La Balma de l'Abeurador, or Abeurador cave, is located on a promonotory high above the river Aude in the Montagne Noire region of southern France. Occupations at Abeurador cave range from the Late Paleolithic to the Mid Neolithic period, between ~11,000 and 9000 BP.
The cave is located 50 kilometers inland from the Mediterranean Sea on the southern edge of the Massif Central in what is now southwestern France. Excavations by Michel Barbaza and Jean Vaquer at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociale (EHESS) recovered the carbonized remains of legumes (lentils, chick peas), dated between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago, that appear to be domesticated. These legumes are genetically identical to those domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, and thus Abeurador cave is considered evidence for early colonization of France by agriculturalists; or adoption of agricultural techniques by locals.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to the Mesolithic, the Guide to European Prehistory, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Heinz C. 1991. Upper pleistocene and holocene vegetation in the south of France and Andorra. Adaptations and first ruptures: New charcoal analysis data. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 69(4):299-324.
Vaquer J, Geddes D, Barbaza M, and Erroux J. 1986. Mesolithic plant exploitation at the Balma Abeurador (France). Oxford Journal Of Archaeology 5(1):1-18.
