Situated in the Aurignacian period, the industries of the ´†Trou de la MËre Clochette†ª have been studied by Carolyn Szmidt, Laurent Brou and Luc Jaccotey. This deposit is henceforth one of the rare sites, with those of the caves of the ´†Renne†ª (Reindeer) and of the ´†Trilobite†ª at Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne) and a few others in South Burgundy, which testify undeniably Aurignacian occupations in Northeastern France.
Prehistorians detect, above all in the lithic industry technology, the beginnings of this Aurignacian culture: the "Proto-Aurignacian”, which developed in western Mediterranean 38,000 to 34,000 years ago.
In order to obtain direct radiocarbon dating, two ochre-coloured bone fragments, "split-based points”, characteristic artefacts of this culture, were subjected to Accelerator Mass Spectometry (AMS) analysis in Oxford (United Kingdom).
If the first dating (circa 37,400 to 39,600 BP) is within chronological bracket of Classical Ancient Aurignacian, the other, much older, is clearly different (circa 40,000 to 41,000 BP).
Henceforth these two datings are now the oldest known for Aurignacian artefacts. These results thus give a basic point for the appearance of these "split-based points” wings, real "directive fossils” of this culture. Moreover, this illustrates the enormous capacity of technical innovation by the Aurignacians. These new datings of the "Trou de la MËre Clochette” could renew the models of prehistorians concerning the emergence of the "First Aurignacian” culture in Western Europe.
