MESOLITHIC PLANT EXPLOITATION AT THE BALMA ABEURADOR (FRANCE)

Summary. Research conducted at the Balma Abeurador and a complex of related Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in the western Languedoc and eastern Pyrenees region of France (Abri de Dourgne, Grotte Gazel, Balma Margineda) reveals the complex processes of cultural and economic development during the early Holocene at a time of significant environmental change. Mesolithic groups expanded their subsistence base into a veritable "broad spectrum" economy including the hunting of large mammals, small game and birds; seasonal fishing for salmonids; collecting terrestrial and marine molluscs; and the gathering of wild legumes, fruits and nuts. The identification at Abeurador of lentils, peas and chick peas morphologically indistinguishable from the early cultigens of Southwest Asia raises the question of incipient cultivation practices in the west Mediterranean as early as 10,000 b.p.