Chasséen culture

Chasséen culture is the name given to the early pre-Bell beaker archaeological culture of prehistoric France of the late Neolithic (stone age), roughly between 4500 BC and 2500 BC. The name "Chasséen" derives from the type site near Chassey-le-Camp (Saône-et-Loire; archeological evidence shows continuous occupation after the Chasséen period through the Bronze and Iron ages, the Roman period and the Middle Ages).

Chasséen culture spread throughout the plains and plateaux of France, including the Seine bassin and the upper Loire valleys, and extended to the present-day départments of Haute-Saône, Vaucluse, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Pas-de-Calais and Eure-et-Loire. Excavations at Bercy (near Paris) have revealed a Chasséen village (4000 BC - 3800BC) on the right bank of the Seine; artifacts include wood canoes, pottery, bows and arrows, wood and stone tools.

Chasséens were sedentary farmers (rye, panic grass, millet, apples, pears, prunes) and herders (sheep, goats, oxen). They lived in huts organized into small villages (100-400 people). They were one of the few apparently egalitarian societies of the Neolithic period. Their pottery was little decorated. They had no metal technology, but mastered the use of flint.

By roughly 2500 BC, the Chasséen culture in France gave way to the late Neolithic - early Bronze age transitional Seine-Oise-Marne culture (3100BC - 2000 BC) and the Bell-Beaker culture (2800 BC - 1900 BC).

Map of Europe ca. 4000 BC - 3500 BC showing other contemporary archeological cultures during the Chasséen period, including the Funnelbeaker culture in green and the Rössen culture (as "LBK").

Time line

• 4000: Chasséen village of Bercy near Paris
• 3430: Chasséen village of Saint-Michel du Touch near Toulouse.
• 3430: Appearance of Rössen culture at Baume de Gonvilla in Haute-Saône.
• 3250: Expansion of Chasséen culture in the south of France, from the Lot to the Vaucluse.
• 3190: Chasséen culture in Calvados.
• 2530: Chasséen culture in Pas-de-Calais.
• 2450: End of Chasséen culture in Eure-et-Loire.
• 2400: End of Chasséen culture in Saint-Mitre (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

See also

• Prehistoric France
• Rössen culture (4500 BC - 4000 BC)
• Funnelbeaker culture (4000 BC -2700 BC)
• Seine-Oise-Marne culture (3100BC - 2000 BC)
• Beaker culture (2800 BC - 1900 BC)

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