HIGH-RESOLUTION ARCHAEOLOGY AT VERBERIE - LIMITS AND INTERPRETATIONS

Verberie is a late Palaeolithic site with high resolution in the prese rvation of archaeological materials and their spatial configuration. W hile excellent preservation offers great promise for the interpretatio n of past human behavior, it cannot be assumed that this is a totally pristine site. Postdepositional pedogenetic processes have eradicated stratigraphic bedding of the sediments, leaving a methodological chall enge for the archaeologists to separate materials from multiple occupa tion lenses, which have retained most of their spatial integrity. Impr essionistic back-plotting, statistical analysis of artefact elevations , and refitting of flint, fire-cracked rock and reindeer bones have co ntributed to deciphering the depositional puzzle. These have revealed artefact associations and spatial configurations which can be given we ll-founded behavioral interpretations derived from experimental and et hnoarchaeological research.