Les pratiques ornementales à l'Aurignacien ancien dans le Centre-Ouest de la France : l'apport des fouilles récentes aux Cottés (Vienne)

International audienceThrough the first exhaustive and detailed analysis of personal ornaments recovered at Les Cottés cave, this contribution proposes new elements for the debate on the cultural dynamics that impacted the symbolic organization of the first Upper Palaeolithic communities in Western Europe. The complete archaeosequence identified at Les Cottés during recent excavations gives new insight into the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Western Europe. The cave is located at the south-western margin of the Paris Basin, close to the Aquitaine Basin. Various field works have successively been conducted on the site since the end of the 19th century ; a new excavation programme was started in 2006. A Mousterian level (unit 08) starts the sequence. It is overlaid by a Châtelperronian level (unit 06) and a Proto-Aurignacian level (lower unit 04) and the sequence is closed by two Early Aurignacian levels (upper US 04, US 02 ; US 03, also attributed to the Early Aurignacian is a low density level between upper US 04 and US 02). Châtelperronian, Proto-Aurignacian and Early Aurignacian levels are separated from each other by archaeologically sterile deposits often measuring more than 10 cm in thickness. The different occupations have yielded abundant lithic and faunal material characteristic of this period. This study focuses on the 12 personal ornaments recovered during previous and new excavations including a stone pendant, ivory beads, tubular bone beads and fox canines. Microscopic analyses show a high level of diversity in the raw material, as well as in the shaping and techniques of suspension used to make the different bead types recovered on the site. No clear evidence of use-wear was identified on the pieces. Interestingly, the stone pendant recovered during the previous excavation presents evidence of percussion on its surface, suggesting the pendant was distinctly used for domestic as well as symbolic purposes. Only one ivory bead was found in stratigraphic position within an Early Aurignacian level (upper US 04) identified during the new excavations. An interdisciplinary approach, crossing data from the analyses of the personal ornaments, in particular their state of preservation, taphonomic and archaeo-zoological results and the deposition modes of each level, has led to the proposal of a contextual re-attribution for ten of the beads. In particular, systematic observation of red sediment on the surface of the pieces suggested that they belonged to the one geo-archaeological unit that presents the same colouring. This unit corresponds to the first Early Aurignacian level, also identified during the previous excavations. In this level, more than 20% of the faunal and lithic remains present a red colouring. In agreement with this hypothesis, cut marks were registered on one of the perforated fox canines, testifying to the acquisition of the teeth on a fresh carcass. Concomitantly, evidence of fox exploitation was exclusively identified in the Early Aurignacian occupation (upper US 04). Moreover, the marked similarities in shape between all the ivory beads, including the one found in stratigraphic position, indicates that they all belong to the Early Aurignacian occupation. A survey of European archaeological literature shows that all the bead types identified at Les Cottés were already largely documented in the Early Aurignacian context, favouring the consistency of their cultural re-attribution. At this point in the study, inferences on the cultural affinities of the Early Aurignacians that occupied the site with other groups were researched. A survey of the literature revealed that the beadtype configuration identified at Les Cottés presents stylistic affinities with the Early Aurignacian from South-Western France. By comparing data from the personal ornaments with other categories of material found in the Early Aurignacian lower level, a regional contrast appears between raw material procurement strategies and the stylistic affinity of bead type association. Although mainly local raw materials were used for lithic industry on the site, exogenous siliceous raw materials used in the Early Aurignacian lithic industries were imported from the north of the Poitou region. It highlights a geographic contrast between the symbolic and economic spheres developed by the Aurignacians who occupied the site. While the bead-type association may reflect south-western affinities, the economic sphere is developed around a north-eastern area. The marginal position of the site in regard to South-Western France, and the interface that constitutes the Poitou region between two different economic territories highlights the large-scale diffusion of personal ornamentation traditions in Western Europe during the Early Aurignacian. This diffusion appears to be unrelated to the settlement dynamics resulting from subsistence constraints.Le gisement des Cottés, situés aux marges sud-ouest du Bassin parisien, livre un abondant mobilier lithique et osseux des premières phases du Paléolithique supérieur (Châtelperronien, Protoaurignacien, Aurignacien ancien). Cette étude présente onze objets de parure découverts dans ce gisement à l’occasion des nouvelles fouilles et un artefact issu des anciennes fouilles. La série d’analyses mises en oeuvre pour ces éléments de parure met en évidence la variété des supports et des techniques utilisés pour leur confection. Un seul objet a été retrouvé en position stratigraphique, il s’agit d’une perle en ivoire provenant du premier niveau d’Aurignacien ancien. Les autres ont été découverts lors du tamisage des déblais anciens. C’est à travers une approche interdisciplinaire que nous proposons une attribution a posteriori de l’ensemble des parures. Pour cela, les données livrées par la fouille elle-même, les données de l’archéozoologie et celles issues de la comparaison des états de surface des parures avec ceux des restes fauniques, sont croisées. La confrontation de nos résultats avec ceux disponibles dans la littérature permet par ailleurs de vérifier la cohérence des attributions chrono-culturelles proposées. Dix des objets de parure peuvent donc être attribués à l’Aurignacien ancien. La comparaison de cette association de perles avec celles qui sont connues ailleurs en Europe montre que la diversité ornementale identifiée aux Cottés présente des points communs avec celle de l’Aurignacien ancien du Sud-Ouest de la France. Parallèlement, l’analyse des aires d’approvisionnement en silex à l’Aurignacien ancien aux Cottés permet de souligner une dichotomie entre la sphère symbolique, qui semble connectée avec le Sud-Ouest de la France, et la sphère économique, qui s’inscrit dans une aire limitée au nord du Seuil du Poitou. La position géographique du gisement au Sud du Bassin parisien sur le Seuil du Poitou, est marginale par rapport au Sud-Ouest de la France. Le site est à l’interface entre deux territoires économiques distincts, marquant l’existence de diffusion des normes ornementales sur une large aire ouest européenne à l’Aurignacien ancien, dissociées des dynamiques territoriales occasionnées par les besoin économiques