http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=663 Entrées d’index fr 0 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=744 The provenance of ferruginous coloring materials has long remained a poorly exploited research subject. However, as a result of various studies carried out at the end of the 19th century and in the past decade, different analytic approaches have enabled the reconstruction of the supply of these ferruginous rocks, in terms of management of the mineral resources, their mobility and the technological and cultural orientations underlying their implementation and further use. Different analytical protocols have been established, taking into account fundamental conservation constraints, e.g., whether it was possible or not to collect samples, to transport and alter archaeological remains or whether analyses should be exclusively non-invasive. Petrographical, mineralogical and chemical analyses, combined or separate, allowed the accurate identification of the raw materials and of their particularities within various chrono-cultural and geological contexts, subsequently leading to their differentiation. Only the links between the proved geological resources and the archaeological ferruginous artifacts still needed to be determined. Furthermore it had to be determined whether the supply, or even the extraction of the ferruginous materials reflected particular choices and whether the archaeological assemblages are representative of the outcrops or the result of an intentional selection. Moreover, if it is possible to demonstrate that such choices were made, research should focus on the reasons behind these choices: have these been triggered by the geological context or have they rather been driven by cultural (traditions, value of coloring materials), social (group organization) and economic (site function, trade networks and access to sources of raw materials) considerations ? The combined approach used in the framework of the collective research project ‘The origin of hematitic oolitic ironstones exploited during the late prehistory (Belgium, Normandy, Eifel)’ has allowed a high-resolution analysis, over a vast geographic area, of the exclusive sources of hematitic oolitic ironstones (OIS) available along the northern, northwestern and northeastern borders of the Paris Basin that were exploited by latest Mesolithic and Early Neolithic populations. This study has also allowed to locate the economic mineral areas and the regions of influence, as well as to identify OIS supply strategies and to suggest reasons for changes or continuity in the supply patterns of the raw materials. In particular, the research presented here supports the conclusion that Early Neolithic groups in Normandy were more selective than their latest Mesolithic predecessors, probably favouring the less weathered OIS layers. The OIS fragments recovered from the Early Neolithic sites in the Hesbaye-Dendre-Netherlands area, reflect a vast trade network between these 3 different regions, centered around outcrops near the Meuse river in the province of Liège. Inferred transport distances exceed 100 km, showing a possible control of the access to the raw material sources. Finally, our study has shown that there was no trade of hematitic oolitic ironstones between Normandy and the Belgium-Netherlands group. Fri, 29 Nov 2024 14:41:31 +0100 Fri, 25 Jul 2025 11:29:09 +0200 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=744 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=689 Oolitic ironstones (OIS) are red raw materials producing a strong red pigment that are frequently encountered on LBK (Linearbandkeramic culture or Linienbandkeramische Kultur) sites from the Hesbaye (Liège province, Belgium), the Maastricht region (Limburg province, The Netherlands) and the Dendre springs area (Hainaut province, Belgium). Macroscopical, mesoscopical and microscopical investigations show a genetic relationship between all of the studied samples. The latter consist mainly of Clinton-type OIS with fine-grained hematitic ooids and a red clayey-sandy matrix, rarely enclosing carbonates within the cement or in the fossils. The observed variation inside the geological outcrops results from differences in the proportions of the detrital matrix and the carbonate content in comparison with the richness in hematitic ooids. The geochemical analyses carried out with HH-XRF and PIXE, also show strong analogies between all of the studied archaeological objects discovered in both of the studied areas. The diffractometric analysis resulted in poor information except for the mineralogical composition of the major phases. We do not observe differences between the pioneer sites and the older occupation sites. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed between the OIS from one village to another. A comparison of geological samples from Belgium and Germany allowed to link archaeological samples to Lower Famennian OIS of the southern border of the Namur Synclinorium. The latter spots are most probably located between the towns of Loyable and Amay, along the Meuse river valley. We may therefore conclude that the early Neolithic people looked at the same spots (in a geographic area of about three kilometers along the Meuse river axis). Moreover, they have selected their primary raw materials using the richness in iron ooids and the scarcity in quartz and calcite as main selection criteria. This study is still in progress, now taking into account other types of (non-oolitic) red rocks from LBK sites in the Hesbaye area, The Netherlands and Lorraine, in order to trace the geographical and geological provenances of the raw materials. So far, we can already suggest that the sources are local to regional for the red sandstones and of German origin for the non-oolitic hematitic ores. Fri, 29 Nov 2024 14:00:18 +0100 Fri, 29 Nov 2024 14:28:13 +0100 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=689 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=650 Oolitic ironstones (OIS) disccovered at archaeological (Early Neolithic & Mesolithic) sites in the Caen region (Basse-Normandie, France) were analyzed and compared with Ordovician OIS sampled in geological sites in Basse-Normandie, in order to establish the source of the raw materials used in prehistory. Samples of OIS were analyzed and characterized by X-ray diffraction (whole rock and clay fraction), LA-ICP-MS, HH-XRF and PIXE. Ironstone objects from Colombelles (early Neolithic) show compositions that are different from those recovered at Biéville-Beuville (final Mesolithic). Those at Colombelles were initially extracted from slightly weathered ironstone layers and it is suggested here that their extraction required extra digging to reach less weathered hematite-rich material. In contrast, OIS from Biéville-Beuville have a mineralogical composition indicative of more intense weathering, which might indicate collection of surface material. The final Mesolithic raw material of Biéville-Beuville seems to have been obtained through a different mode of acquisition than that utilized during the early Neolithic. Our research allows us to conclude that all the archaeological OIS from the Plain of Caen are of local or regional origins and that Devonian (Lower Famennian, Frasnian) OIS from Belgium, Lower/Middle Devonian, OIS from the Eifel (Germany) or Mesozoic OIS from Lorraine (in the three border areas between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Belgium and France) are totally lacking. Early Neolithic sites in Belgium contain no oolitic ironstone imported from Normandy. As a consequence, we can conclude that for this specific raw material, there is a lack of exchange between early Neolithic Belgian populations (Hesbaye and Dendre Springs) and the population of the Plain of Caen. Fri, 29 Nov 2024 13:21:49 +0100 Fri, 29 Nov 2024 13:21:57 +0100 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=650