Hommes et volcans au Pleistocene moyen dans le bassin de Venosa (Basilicata, Italia)
Résumé
Our knowledge concerning the most ancient phases of the Southern Italy Early Paleolithic has been greatly increased in the last years through the systematic excavations and studies of the early Middle Pleistocene sites of Notarchirico and Loreto (Venosa, Basilicata, Italy). One of the main conclusions obtained by the lithostratigraphical and tephrostratigraphical identifications has been that the sedimentary events identified in the site of Notarchirico took part in a relatively short period, largely and continuously influenced by the volcanic activity of Monte Vulture, between 740 and 600 ky. The most important palaeoethnological consequence which can be deduced by this conclusion is that the variability observed in the composition and structure of the lithic assemblages from different levels cannot be explained by a phyletic approach but do rather reflect some kind of rapid adaptive answers to moderate climatic fluctuations combined with the locally more significant consequences of the volcanic activity.
L'étude des sites du Paléolithique ancien du bassin de Venosa (Notarchirico, Loreto) dans leur cadre litho-téphrostratigraphique montre que la sédimentation dans les sites est intervenue durant une période relativement courte, sous l'influence permanente de l'activité volcanique. La conclusion palethnographique immédiate est que la variabilité des outillages lithiques observée entre les différents niveaux archéologiques peut sans doute être en partie interprêtée comme une expression adaptative aux stress locaux induits par le volcanisme.