International
Colloquium : Quaternary
Taphonomy: insights from Europe
Closing Event of IRN 0871 Taphonomy
European Network (TaphEN)
October 20-21-(22), 2026 MMSH, Aix-en-Provence
Program: Four
sessions (half-days) will be proposed for 2 full days of exchanges and sharing
(mainly in presential) following the main thematic of TaphEN – plus, in
principle, a half-day of debate,:
I. Burial/Deposition & Alteration/Fossilization
II. Animal and human predation – Human-Carnivore
Interactions
III. Paleoecology + Human Palethnology
IV. Neo-Taphonomy, Expérimentation
and Referentials
Oral
communication, relatively short (~10/15 min) in order to allow enough time (for
each session) for exchanges
As part of
Session II, time will be allocated to contributions concerning Ursids, Felids,
Canids, and large Mustelids, for which current studies (field research,
reference collections) or studies on fossil assemblages (Middle/Late
Pleistocene) are still scarce. They allow to better understand some paleoecology
features (denning, evidence of cave use), and anthropozoology (food and
symbolic exploitation of predators) from a co-evolutionary perspective with
human groups.
The bear family is made up of
carnivores that are peculiar in their behavior, being herbivorous, as well as
in their use of cavities, with occupations alternating with human groups
involving competition and symbolism (including parietal representations among
others).
Presentation
of the colloqium:
Taphonomic
analysis is an essential prerequisite
for all paleoenvironmental, paleoecological, biochronological, or
paleoethnological research and reconstructions. These are studies that involve
approaches ranging from trans- to multi-disciplinary (archaeology,
paleontology, geology, sedimentology, biology, ecology). These are multidisciplinary
approaches, unifying for distinct communities belonging to Earth Sciences, Life
Sciences, Materials Sciences, and Human and Social Sciences.
Taphonomy indeed represents a vast
field of study and research, with applications on numerous materials and ‘objects’
(bones, teeth, lithics, ceramics, biomarkers…) and is the subject of recent and
ongoing methodological (instrumental) development, allowing to completely renew
our approaches (often multi-scalar) and forge new specific knowledge and tools
(e.g., machine learning, 3D scans, ultrasounds, morphometrics).
It is therefore a field that is
regularly enriched, and which has become essential for analyzing the
assemblages s.l. of the Past. It
gives rise to multiple analytical
approaches, thanks to observation and modern analogues (with the creation
of reference frameworks) and/or experimentation (principle of actualism).
Finally, these approaches promote pooling, teamwork, and disciplinary
integration (culture/nature interfaces).
The creation of research structures
(IRN supported by the CNRS) on the subject of Taphonomy clearly demonstrates
the importance of these approaches, and a European
network has been able to form, with many European partners (Portugal,
Spain, Italy, Germany, England, and beyond).
The
conference will bring together all the
stakeholders to present the actions funded by IRN 0871, supported by our
European partners, covering the two terms of existence of this structure
(2018-2021 and then 2022-2026), which also has a directory of nearly 220 people
interested in the 'Tapho' theme, including institutional and personal contacts
in 7 European countries.
The call for papers will be
distributed within the TaphEN network, systematically requesting supported
research (for a Review of the network's work) but also calling for
contributions and proposals to all the IRN members.
It will be a closing event, which
could serve to collectively reflect with our partners on the continuation of
actions in this field. The main objective is thus to bring together a large
international community on a European scale in order to discuss the latest
research and data obtained in taphonomy and their explanatory implications in
the understanding (in the sense of conservation, site formation) of
archaeological, archaeozoological, or paleontological assemblages
Organization :
Philippe
Fosse & Jean-Philip Brugal, UMR 7269 LAMPEA
philippe.fosse@univ-amu.fr;
jean-philippe.brugal@univ-amu.fr
Scientific
Comittee :
Christiane Denys UMR 7205 ISYEB, France
Armelle
Gardeisen, UMR 5140
ASM, France
Emmanuelle Stoetzel UMR 7194 HNHP, France
Jordi Rosell Ardèvol, Univ. Rovira i Virgili
(URV), Spain,
David Cuenca Solana, IIIPC, Santander, Spain,
Ana B. Marín-Arroyo, Santander, Spain
Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo, Museo Nacional de
Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain,
Montserrat Sanz Borràs, UNIARQ; Portugal &
Univ. Barcelona, Spain
Marco Peresani, UNIFE, Ferrara, Italy
Francesoc Boshin, U.R. Preistoria e
Antropologia , Univ Siena, Italy
Nicholas Conard, INA (Institut for Archaeological
Sciences, Tübingen, Germany
Richard Madgwick School of History,
University of Cardiff, UK
Organizing
committee – UMR 7269
Pierre
Magniez (MCF AMU),
Antigone
Uzunidis (CR CNRS)
Lisa
Justiniany (Doc AMU)
Carla
Giuliani (Doc AMU)
Thibaut
Guiragossian (IR CNRS)
CALL
Send a
short abstract (half-page) with title and list of authors (ref. biblio)
(institution
and email addresses) to P. Fosse
and J.-Ph. Brugal
philippe.fosse@univ-amu.fr;
jean-philippe.brugal@univ-amu.fr
Deadline : 1st of June 2026
