bronze Age

Pailler, Yvan; Stéphan, Pierre; Gandois, Henri; Nicolas, Clément; Sparfel, Yohann; Tresset, Anne; Donnart, Klet; Fichaut, Bernard; Suanez, Serge; Dupont, Catherine; Clézio, Laurence Le; Marcoux, Nancy; Pineau, A.; Salanova, Laure; Sellami, Farid; Debue, Karyne; Josselin, Jérémie; Dietsch-Sellami, Marie-France

doi:10.4000/norois.3662

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Archaeological remains suggest less dense settlement patterns at the end of the Late Bronze Age (Coquillas ; Pailler et al . ; Stéphan et al . ) and several abandonment of settlements, notably due to an important eolian event within the coastal areas of NW Europe (Guilcher & Hallégouët ; Tisdall et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Holocene salt‐marsh sedimentary infilling and relative sea‐level changes in West Brittany (France) using foraminifera‐based transfer functions

Stéphan

Goslin

Pailler

et al. 2014

Boreas

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International audienceIn order to reconstruct the former sea-levels and to better characterize the history of Holocene salt-marsh sedimentary infillings in West Brittany (western France), local foraminifera-based transfer functions were developed using Weighted-Average-Partial-Least-Squares (WA-PLS) regression, based on a modern dataset of 26 and 51 surface samples obtained from salt-marshes in both the bay of Tressseny and the bay of Brest. Fifty cores were retrieved from Tresseny, Porzguen, Troaon and Arun salt-marshes, which were litho- and biostratigraphicaly analyzed in order to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental changes. A total of 26 AMS 14C age determinations were performed within the sediment successions. The Holocene evolution of salt-marsh environments can be subdivided into four stages: (1) a development of brackish to freshwater marshes (from c. 6400 to 4500 cal. a BP); (2) salt-marsh formation behind gravel barriers in the bay of Brest (from 4500 to 2900 cal. a BP); (3) salt-marsh erosion and rapid changes of infilling dynamics due to the destruction of coastal barriers by storm events (c. 2900-2700 cal. a BP); (4) renewed salt-marsh deposition and small environmental changes (from 2700 cal. a BP to present). From the application of transfer functions to fossil assemblages, 14 new sea-level index points were obtained indicating a mean relative sea-level rise around 0.90±0.12 mm a-1 since 6300 cal. a BP

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Holocene salt‐marsh sedimentary infilling and relative sea‐level changes in West Brittany (France) using foraminifera‐based transfer functions

Stéphan

Goslin

Pailler

et al. 2014

Boreas

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“…As part of this work, almost 5800 fish skeletal remains were specifically identified (Dréano in Pailler et al . 2009b), making it a reference for late prehistory on the scale of the French Atlantic coast. Recognition of the different species of marine molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms contained within the shell middens provided information on the type of tidal and infra-tidal environments associated with them.…”

Section: Archaeological Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the history of relative sea level rise, the use of some of these fisheries, such as that of Ar Mildiz 2 (Lédénès Vihan of Quéménès), could date back to the Middle Neolithic I (Pailler et al . 2009a). Such fishing practices were implemented in all seasons, even though they appear to have been more intense in the spring, and targeted wrasses more in the winter.…”

Section: Exploitation Of Coastal Resources and Evolution Of Foreshore Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wood species are dominated by oak (52%). The radiocarbon date obtained on a charcoal fragment falls into the Early Neolithic (5895±30 bp , 4836–4710 cal bc ; UBA-20256) (Pailler et al 2011a). These first findings are surprising and indicate that the Neolithic lifestyle quickly spread from east to west throught the Armorican Peninsula.…”

Section: A Few Parallels With the Neighbouring Parts Of The Molène Armentioning

confidence: 99%

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Landscape Evolution and Human Settlement in the Iroise Sea (Brittany, France) during the Neolithic and Bronze Age

Pailler

Stéphan²,

Gandois

et al. 2014

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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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

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“…Moreover, palaeoecological data recently acquired on Holocene Brittany's coastal sequences discussed past environmental variations (vegetation changes, palaeo-storm dynamics, precipitation regimes) and linked these rapid coastal changes with climate dynamics as well as human occupation on watersheds (Fernane et al, 2014(Fernane et al, , 2015. These studies especially focused on the Neolithic, a period when the development of agro-pastoral societies became more and more pronounced (Pailler et al, 2011;Visset and Bernard, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions during the Meso- to Neolithic transition (9.2–5.3 cal. ka BP) in Northwestern France: Palynological evidences

et al. 2018

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Sedimentological, palynological, and micropalaeontological studies carried out throughout the first half of the Holocene, during the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in the Bay of Brest (i.e. 9200-9000 and 6600-5300 cal. BP) and in the Bay of Douarnenez (i.e. 9200-8400 cal. BP), allowed characterizing coastal environmental changes under the increasing influence of the relative sea-level rise. The gradual flooding of the two studied sites implied a transition from river valleys to oceanic bays as revealed by the gradual retreat of salt marsh environments, as detected through palynological analysis. In addition, these high-resolution studies highlight the regional imprint of the North Atlantic millennial climate variability in northwestern coastal environments. Two cold climate events are indeed suggested to have been locally marked by a moisture increase, mainly detected by increases in Lingulodinium machaerophorum, Corylus, and Alnus percentages at 8550 cal. BP in the Bay of Douarnenez and at 6250 cal. BP in the Bay of Brest. Moreover, regarding the Neolithic transition timing in the Bay of Douarnenez, large pollen grains of Poaceae (i.e. Cerealia-type pollen grains) have been detected at around 8600 cal. BP, that is, 1500 years before the general accepted cereal cropping appearance in Western France. These results, consistent with other palynological studies conducted in the French Atlantic coast, could underline a Mesolithic 'proto-agriculture' in Brittany.

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Landscapes evolution and human settlement in the Iroise Sea (Finistère, Brittany, France) during Neolithic and Bronze Age

Abstract: 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

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Holocene salt‐marsh sedimentary infilling and relative sea‐level changes in West Brittany (France) using foraminifera‐based transfer functions

Holocene salt‐marsh sedimentary infilling and relative sea‐level changes in West Brittany (France) using foraminifera‐based transfer functions

Landscape Evolution and Human Settlement in the Iroise Sea (Brittany, France) during the Neolithic and Bronze Age

Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions during the Meso- to Neolithic transition (9.2–5.3 cal. ka BP) in Northwestern France: Palynological evidences

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