L’exploitation des matières colorantes à la fin du Pléistocène dans l’Arc Alpin: le site épigravettien de Riparo Tagliente (Monti Lessini, nord-est de l’Italie)

Iron oxy(hydroxy)des-rich coloring materials are one of the most exploited mineral sources during the latter part of the Pleistocene in Europe and are, consequently, a type of artifacts strongly presents in contexts attributable to Upper Palaeolithic techno-complexes. Considering their properties and multiple uses, these ferruginous rocks can be regarded as the material proofs of the technical, economic and symbolic practices of Palaeolithic human groups. However, a lack of lacunae concerning this category of archaeological finds, particularly those from Epigravettian Late Glacial contexts, which are still poorly studied. It is during the Late Glacial period that major climatic and environmental changes enabled previously inaccessible territories to be newly populated. In order to define the management patterns of a new territory and its resources, as well as the economic and technical practices adopted by the Epigravettian human groups for the exploitation of colouring materials during the Late Glacial (provenance, selection of raw materials, technical treatments, and use), we examined the iron-rich yellow and red rocks of one of the most important sites of the Late Epigravettian: Riparo Tagliente. This site, located in the Italian Pre-Alps (Lessini Mountains), testifies to the first human reoccupation of the Alpine region after the UMG (from 17.3-16.4 ka cal BP). The corpuses taken into account includes yellow and red cohesive ferruginous rocks from the excavations, still in course, of the Late Glacial Epigravettian sequence (GS-2.1a - GI-1), in particular from the North Sector and the East-West trench of the site. These corpuses were examined using a multiscale approach, revealing the presence of more than 68,000 colouring remains. The multiscalar protocols put in place included the classification and macroscopic description of the colouring materials, petrographic studies, spatial distribution analyses, use-wears analyses, SEM-EDX and µPIXE analyses and statistical data processing. Geological surveys were also carried out in the Lessini Mountains. The results of the multiscalar study of the iron oxy(hydroxy)des-rich coloring materials from Riparo Tagliente and the geological deposits of the Lessini Mountains allowed us to attest to the diversity and variability of the raw materials exploited by the Late Epigravettian groups that occupied the site during the Late Glacial and to identify their provenance as well as the selection of some ferruginous rocks among the diversity offered by the local formations. Thus, an overview of the circulation of coloring mineral resources exploited by the Late Epigravettian groups of Riparo Tagliente was obtained, and a change in procurement strategies during the Late Glacial was highlighted. After their acquisition, coloring materials were subsequently processed at the site. Hypotheses of the use of these coloring materials have also been formulated. The study of the provenance, selection, and processing of the iron oxy(hydroxy)des-rich coloring materials from Riparo Tagliente, as well as the comparison of these data with those, albeit scarce, available for other Epigravettian contexts, have enabled us to contribute to the understanding of the ways of life of the human groups of the Late Epigravettian, the circulations of mineral raw materials enacted during the Late Glacial, and to ascertain the importance of these iron-rich coloring materials.