Chert acquisition in the final Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic: Territory contraction in southwestern France?

International audienceOur study has been performed on several assemblages from several sites located in the Quercy region in the South of France (Murat, Peyrazet, Mirande 2, Cuzoul de Gramat and Fontfaurès) and attributed to the Badegoulian, Magdalenian, Azilian, Laborian and Mesolithic periods. The analysis carried out on a diachronic perspective allowed us to highlight several specific techno-cultural aspects (such as the size and exploitation of the territory) from Late Glacial to Mesolithic groups.This work analyses the modifications of the territorial borders of these five different techno-complexes through the acquisition and diffusion of raw materials with the main objective being an understanding of the variations of the territory size and the rhythms of the increases and decreases of its limits.We observe very small acquisition territories for the Badegoulian with few long-distance acquisitions. Medium- and long-distance acquisitions increase during the Upper Magdalenian and Early Azilian before decreasing during the Laborian. Long-distance materials disappeared completely during the Mesolithic period