Solutré
1968-1998 edited by Jean Combier & Anta Montet-White
Société Préhistorique
Française, Mémoire XXX: 2002; 281 pages; 131 illustrations;
82 photographs (52 colour, 30 B&W); 31 tables; ISBN 2-913745-15-6
Since the first discovery of stone
tools and the earliest excavations at the site by geologists Henri Testot-Ferry
and Adrien Arcelin in 1866, the site of La Roche de Solutré and
its associated ‘village’ deposits in the Mâconnais
region of Burgundy, much of it today under the Pouilly-Fouissé
vineyards and therefore ‘out of bounds’ to the archaeologist,
has rarely failed to feature in studies of the European Upper Palaeolithic.
Until now, however, it is largely the earlier work undertaken at the
site, such as that published by Thoral, Combier
and others in 1955, which has provided much of the information available.
The 1968 to 1976 and subsequent excavations meanwhile rank amongst the
greatest undertaken, and form the basis of this volume.
This book is a ‘conference proceedings’
stemming from a 1999 séance spéciale of the Société
Préhistorique Française and this is reflected in the lack
of systematic coverage of some material which one might expect in a
site-report-proper. The volume is divided into three main parts. In
the first (Les Fouilles) we are presented with an account of the site
and excavations, ranging from the 19th century through the early 20th
century, illustrated with photographs typical of the period, to the
1968 campaign and a year-by-year account up to 1976, and summaries of
more recent seasons. This detailed history is followed by presentation
of the stratigraphy and descriptions of selected sectors (Early Upper
Palaeolithic (L13 and M12) Gravettian (J10) and Magdalenian (N16 and
P16). The final chapter of this section (Chapter 8: Les alentours du
gisement) is perhaps the most interesting. In considering the surrounding
area and sites, it prevents us from falling into the trap of believing
that the size and scale of Solutré mean that it is the only site
in the area worth studying. It presents the site in its cultural as
well as natural environmental context and goes hand in hand with a much
later chapter (Chapter 18) focusing on population movement and raw material
sources. The two chapters are particularly remarkable given that the
project to investigate the surrounding area had, unfortunately, to be
curtailed due to the lack of time and resources.
In parts two (Dynamique sédimentaire, environnement
et chronologie) and three (Le Matériel archéologique)
we find detailed reports of the analysis, both palaeoenvironmental and
archaeological, undertaken in recent years by specialists in their respective
fields. The approaches adopted included the sedimentological, micro-morphological,
palynological and macro- and micro-faunal. Jeannet notes, for example,
the lack of fieldmouse and dormouse and attributes this to cold conditions
prevailing in the region at the time, an observation supporting Argant’s
classification of the pollen as herbaceous and lightly-wooded steppe.
Finally, Part Two ends with a clearly-stated discussion of the now-available
dates which provide a relatively tight chronological sequence from Mousterian
to Magdalenian.
Part three concerns selected archaeological material
relating directly to human behaviour and occupation of the site –game
(prey), hunting methods, equipment (stone tools etc), social and economic
territory and mobiliary art.
The Magdalenian macro-faunal data is treated in some
detail by Elaine Turner (Chapter 14), although for even greater detail
the reader would be well advised to turn to her other account of this
material, also published in 2002. Focusing on Sectors I11 and P16, she
tells us that different prey species (reindeer, horse and bison) were
taken at different times of year (horse in February to March, reindeer
in April to May, and bison in the autumn or winter), although her main
focus of attention concerns how man hunted, killed and used the wild
horse at Solutré. For example, she sees little evidence for the
intensive use of remains of these large game species. Furthermore, characteristic
of the Magdalenian, she records decreasing frequencies of direct evidence
of carcase processing with increasing frequencies of species: horse
dominates but only 3.1% of the material bears cuts and impact marks,
reindeer is the second species and of this 4.4% shows direct evidence
of processing. Bison meanwhile is the third species but 5.6% of material
is ‘cut’. It is a pattern observed elsewhere, reinforcing
a picture of more intensive processing of carcases of ‘secondary’
species. Turner suggests that as many of the herd were killed as possible
before the rest fled in panic, the result being that more were killed
than required and that many carcases were not processed – hence
the relative lack of cut-marks. Thus the horse was hunted and killed
at the Roche de Solutré, and the requisite carcases processed.
The same, she says, can not be claimed with as much certainty for the
reindeer and bison.
In her taphonomic study of the Magdalenian fauna some
of the necessary data, which must be available given the nature of the
discussion, are not presented. Whether the fact that bones are three
times more common than teeth really means that the assemblage was little
influenced by natural taphonomic factors, as Turner claims, remains
open to question, although the fact that all horse body parts are represented
(albeit in varying relative frequencies) lends weight to this argument.
Without detailed tabulation of anatomical element (MNE) frequencies
it is impossible to tell; shaded line drawings are not sufficient.
A more detailed description of the type and distribution
of cuts on each species - including wolf – follows in which impact
and cut-marks are identified. Disarticulation, skinning and filleting
are invoked to explain marks observed. Meanwhile, frequencies of carnivore
tooth marks are also plotted on skeletons of horse, reindeer, bison
and wolf. The possibility that carnivores were at the site for some
time can not be excluded.
Turner concludes with a useful summary of results
by others, comparing their results with her own, thereby reminding us
that research frequently uncovers as many problems as it solves. For
example, despite a lack of equally detailed study of fauna from earlier
levels, patterns which Turner uncovers are those which she sees throughout
the use of the site. How this will be accepted by those who identify
points of change in subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper
Palaeolithic and later remains to be seen.
Immediately after Turner’s consideration of the Magdalenian material
from Solutré, Chapter 15 provides details of the Mousterian fauna
from Solutré-village (Cave Denuziller) and, as such, is perhaps
one of the most valuable chapters included, presenting the material
for the first time in readily accessible form. Despite the indisputable
importance of Solutré in studies of the Upper Palaeolithic it
is invaluable to see, at last, publications of other aspects of the
site. We are told, for example, that the economy of these hunter-gatherers
is based on the organised and planned exploitation of horse and reindeer.
The Charentian hunters were well able to adapt to varying circumstances
and conditions, the image invoked by Jeanette Blackman (a seasonally
and annually organised and planned ‘logistic’ strategy)
being more typical of that now traditionally conjured up for the Upper
Palaeolithic. Her arguments tally well with those of Turner, although
one might wonder why the Magdalenian chapter preceded the Mousterian.
This is a volume in which faunal material and associated palaeoenvironmental
evidence almost inevitably dominate, receiving considerably more attention
than do stone tools and other artefacts. However, the industries are
summarised in Chapter 16 – material from both old and recent excavations
being considered separately. Chapter 17 meanwhile looks at initial results
of lithic use wear analysis in Sector M14 (Aurignacian), using a technique
which the author claims to be new to archaeology. For this reason the
chapter could perhaps have provided more details of the technique and
analysis. Meanwhile, it is a shame that this analysis and the faunal
reports do not relate to the same sectors and periods. A study of fauna
from M12 would, for example, be invaluable.
In Chapter 18 Combier discusses human movements across
the region and territory, basing his arguments on results of raw material
sourcing. He views the hunters as socially hierarchically-organised,
homogeneous tribes moving around the landscape along an established
and planned route, this route taking them from areas of rich hunting,
fishing and trapping, to abundant plant resources and readily available
lithic raw material. The hunters, although not sedentary in the same
way as early farmers, were certainly ‘attached to the territory’.
Abundance of fauna in areas of low human population density means that
long-distance movement are not needed for food procurement, and for
this reason Combier is unsurprised to find relatively local sources
of raw material used: tools are made from flint obtained only 10-15km
away, to the north. Furthermore, there appears to be no evidence of
exchange between ‘contemporary’ hunters of Villerest (70km
SW of Solutré), St-Martin-sous-Montaigu (60km N of Solutré)
and Solutré itself. Combier believes the area of movement around
Solutré to be of about 30km diameter, and he identifies two axes
of movement: about 10km east-west along the Grosne valley along which
hunters followed the herds (apparently there are numerous largely uninvestigated
sites on the river terrace), and towards the north-east in the area
of the Mouhy-Verneuil lithic workshop site.
Decorated artefacts from the site, including numerous
images of animals, are itemised in detail at the end of the volume (Chapter
19) and provide a source of information on the day-to-day life of the
Upper Palaeolithic hunter. The fact that this information derives from
sites in an area of France which is not focused on the Dordogne and
Vézère catchments can only add to their value at both
large and smaller regional scales.
The importance of Solutré at least in part
derives from the long cultural sequence observed at the site –
from the Mousterian (c.54000 BP) to the Magdalenian (c.15000 BP). At
such a site the degree of faunal preservation is almost unparalleled
and therefore the site is of paramount importance for archaeozoologists
interested in the horse and reindeer as individual species as well as
those concerned more generally with the Palaeolithic. In this context
the volume is of great significance, presenting the Mousterian faunal
material, plus a useful summary of the Magdalenian data, although more
details of the Solutrean reindeer and the Gravettian magma would be
invaluable. The volume is not, however, a ‘faunal report’.
Instead it is a volume throughout which faunal data are integrated into
the discussion and descriptions. It provides a good example of the integration
of such material within a report, rather than the simple, and more common,
inclusion of it only as a chapter or worse an appendix.
The volume is lavishly illustrated, using both colour
and black and white photographs, although not necessarily in the right
places. In particular, given the use of colour photographs in the volume,
it is perhaps surprising that the micromorphological analysis in Chapter
10 is not illustrated in colour. Inevitably the quality of reproduction
varies: most of the ‘new’ photographs of both the site and
archaeological material are of good quality while the photographs of
the early excavations add character to this historical account. The
line drawings however are of mixed quality, ranging from the exceptionally
good to the poor.
There is an element of repetition throughout the book
which could have been avoided: how many times, for example, do we need
to be told where the site is ? This is perhaps inevitable in a conference-proceedings
volume in which chapters are written by different specialists, although
some editing might have avoided it. Some things are missing or not covered
in sufficient detail, while other aspects are given too much attention.
Do we really need all the history of the excavations and the problems
encountered ?
Site reports are rarely thought provoking. They are,
instead, a source of data and in this the Solutré volume is typical
of most. Much of the information presented is available elsewhere, as
the bibliography (part 4) makes clear. However, it is the first time
that the site has been described and analyses reported in a coherent
whole; we now have dates, stone tools, fauna (large and small), pollen,
sedimentology etc all in one volume and for this alone the editors are
to be congratulated. Inevitably specialists will choose to consult other
references as well but for many this book will provide all the information
required. The division of the bibliography into three parts –
two concerning the earlier excavations, the third concerning the post
1968 excavations is a useful one, although the inclusion of several
pre-1968 references among the post-1968 excavation reports (even, for
example, the 1959 Circonscription) is an interesting phenomenon which
is perhaps a production problem. Similarly, the 1696 (sic) Voorhies
publication is an interesting error. By and large however there are
few typographical errors, although those which do occur may pull the
reader up short. The lack of foreign language abstracts or summaries,
such as one finds in other Société Préhistorique
mémoires such as Francois Bon’s (2002) L’Aurignacien
entre Mer et Océan, is a weakness of the volume and one drawback
which may limit readership among students if not others. It is also
perhaps somewhat surprising given that more than a third of the authors
are English speakers.
In sum Combier and Montet-White are to be congratulated
in providing this useful summary of data. It will not answer all our
questions about Solutré and it will certainly generate new ones,
but that is the purpose of research. The volume is one which anyone
who is concerned with the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Western Europe
will surely find themselves acquiring. Whether it is read in its entirety
or is treated as a source of relevant information will depend largely
on the reader’s interests. Archaeozoologists should read it all,
while others will see just how much such analysis and investigation
can contribute to a broader, integrated study of the Palaeolithic.
Bon, F. (2002) L’Aurignacien entre Mer et Océan. Réflexion
sur l’unité des phases anciennes de l’Aurignacien
dans le sud de la France. Paris, Mémoire de la Société
Préhistorique Française 29
Thoral, M., Riquet, R. & J. Combier (1955) Solutré.
Trav. Lab. Géol. Fac. Sc. Lyon, N.S., n° 2
Turner, E. 2002 Solutré: An Archaeozoological Analysis of
the Magdalenian Horizon. Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum
Forschungsinstitut für Vor- und Frgeschichte 46
Katie Boyle
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge CB2 3ER
Review Submitted: December 2003
The views expressed in this review are not
necessarily those of the Society or the Reviews Editor.
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