Rochereil
Rochereil is a cave of the Upper Paleolithic in the field of French municipality Grand-Brassac in the Dordogne . In addition to around 4,000 stone artifacts and bones, it contained the burial site of an adult male, the trephined skull of a two-year-old child and the calcined remains of two youngsters.
Geography, geology and description of the location
Rochereil, sometimes also spelled Rochereuil, named after the watermill of the same name Moulin de Rochere (u) il , is located on the right bank of the Dronne just below the confluence of the Euche , a right tributary of the Dronne, about 2.5 kilometers north of Lisle . The cave was created in a steep wall about 20 meters high from flat-lying limestone from the Coniacium . In front of the cave there is a small road that leads to the hamlets of Lonlaygue and Renamon . Not far upstream at the Pont d'Ambon , the D 2 crosses the Dronne from Bussac to Saint-Just . On the left side of the valley of the Dronne is the Abri von Pont d'Ambon , another important settlement of the Upper Palaeolithic. 2 kilometers further south (towards Lisle) finds from the Upper Magdalenian were also made near La Peyzie .
The relatively small cave opens opposite the Rochereil mill. It is no more than 10 square meters. The prehistoric finds were made inside and on a terrace area in front of it.
Research history
The first excavations were carried out at the cave around 1900 by the Marquis de Fayolle and M. Féaux. This resulted in a tragic death due to falling rocks. More extensive investigations go to Dr. PE Jude, who worked here between 1935 and 1939, but did not publish his results until 1960. The cave forms part of Christine Duchadeau-Kervazo's doctoral thesis from 1982. The finds are now kept in the museum in Brantôme .
stratigraphy
The deposits of the cave area can be divided into two sequences, which in turn can be broken down into several levels. The older sequence comes from Magdalenian VI, the younger from Azilien .
Finds
Magdalenian VI
The sequence of Magdalenian VI is characterized by the following stone artifacts: burins . Very common (approx. 60%), consist primarily of diamond-shaped burins , parrot's beaks ( French: burins bec-de-perroquet ) scrapers are subordinate . Relatively insignificant (around 10%). Back knife. Also only 10%. Tips of the Laugerie-Basse-, Teyjat- and Hamburg-type.
The very rich stone artefacts (more than 2000 specimens) were mostly made of black-blue flint , which occurs quite frequently in neighboring sediments of the Santonium . Various types of brown flint nodules were also used, mainly for burins and knives.
Among the bone tools are:
- Caulking tools
- Needles
- Thorns
- Double beveled spearheads
- Pierced rods
- hook
- Double row harpoons
Many of the bones have been decorated with finely crafted engravings that look very realistic. Towards the end of the sequence, the patterns become more geometric. Engraved river pebbles with very puzzling patterns have also been found.
The trepanned skull plate of a two to three year old child also comes from Magdalenian VI.
Azilien
The Azilien, with almost as numerous stone artefacts and bone finds as in the previous Magdalenian VI, is characterized above all by the points and flat harpoons made of deer antler that are typical of this epoch .
The succession of Azilia also contained a human burial site with a 1.68 meter male skeleton (strongly resembling the Chancelade type) and the remains of two youths whose bones were calcined. The non-calcined skeleton of the adult was surrounded by layers of ash and scorched earth, a possible indication of a ritual burial.
Very rich finds from Azilien were made in the abri of the Pont d'Ambon.
Age
The Rochereil cave can be attributed to the period 12,500 to 10,500 years BP on the basis of the finds from Magdalenian VI and Azilien .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duchadeau-Kervazo, C .: Recherches sur l'occupation paléolithique du bassin de la Dronne . In: Thèse Doctorat en Géologie du Quaternaire et Préhistoire . Université Bordeaux I 1982, p. 885 .
literature
- Delluc, B. & G., Roussot, A. & Roussot-Larroque, J .: Connaître la préhistoire en Périgord . Éditions SUD-OUEST, 1990, ISBN 2-87901-048-9 .
- Jude, PE: La grotte de Rochereil: station magdalénienne et azilienne . In: Archives de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, mém 30 . Masson, 1960, p. 75 .
- Platel, J.-P. et al .: Périgueux (Ouest) . In: Carte géologique de la France at 1/50 000 . BRGM, Orléans 1989, ISBN 2-7159-1758-9 .
Coordinates: 45 ° 18 '8.3 " N , 0 ° 32" 6.5 " E