Le site moustérien d'Andance (Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche) : un habitat de hauteur en contexte basaltique dans la moyenne vallée du Rhône

The open-air site of Andance (Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, France), located on the left bank of the Rhône river, is perched upon a basaltic dome (552 m) that has become isolated from the Coirons plateau by erosion. The site, jeopardised by the open-air mining of Miocene diatomite, was the object of a rescue excavation over some 3 500 m2 undertaken by Paléotime in 2008 and is comprised of a valley fill-sequence bearing a Middle Palaeolithic industry at its base, though in a secondary position among geliflucted megaforms with basalt blocks. Stratigraphic, use-wear and petro-archaeological approaches underline the considerable impact of postdepositional processes on the artefacts and highlight thei…