Territories and lithic resources in the Paris basin during the Middle Neolithic (4200-3600 BC)

International audienceNeolithic tool-makers of the Paris basic had access to a great diversity of lithic material resources, among them--secondary or tertiary flint, sandstone and orthoquartzite. Tertiary flint and secondary flint were most commonly used for domestic production. These materials can be found mainly in the Mesozoic Senonian limestone (Coniacian and Campanian), and in the Tertiary Saint Ouen (Bartonian) silicified limestone. Other materials are exogenous, such as Jurassic flint originating from the flint mines of Caen-Falaise plain of Normandy (the fringes of the Armorican Massif), used for the production of axes. The presence of axes manufactured from non-local igneous and metamorphic rocks suggests that some axes were brought to this region from the Armorican massif and the Alps. Others may have come from Vosges, the Central Massif or the Ardennes. This evidence consequently points to the Seine valley's role as an important geographical centre of both distribution and exchange of Armorican and Alpine axes. Evidence points to a sharp difference in use of lithic resources between the Chasséen septentrional and Michelsber