Excavation at Abri Saint-Joseph. Photo: IPNA
The evidence for occupation was concentrated from the Mesolithic (8500-5500 BCE) and Neolithic (5500-2200 BCE) periods, with lesser but discernible activity during the Bronze Age, late Iron Age and into the Roman period. This represents an occupational period of 10,000 years where groups lived in and around the rock shelter for short periods at a time.
A transitional period
Was there a pre-ceramic Neolithic here, prior to the arrival of kiln technology and the farmers from the east?
The findings at St. Joseph do present a tantalizing perspective on this question, as the rock shelter is located on the fringes of the main occupational zone during the Neolithic.
It is quite possible that the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in this area kept their traditions until as late as 3900 BCE, long after the farming population of the plain of Alsace had adopted a lifestyle based on agriculture
It is quite possible that the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in this area retained their traditions and way of life until as late as 3900 BCE, long after the farming population of the plain of Alsace had adopted a lifestyle based on agriculture.
The site seems to provide evidence for a slow acculturation of hunter-gatherers. Contacts, at least, must have existed, given the evidence of charred wheat grains which were excavated, within a Mesolithic context.
It is also possible that hunter-gatherers had already begun to harvest wild cereal crops after they had arrived along with early farmers from the Balkans.
During the later Neolithic however, the shelter was apparently used for hunting. Botanical remains were scarce; besides hazel nuts, the researchers also found corn which was probably brought as food provisions.
End to excavation
This year the archaeologists came across late-glacial deposits dating to around 12,000 BCE, suggesting that there will be no human habitation earlier than this date.
The study of the transition period between hunter-gatherers and farmers are of greatest interest to the archaeologists and all the sediments from the Mesolithic and Neolithic deposits were ‘wet sieved’ to recover organic residues, such as small animal bones and charred plant remains such as seeds and hazelnuts.
Towards the end of the excavation, using a small excavator, the archaeologists dug a narrow trench to determine the extent of the find layers and to obtain additional information on the formation processes. Finds included the lower end of the metacarpal bone of an aurochs (Bos primigenius prime) and the full blade of a bronze dagger from the Early Bronze Age.
