Food for thought

Thesis

This dissertation examines certain aspects of the Belgian archaeological record during the Lateglacial. It is geographically centred on the north-western Ardennes and has two main themes. The first is a re-evaluation of the known chronology and archaeology for this region during the Lateglacial. The main part of this is presented in chapter 2, and includes a discussion of recent radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system, including some obtained in the course of this research. The second theme is an examination of a series of supposedly Lateglacial faunal assemblages from 5 cave sites in the north-western Ardennes, namely the Trou de Chaleux, the Trou des Nutons at Furfooz, the Trou du Frontal at Furfooz, the Grotte du Coleoptere and the Grotte de Sy Verlaine. All of these sites have yielded late Magdalenian archaeological finds, and the prime objective of the study of the faunal assemblages is to identify direct evidence for the human modification of animal bone. The study reveals some good evidence for the latter, but also certain bars to the interpretation of these assemblages, which are discussed in detail within the relevant chapters. This dissertation concludes with an overview of the results and interpretations presented in the dissertation. The final pages of this dissertation include a tentative exploration of the notion of ethnicity, and how this concept may be relevant to the interpretation of butchery evidence.

Authors: Charles, R; Charles, Ruth

• Alternative title: late Magdalenian chronology and faunal exploitation in the north-western Ardennes
• Publication date: 1994
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-nzyv8p5wj
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Subjects: Magdalenian culture; Bone implements; Belgium; Ardennes