Pleistocene climatic variability on the Armorican peninsula: what is the influence of palaeoenvironmental change on the palaeolithic settlements in Brittany?

Session II-1. Chasseurs-cueilleurs et agriculteurs face aux changements climatiques : adaptation et Développement durableInternational audienceThis paper proposes a general review of Palaeolithic sites on the Armorican peninsula with a focus on their palaeoenvironmental context. These early settlements of Western France occurred during Pleistocene climate changes; therefore they will be presented within their chronostratigraphical and environmental time frame. Indeed the pre-Neanderthal and Neanderthal populations that occupied the region were present in both interglacial contexts and the cooler interstadials of glacial phases. From the Lower Palaeolithic until the Last Glacial Maximum of the Upper Palaeolithic people came to settle at different times adapting themselves to the climatic constraints of their period. Consequently numerous occupations took place at the end of interglacial stages, during rather mild conditions. This is the case for several important sites, for example Menez‑Dregan (Plouhinec, Finistère) and Piégu (Pléneuf-Val-André, Côtes-d'Armor). Contrastingly other occupations happened under periglacial contexts but during these cooler interstadials as seen at the settlements of Les Vallées-Nantois (Pléneuf-Val-André), Grainfollet and Les Gastines, and for the site of Le Mont-Dol (Ille-et-Vilaine). This work explores how these populations adapted to climatic constraints questioning whether their lithic industries contain technological adaptations to environmental change and what this can tell us in combination with the palaeogeographical data