Cultures et traditions du Paléolithique supérieur dans les régions nord-méditerranéennes.

This work concerns the Upper Palaeolithic in the North-Mediterranean regions extending from the French to the Greek coastal belts. Great heterogeneity in the Palaeolithic record exists among different regions depending on the huge geographic modifications that occurred during the last glacial cycle and on the state of research in the countries considered. In many cases, this latter enables us to prove with certainty the real lack of human traces in a given territory. The MP-UP “transitional” industries are well represented by the Uluzzian mostly in Central-Southern Italy and Greece. The abrupt shift to the Aurignacian is largely recorded from several key-sites that provide a large amount of evidence relatingto the cultural layout and the settlement dynamics. The bladelet-dominated industries differentiate the Proto-Aurignacian from the classic Aurignacian sequence with scrapers, retouched blades and burins that are present but scarcely documented in a small number of sites. The middle UP is mainly chacarcterised by the Gravettian and the large spread of the Noailles-burin industries along the Tyrrenian coastal belt from the south-east of France, whereas the Adriatic area remains completely devoid of such types of occurrence. Significant cultural differentiations towards the end of the Gravettian period led to separate cultural trajectories being followed in two separate geographic spheres, namely the Solutrean to the west of the Rhône valley and the long-lasting Epigravettian phase to the east. Born out of from the Gravettian tradition, the Epigravettian industries indicate witness a few ephemeral contacts with the western area in the earlier phase and depict the boundaries of contracted territories during the Last Glacial Maximum advance. The late-glacial period sees the classic Magdalenian in the French area from the Pyrenees to the Rhône valley facing the easternmost region that still records Epigravettian occurrences. The interstadial marks huge shifts in the peopling process of new territories in several districts during the recent Epigravettian and behind the Rhône threshold in late Magdalenian. Traditionally defined on the basis of typological signatures, the Epigravettian has been recently re-examined under a more dynamic point of view that opens new perspectives on the cultural-behavioural variability.