Excavation of a Solutrean campsite

Since November 2011, a team of archaeologists from L’Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), have been excavating the site of a Solutrean hunters camp in Brantome (Dordogne), southwest France, prior to the construction of a waste management plant.
Archaeological evaluation, conducted in October 2010, revealed the presence of Palaeolithic activity buried more than two metres deep. Full excavation revealed a prehistoric hunters camp dated to the Solutrean period, during the last glacial maximum making it over 20,000 years old.

Flints by the thousand

The extent of the site and it’s preservation – including a rich assemblage of lithic objects – is remarkable. Within the camp, on the south shore of Brantome Island archaeologists have excavated the remains of structures that were previously undisturbed and were able to identify areas of specialized activities in both the production and use of various tools.
Although any bone fragments have been lost due to soil acidity, it seems that this camp was the location for butchering, cutting and processing the carcasses of large herbivores, including deer and horses, hunted nearby.
Several thousand flints were unearthed by archaeologists, who have identified areas of production for sophisticated stone tools, such as the typical laurel leaf projectile points, notched blades and flat-faced points that are characteristic of the Solutrean culture.

Three shattered laurel leaf points - typical of the Solutreans, from the knapping area of the campsite. © Olivier Dayrens

As in other sites of the late Solutrean, the quality of some bifacial pieces, including the “laurel leave” type, show that the flint-knappers of this culture from the Upper Palaeolithic had acquired an expertise unrivalled during Prehistory; these pieces are thin and slender and have been crafted with extreme care – remarkable for both their symmetrical beauty and their cutting performance. The site has provided a large number of blanks and fragments, showing a large scale production of tools was taking place here.
Solutrean flint knappers had access to many quality materials on the alluvial terraces of the Island, including; flint nodules; pebbles of quartzite; dolerite and shale which was not only used for producing tools but also for construction of dwellings. The study of the lithic industry material from the camp at Boulazac highlights the origin of several non-local materials. Many tools come from Bergerac, about 50 km away, or Fumélois, on the right bank of the Lot more than 70 km away.

Solutrean sites and distribution in Europe. Image: Sémhur, used under a (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

The camp in context

The lithic industry of Boulazac must then hint at links with other Solutrean settlements where similar material has been found – such as the nearby cave of Combe Sauniere and Cantalouette 2, near Bergerac.
The site will become part of an interdisciplinary study by French and foreign specialists including geomorphology and stratigraphy and technological analysis of stone tools and materials, micro-morphological examination, along with thermoluminescence and carbon 14 dating.

A new technology

Solutrean tool-making employed techniques not seen before with finely worked bifacial points made with lithic reduction percussion and pressure flaking rather than previous cruder flint-knapping techniques. Knapping was done using antler batons, hardwood batons and soft stone hammers which permitted the working of more delicate slivers of flint to make lighter projectiles and even elaborate barbed and tanged arrowheads.
Source: Inrap press release

More Information:

L’Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives
 http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/06/2012/excavation-of-a-solutrean-campsite