Les premières industries lithiques dans le nord de la France, reflet des premiers peuplements dans une région de haute latitude

Abstract

The majority of data for the oldest palaeolithic occupations in Northern France comes from fluvial deposits in the Somme Basin. Large number of acheulean handaxes have been collected in the gravels during the exploitation of the quarries. Since 1980, some well-preserved archaeological sites have been excavated. The oldest lithic industries are Acheulean. The environmental background of the Lower Palaeolithic occupation is well documented. The pollen and mollusc studies show that the environmental context of the hominid settlements is temperate to cool even in deposits corresponding to glacial cycles. The study of the different acheulean sites shows that represent different specialized activities linked with specific geomorphological/sedimentary context.

Keywords

• Acheulean
• environmental background
• Northern France
• Somme Basin