ABSTRACT
The last maritime hunter-gatherers of Atlantic France can only be studied through a narrow window, in time and in space, in the south of the Brittany region between the 7th and 6th millennia cal bc. The shell middens of Téviec and Hoedic remain one of the main data sources on the economic and social organization, notably because of their cemeteries excavated during the 1930s; however, the recent excavation of Beg-er-Vil in Quiberon has considerably refined our perception of a coastal dwelling. The Late Mesolithic of Brittany is dated between 6200 and 5400 cal bc, with a hiatus of at least four centuries until the early Neolithic at around 5000 cal bc. The study of fauna shows year-round accessibility by combining terrestrial and marine animals. The wide spectrum of this ecotone economy does not show any traces of specialization focusing on one species, nor any storage for later consumption. The organization of the continental Mesolithic shows another face, with greater mobility. Contrary to many previous assertions, there is no leaning towards practices of intensified hunting, nor any marked social inequalities in grave goods or grave organizations. This only accentuates the drastic rupture with the first stages of the Neolithic in these regions.
