Une pointe de la Font-Robert dans le Gravettien de l’Est pyrénéen ! Le site du Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 (Tautavel, France)

Les prospections menées depuis les années 2000 dans la vallée du Ruisseau de Saman-Cabrils (Tautavel, France) ont permis de repérer, dans ce micro-territoire, plusieurs sites de plein air attribuables au Paléolithique supérieur ancien, c’est-à-dire à l’Aurignacien et au Gravettien. Tel fut le cas, dans les années 2010, du Jas d’en Biel 1 et 2 et du Ravin d’en Saman 1 et 2. La découverte récente d’un nouveau site, le Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5, vient relancer l’hypothèse d’une concentration de sites dans ce petit territoire. Malgré un effectif lithique relativement faible, le Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 s’inscrit culturellement dans le contexte du Gravettien tel qu’il a été identifié dans la zone orientale du versant nord pyrénéen. Comme dans le cas du Ravin d’en Saman 1 et 2, plusieurs indices techno-typologiques renvoient à des moments anciens du Gravettien. C’est, en particulier, le cas d’une pointe de la Font-Robert qui représente, à ce jour, le spécimen connu le plus méridional en latitude. Éloignée de plus de 200 km du foyer périgordin, cette pointe témoigne de relations entre la zone orientale du massif des Corbières et la Dordogne. Même si la très grande partie de l’outillage lithique du Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 relève d’une origine locale, à moins de 30 km, correspondant aux gîtes oligo-miocènes du Bassin de Narbonne-Sigean, deux pièces proviendraient des formations crétacées d’Aquitaine. L’absence d’études paléo-environnementales et de datation 14C, liées aux conditions de dépôt du gisement, nous prive de données qui auraient été précieuses pour préciser le type d’occupation humaine dont le site a été le lieu. À ce jour, le Ravin d’en Saman 4 et 5 confirme la présence du Gravettien ancien dans une zone dont il était absent jusqu’à encore très récemment. De plus, il engage, par la présence de la pointe de la Font-Robert et de matières premières allochtones, dans la voie d’une recherche de relations humaines à longue distance qui auraient existé entre la zone méditerranéenne du piémont nord pyrénéen et l’Aquitaine.Until recently, the early Upper Palaeolithic was unknown in the Mediterranean part of the French Pyrenees. This absence is difficult to explain given that sites from this period have been known for some time north of the Pyrenees, in Narbonne region (La Crouzade Cave), south, in the Girona region (the caves of L’Arbreda and Reclau Viver), and to the west, in the central Pyrenees (the caves of Tuto de Camalhot, Portel, Enlène-Trois Frères and the open-air sites of Sers and Taoua). The 2008 discovery of Jas d’en Biel 1 provided additional evidence for a Late Gravettian presence in this area of the Pyrenees, partially filling the aforementioned chrono-cultural gap.Two Upper Palaeolithic groups occupied open-air camps on river terraces, not far from the banks of two streams, the Saman-Cabrils and Rec del Fenoll, that lie on either side of the low altitude Col del Buix (absl 208 m) and drain into the Mediterranean. Several of these sites have been published over the last few years or are in the course of publication, including Jas d’en Biel 1 (2008), Jas d’en Biel 2 (2022), Ruisseau de la Redouna (2021), Ravin d’en Saman 1-2 (2021) and Ruisseau de la Boulière 2 (submitted). These sites provided evidence for a human presence in the region during the Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Mesolithic. The newly discovered site of Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 attests to a human presence as early as the first stages of the western European Gravettian.The artefacts were collected from the surface of a clayey formation containing almost no stone blocks. The remains were distributed uniformly in all sectors of the site, which is due to long history of vineyard activities in this area. The large blades from Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 appear to have either been produced in a different part of the site or imported, while bladelets were detached from cores recovered from the site. The discovery of a Font-Robert point supports an early Gravettian attribution for the assemblage. Like all Upper Palaeolithic sites in the area, raw materials consist of a high proportion of local Oligocene-Miocene flint varieties from Narbonne-Sigean or Roquefort-les-Corbières as well as jasper from Villefranche-de-Conflent. The assemblage also contains two pieces in exotic materials from the Bergerac region of the Aquitaine Basin, which attest to communication routes running along a N-W/S-E axis being in place from the early stages of the Gravettian. Almost thirty years ago, Y. Taborin’s sourcing of the shells used for Upper Palaeolithic personal ornaments highlighted exchange routes between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. The two pieces from Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 provide additional evidence that these same communication routes were used for the exchange of certain high-quality flints.The Col del Buix likely met the needs of Upper Palaeolithic hunters, as it provided decent sun exposure, easy access to water and stone free ground. The minor obstacle of the pass, however, may have presented considerable difficulties for gregarious animals. This particular topographic context potentially required a mode of hunting which, in the absence of organic material, remains hypothetical.The discovery of a Font-Robert point raises two important issues:- First, in the eastern Pyrenean area, this point type demonstrates an early Gravettian presence, which was previously proposed based on very limited evidence that unfortunately derives from old excavations. This is the case, for example, with the small points from La Crouzade (Gruissan, Aude department), as rightly noted by D. Sacchi.- Second, it updates and completes the distribution map of Font-Robert points in western European, with the Ravin d’en Saman 4-5 example being the southernmost occurrence.Forty years after initial surveys, a cluster of open-air sites broadly attributable to the Gravettian have been documented in the area of Ravin d’en Saman-Cabrils and Rec del Fenoll, an exceptional discovery for the eastern Mediterranean coast. This new data raises questions as to why humans repeatedly settled the area during this period. The small size of the sites suggests they represent short-term stopover sites along migration routes extending far beyond the eastern Pyrenean region, as suggested by the presence of the Font-Robert point and exotic raw materials