Hard core and cutting edge: experimental manufacture and use of Magdalenian composite projectile tips

The technology of the European Upper Palaeolithic yielded abundant evidence of the use of composite projectile heads, in the form of osseous points on the side of which one or several (micro)lithic elements are attached. Yet, little experimental work has been devoted to testing and assessing the parameters of use of this type of composite tips. In this paper we present a pilot experiment with replicas of Magdalenian composite spear tips, made of an antler point with one or two rows of flint backed bladelets. Two series of replicas were manufactured after the lithic and osseous record of, respectively, the Lower Magdalenian from southwest France (c. 20–18 Ky cal BP) and the Upper Magdalenian of Pincevent in the Paris Basin (c. 15–14 Ky cal BP). The 34 experimental composite heads were hafted to spears that were then shot with a spearthrower at the carcasses of two young deer. The results provide some insight into the performance characteristics of the osseous and lithic components, both in efficiency and durability. Finally, possible improvements of the experimental protocol are discussed, as well as the implications of our results for the understanding of projectile point variability in the Upper Palaeolithic.     

Les corridors maritimes stratégiques dans l'Arctique canadien : un programme adapté au tourisme marin ?

The melting of summer sea ice in the Canadian Arctic allows for better accessibility and therefore increased development of marine tourism. This paper highlights a significant increase in cruise ships and pleasure craft in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago since the 1990s, especially in the strategic areas of the Lancaster Sound and southeast of Baffin Island. Based on spatial analysis, cruise ships and pleasure craft were mostly sailing inside the primary corridors and outside the secondary corridors; this is particularly obvious for the fourth secondary corridor of the western Arctic. Moreover, marine tourism activity related to cruise ships or pleasure craft occurred within a distance of 15 nautical miles and beyond the outer limit of a corridor, whether primary or secondary. The Northern Marine Transportation Corridors Initiative is an important tool to manage marine traffic in the Canadian Arctic and we need to continue to encourage its development through a multipartite approach and taking traditional Inuit knowledge into account.     

Aroche (Huelva,Andalucía): a new Neolithic axehead of Alpine jade in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

The discovery of a Neolithic Alpine jade axehead in Aroche, in the southwest of Spain, revives the question of long-distance exchange between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. This polished blade belongs to a typological model quite characteristic of Alpine production during the second half of the 5th millennium B.C. Different mineralogical approaches (macroscopic features examination, specific gravity, direct XRD, non-destructive μXRF spectroscopy, optical stereomicroscopy, magnetic susceptibility determination and microprobe analysis) have identified the rock as an omphacitic jadeitite (mixed jade) with some tiny garnets and a weak retromorphosis. This analysis and the comparison of the rock structure with the referential JADE of Alpine natural jade samples, as well as the extraction modalities and shaping of the axe, provide strong arguments to assign the Aroche axe to a production of Mont Viso: the origin of thousands of axes that circulated in Europe between Ireland and Sicily. The Aroche axe, discovered not far from the variscite mines of Encinasola, could be considered as part of a possible exchange system between the Iberian Peninsula and the Gulf of Morbihan, in Brittany.     

U-series dating of soda straw stalactites from excavated deposits: method development and application to Blanche Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia

This study aimed to further test the method, reported by St Pierre et al. (2009), to develop robust chronologies of deposits in limestone caves through U/Th (Uranium/Thorium or U-Series) dating of soda straw stalactites. The chronology of fossil bearing deposits at Blanche Cave was further constrained with thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) U/Th dating of 17 additional soda straw stalactite samples, and results were compared to recalibrated ¹⁴C ages of charcoal. The results support the assertion that soda straw stalactites can provide ages close to the time of sediment deposition and may be used as reliable chronological markers, particularly for periods reaching or beyond the radiocarbon dating limit. The application of an enhanced cleaning technique facilitated the reduction of detrital Th in samples, significantly increasing age accuracy and precision. Additionally U/Th age accuracy and precision was increased through the application of site-specific measured U/Th ratios to correct for the detrital ²³⁰Th component in samples.     

The French Radical Right: From Anti-Semitic Zionism to Anti-Semitic Anti-Zionism

This article highlights the deep ambiguities of the French radical right's vision of the future of the Jews. While being hostile to the Jews' integration into the French nation—whose Catholic nature they are alleged to corrupt by promoting Anglo-Saxon liberal and cosmopolitan values—the far right at first manifested sympathy for Zionism, the perfect solution for expelling the Jews. At the same time, although it despised Arab immigrants in France, it nonetheless had a positive view of the values of the Arab world, seen as being hostile to money. Subsequently, except for the period of the Algerian War, when its interests seemed to coincide with those of Israel, the far right became fervently anti-Zionist. Today it rushes to the aid of the Arab world (from Palestine to Iraq), which is seen as dominated by the State of Israel, an instrument of international capitalism.     

Expanding the utility of Uranium-series dating of speleothems for archaeological and palaeontological applications

Uranium-series (U-series) dating of speleothems is frequently used for palaeoclimate studies but its archaeological and palaeontological applications are limited to stratigraphically significant speleothem formations, such as flowstones, to provide maximum and minimum temporal points. This study targeted soda straw stalactites for U-series dating. In contrast to other speleothem formations, soda straw stalactites are fragile, have typically short life spans (usually only years but rarely up to a few hundred years) and are frequently incorporated into cave deposits. Results of thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) U-series dating of soda straw stalactites from palaeontological excavations at Blanche Cave, South Australia, show that small, dense, clean straws tend to yield ages closest to the time of stratigraphic deposition. A correlation between soda straw U-series ages and radiocarbon ages of charcoal from the site is shown. Multiple soda straw age determinations for a single stratigraphic unit are required in order to verify age concordance. In conjunction with other dating methods, U-series dating of soda straw stalactites may help to significantly constrain the age of stratigraphic units and associated archaeological and palaeontological deposits in order to provide more robust chronologies. Here we advocate the collection of soda straw stalactites at future excavations of limestone cave sites.