Water and food management in late Neolithic plateau caves and lowland substructures in the south of France (3500-2300 BCE)

Pauline Debels (1, 2) , Luc Jallot (1) , Christophe Borgnon (3, 1)

1 ASM - Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes
2 Trajectoires - UMR 8215
3 Inrap - Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives

The purpose of this article is to investigate the storing behaviours in the South of France in the late Neolithic period, in plateaus and lowland structures. Plateaus are limestone formations that present multiple natural cavities for the Neolithic people to use, but in return, have no surface water to offer. The subterranean nature of water has profoundly shaped the storing behaviours in the plateaus as it is mostly turned towards water collection and storage. In the lowland area however, substructures were dug directly in the soil and ceramics were used aswell as possible organic containers. This paper aims to address the similarities and differences between the usage of caves and cellars. The application of a use-wear analysis on ceramic vessels brings new insights on past food practices.

Keywords: Storage; Pottery; Cave; Neolithic; Karstic; Functional analysis; Use-wear

Domains: Archaeology and Prehistory

Pauline Debels, Luc Jallot, Christophe Borgnon. Water and food management in late Neolithic plateau caves and lowland substructures in the south of France (3500-2300 BCE). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020, 31, pp.102341. ⟨10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102341⟩. ⟨hal-03224874⟩