Habitat et économie au Néolithique final : l’exemple du site de Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle (Nord) entre activités domestiques et productions artisanales
Authors: Bostyn Françoise , Beugnier Valérie , Martial Emmanuelle , Médard Fabienne , Monchablon Cécile , Praud Ivan 
Published: May 2017

The site of Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle, ‘ Le Grand Camp’ (Nord) is located on a plateau about 30 m above the Scheldt valley, northwest of the city of Cambrai. Rescue archaeology was undertaken in 1999 and 2000 on a total surface of 1.6 hectares : 14 pits were discovered but they revealed no building plan. Five of these pits yielded the majority of the artefacts. Characteristics of the different categories of artefacts, in particular ceramics, associated with three radiocarbon dates, indicate that the settlement dates from the end of the Neolithic period, at the beginning of the second half of the 3rd millennium, corresponding more or less to the final stages of the Deûle-Escaut culture. The original composition and abundance of the artefacts were incentives for undertaking the thorough study presented in this paper. The presence of numerous loom weights (128, of which 72 are complete) is the first characteristic of this site. This kind of artefact is well known on contemporary or more recent sites, but the number found here makes this set unique for north-western France. Technological analysis undertaken on these loom weights shows that their making did not involve a high degree of technical skill, which seems to be the norm for such items. Their interest lies exclusively in their use. These weights indicate that crafting activities centred on weaving took place in the vicinity of the pits in which they were found. A unique spindle whorl found here can be linked to spinning, the previous step in the textile creation process. The other characteristic of this site lies in the composition of the sandstone assemblage, with a high proportion of hammerstones and anvils and also of raw blocks and flakes, probably linked to the extraction of the material and on-site cutting of the blocks. One of the new aspects of this assemblage is the organised production of flakes meant to be transformed into tools with a blunted fracture platform, whose function is still undefined today. The low proportion of tools for grinding and the absence of polishers are another major difference compared with assemblages from the Deûle valley. In the flint industry, we can emphasize the important proportion of microdenticulates (more than half of the tools). Functional analysis showed a use on rigid tender plants, similar to what is known for this chronological horizon. The characteristics of the archaeological artefacts assemblage lead to an interpretation of the Raillencourt site as an area dedicated to artisanal or craft activities such as weaving, the production of sandstone artefacts, and plant processing. Two theories are discussed here : we are either in the middle of a settlement site where all traces of buildings have disappeared, or this is a dedicated area in connection with a settlement close by, but spatially distinct. Comparisons are proposed with existing data on a local scale where we can find sites with well-dated buildings that are contemporary but where few artefacts are found, and on a broader scale in northern France, in particular in the Deûle valley, and in Belgium, where similar situations occur. They confirm the originality of the artefact assemblage of Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle and the hypothesis of a spatial dissociation of living areas and artisanal areas seems to prevail. In this perspective, the site of Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle could point to an important transformation in the spatial organisation of groups from the end of the Neolithic period, implying greater specialization of areas within a defined territory.