The main area of my research concerns the Gravettian. the "Gravettian" designates a phase of the Upper Palaeolithic that lasts about 10,000 years, between 34,000 and 25,000 years before present. The "Gravettian" also corresponds to one of the oldest cultures attributed to Homo Sapiens in Europe.
The decorated caves of Cosquer, Cussac, Pech-Merle and Gargas as well as the female figurines of Brassempouy, Lespugue and Willendorf are the emblematic works of the Gravettian.
The research I have carried out on Palaeolithic material productions (lithic industry) is inscribed in the heritage of "the Tixier school", named after the great French prehistorian Jacques Tixier (1925-2018). They made it possible to propose a typology of flint projectile weapon elements such as "backed points", "shouldered points" and "backed bladelets" which development characterizes the Gravettian.
My studies focused more specifically on sites with female figurines such as Brassempouy (Landes, France) and the Balzi Rossi (Liguria, Italy) and raised the question of the first appearance of the settled way of life in the Upper Palaeolithic. My work also pleads in favor of a European, even Eurasian, Gravettian cultural unity despite some phenomena of regionalization.
The identification of skill levels in flint knapping allowed me to specify the technical norms of the Middle Gravettian (Brassempouy) and the Late Gravettian (Tercis). The presence of apprentices, probably supervised, could be rigorously documented on the knapping workshop of Tercis, thus helping to give better visibility to the place of children and adolescents in studies on the Palaeolithic.
PARTICIPATION IN PLANNED ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION SITES
France : Pataud Shelter (Dordogne, 2002) ; Tailly-des-Coteaux cave (Vienne, 2003) ; Brassempouy (Landes, 2003) ; Régismont-le-Haut (Hérault, 2003-2004) ; Isturitz cave (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2005).
Israel : Revadim (2004).
Croatia : Ljubić cave (Istria, 2010-2011).
Mongolia : Tsatsyn Ereg necropolis and palaeolithic site (2011-2013).
Excavation of a palaeolithic site near Tsatsyn Ereg in the province of Arkhangai (Mongolia).
Initiation to Prehistory.
Study of archaeological material.
Co-organization of a day of seminars on the Gravettian at the University of Toulouse 2 (2011).
University seminars on the Gravettian (n=6) at the University of Toulouse 2 and Paris-Nanterre.
In the context of heritage enhancement and archaeology awereness projects in France, Monaco, Croatia and Mongolia, I have designed, managed and implemented various actions:
The dialogue between art and science is central to my concerns. I thus seek to arouse the curiosity of the general public and to make the notions of beauty and scientific truth accessible to the widest public.