La Honteyre (Le Tuzan, Gironde)

The mid-west part of the Aquitaine basin is characterized by a vast sandy terrain, today covered by the Landes de Gascogne forest. This geological formation was recently the subject of new geomorphological and chronostratigraphic analyses, demonstrating that the formation corresponds to an erg that began to form in the early Quaternary. During the Late Glacial, the Sable des Landes was already a large natural unit in southwestern France. How did Magdalenian human groups appropriate this unique area? And what was the impact of this desert on the mobility and exchange networks of these groups? To date, surveys of the area have only documented two sites within this sandy desert clearly identifed as belonging to the Upper Magdalenian: Tizon to the south and La Honteyre to the north. Compared with the more densely populated regions of Entre-Deux-Mers to the north and the western Pyrenees to the south, this area therefore appears to have been more constraining for hunter-gatherer groups, doubtless due to the low plant and animal biomass. The open-air site of La Honteyre, discovered in 1990 by G. Belbeoc'h and excavated between 1997 and 2000 by M. Lenoir, presents a single level with a relatively low thickness. We here propose a re-evaluation of the site in order to gain a better understanding of the technical and economic strategies implemented by Magdalenian hunter-gatherers in a sandy desert environment that was a priori constraining. In relation to previous studies, we present a qualitative evaluation of the taphonomy of the assemblage and propose a petrographic, technological, and typological analysis of the lithic remains. The results of the vertical projection of the coordinated remains, the spatial distribution of the lithic refts, and the typo-technological nature of the assemblage all indicate that the layer of remains is homogeneous. The assemblage is quite rich with a total of 25 663 lithic remains, including a signifcant proportion under a centimetre in size (> 15,000 items). The analysis of the siliceous raw materials indicates a supply area clearly focused northwards, in particular with the importation of roughly worked blocks transported from over 100 km away in the Charente region. Mid-distance from this (around 60 km), int was also imported from deposits in the Dordogne. It appears that more distant materials may also have been imported (Cher Valley?, ca. 350 km) as documented in the form of one or two objects. The high level of economic foresight illustrated by this behaviour perfectly illustrates a strategy of planning for the needs of a group that had come to occupy an area devoid of flint for blade knapping. It also highlights the importance Magdalenian groups placed on blade production. Finally, the presence of some bladelet cores made from local flint from Villagrains (15 km) shows some knowledge of the local environment. The low quantities of this flint could indicate a relatively short occupation of the site. Careful blade production has allowed blanks to be obtained for tools mainly involving pieces with lateral retouches, burins (including parrot-beak burins), bec-perçoirs and pointed blades. Blade knapping was based on raw material imported from the Charente area and the terraces of the Dordogne using the traditional methods of the period (unipolar, semi-tournant, soft organic percussion). A blade-bladelet knapping continuum used the same volume for intermediate blanks: small blades/large bladelets. This economic objective can be observed in the presence of some original foliate lithic points (Laugerie-Basse type) and bladelets. An autonomous bladelet production complements these blanks, flling the need for blanks for hunting armatures on bladelets. Two main methods are involved in a single convergent unipolar concept for obtaining naturally pointed blanks. The backed bladelets present a typological diversity demonstrated in the manufacture of the pieces: backed, truncated, denticulated, inversely pointed, notched, and scalene triangles. Some specifc objects such as certain burins and lithic points are good tracers for identifying the cultural links maintained between the occupants of La Honteyre and the sites located on either side of the Sable des Landes. Furthermore, the presence of parrot-beak burins and Laugerie-Basse points indicates clear interactions between the Vienne region and the western Pyrenees, an area that now includes the Sable des Landes thanks to the site of La Honteyre. Finally, the convergent unipolar bladelet production confrms the links between these sites and the cultural identity of these late Upper Magdalenian groups. It therefore appears that we are dealing with a site located in the heart of a cultural territory, confrmed by the widespread presence of specifc objects and technical behaviour. Thus, by comparing the data from this site with other occupations to the south and north of the Sable des Landes, we can gain a better understanding of this constraining region as a place of passage for groups travelling from the north to the south, as implied by the broader circulation network of raw material between these different western Aquitaine sites.