Rethinking Neolithic societies: the economic, social and territorial organisation of communities in the Saint-Gond Marshes region (Marne, France) – Saint-Gond

This project aims to reconstruct the social, economic, and territorial organisation of Neolithic society, particularly for the Néolithique récent period, in the specific context of flint mining, based on a holistic interdisciplinary study of a mining complex. In many of the mining regions known to have existed in Europe during the Neolithic, settlement sites are rare, and collective burials are even rarer. The archaeological sites excavated in Saint-Gond Marshes region in the past and in recent years include flint mines, settlements, enclosures, and collective burials (hypogea and gallery graves). Combining data from all these different types of sites is essential to provide a global vision of Neolithic societies and of the mining communities which played a major role during that period.
Test-pit excavations are planned for six sites in four different zones in the study area. The aim is to acquire complementary data so that all site categories will be represented in each zone. Studies of the different types of artefacts (flints, bone and antler industry, macrolithic tools, ceramics, ornaments, etc.) will be systematically implemented (T1.1 to T1.5). Bioarchaeology will document the characteristics of the individuals buried in the collective graves (T1.6). Palaeopathologies will be examined in detail to document the health status of the population, particularly with regard to fractures, injuries, and illnesses resulting from working in flint mines.
This rich archaeological potential is located near vast marshes, providing conditions propitious for palaeoenvironmental studies (WP2). Spatial studies will make it possible to produce maps to accurately position the archaeological sites in their geological and geomorphological environment (WP3). Radiocarbon dating will make it possible to periodize site occupation. The distribution of flint products extracted from the mines in the Marais de Saint-Gond region will be mapped using petrographic facies and geochemical analyses (LA-ICP-MS), making it possible to assess the amount of flint exported in relation to the amount required to meet the needs of the local population.
Cross-referencing the data obtained in WP1 will enable us to reconstruct the organization of society within its economic and territorial framework (WP4). A quantification of the volumes of flint extracted in mines compared to the volumes available in the environment will be correlated with the quantities found in mining and settlement sites (T4.1), and with the environmental impact of human activities (T2.3). These results can then be contextualised with the distances and quantities of flint exported to neighbouring archaeological cultures. To document the organization of the society and the impact of flint extraction and production on the population, various aspects of the mining community will be characterized and positioned within Neolithic society, particularly during the Néolithique récent (T4.2). Economic and social relations and exchange networks between cultural areas will be documented (T4.3). Finally, to better characterize and evaluate the specificities of the particular context of the mining complex in the Saint-Gond Marshes region, comparisons will be made with three other mining complexes located in France, Belgium and Poland (T4.4).
Several communication media (scientific publications, websites, regional museums, and media) accessible to the broadest possible audience, favouring the rules of open science, will be used to disseminate the results of this research project not only to the scientific community but also to the general public (WP5). These actions will contribute to tourism and the cultural development of the region.
This holistic study will help us to better understand the economic and social organisation of mining communities within the Neolithic society.