Catherine Dupont - Archéomalacologue - Coquillages / Shells & Archéologie / Archaeology

Seasonal availability of exploited resources and their biotopes at Beg-er-Vil (in dark blue: the period when the resource is most accessible, in light blue: when the resource is commonly accessible; in white: when the resource is not accessible updated after Dupont et al., 2009, CAD C. Dupont CNRS) Abstract The Atlantic coast of north-west France is one of the classic shell-midden regions of the European Mesolithic, made famous by the excavations of Téviec and Hoedic in the first half of the 20 th century. At this time, there was a lack of interest in the food refuse component of shell middensBy the end of the 1990’s new study methods and techniques had also contributed to a better description of the varied activities of these coastal populations. In Atlantic France, new excavations have demonstrated that shell middens are not a site type but rather one of a variety of stratigraphic units that make up the total settlement pattern. Our perception of the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of