Between 2000 and 2007, a series of preventive excavations was undertaken in an extensive quarry at the bottom of a peaty valley. The rapid excavation of Warluis VII in 2003 yielded Paleolithic and Mesolithic vestiges.

Stratigraphic, taphonomic and typological data all point clearly to an occupation of the alluvial plain of the river Thérain prior to the Mesolithic period. Indeed, Warluis VII reveals a rich flint industry, with backed points worked from laminate supports detached by direct percussion with a hard stone. These technological characteristics encourage cultural comparison with the recent phase of the Federmesser Paleolithic (or Azilien).

The area excavated reveals a juxtaposition of small concentrations of lithic items based on the same model. The observable structures are hearths materialized by heated flints and heaps of debitage products. The heated items, the presence of every stage of lithic industry and the diversity of the tools would suggest a wide range of activity. The low frequency of vestiges points to relatively short stays. The number of concentrations may indicate a succession of seasonal occupations, or, more likely, the presence of a human group composed of a considerable number of individuals. Indeed, the resemblance between concentrations together with a number of connections might possibly imply the strict contemporaneity of the different sectors of Warluis VII.

Moreover, a number of backed knives of exogenous tertiary flint attest mobility over a territory extending at least 25 km to the S-E of the site.

Traduction : Margaret & Jean-louis CADOUX