Master's Thesis

Paris - 2023

My Master's thesis, completed at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and supervised by Marie-Hélène Moncel and Erwan Vaissié, focused on the study of a lithic collection from the Abri du Maras (Ardèche).

The petro-techno-economic study of the retouched tools contributed to the question of the Rhodanian Quina facies and placed the site within a broader chronological and regional context.

Racloir Quina en Silex de l'Abri du Maras

Abstract

The results obtained during this thesis provide new insights into the existence and validity of the Rhodanian Quina as a cultural entity.

Indeed, the industries of the Rhône Valley stand out from the majority of sites attributed to the Quina lithic techno-complex (LTC), except for the minor presence of pieces with scalariform stepped retouch.

While a certain form of regional cultural coherence seems to exist (well-defined by specific technological features) and is expressed relatively diachronically within the Rhône Valley, the "Quina" nature of this entity appears more questionable than ever.