In the actual global change context, one of our issues is to constrain geological processes in relation with forcings, including dynamics of climat change, that condition environment and resources of the critical zone. In such a context, alluvial systems constitute very suitable proxies. Indeed, alluvial sediments provide valuable information about the conditions that prevailed at the time of their deposition. They constitute the response of an aggrading system to the climatic, tectonic (paleo)geographic and anthropic contexts of the last millennia. The characterization of sediments in an alluvial system, in particular their source, but also the sedimentary dynamics they reflect, allows to indirectly evaluate these constraints. Within these sediments, quartz has the advantage of being extremely ubiquitous. It is found in a large majority of alluvial systems, is very resistant and slightly affected by alteration, either over time or between upstream and downstream transfer systems, or even during different sedimentary cycles. Finally, quartz is characterized by a composition and a behaviour in front of various stimuli (light, irradiation, ...) which seems related to the initial conditions of formation, but perhaps also to its sedimentary history. In QUARTZ project, we aim to develop a new methodology of characterization for quartz grains, by using their luminescence and paramagnetic properties together with their composition and repartition in trace elements to use them as markers of sedimentary dynamics. Our approach is based on the unique and innovative combination of reliable characterization and dating methods, such as Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL), Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), Cathodoluminescence (CL) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) but also participate in the development of innovative technologies such as Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) in order to achieve a high level of quartz characterization. QUARTZ project intend to demonstrate that each quartz grain has a specific signature of its origin and to determine how this signature evolves over time, along the various sediment recycling. Understanding the variations of quartz grain characteristics within the rivers sediment will help to estimate the variation over time of the alluvial dynamics, including volumes of sediments transported in a Source-to-Sink point of view and indirectly response of the system to external changes.

From the hominin evolution perspective, interglacial MIS 11 (including glacial MIS 10 in some places) stands out in Europe. Archaeological remains have highlighted that this period as a threshold. Following MIS 12 glaciation, considered by many as a major climatic driven crisis for Hominins, archaeological records show an increasing number of occupations, evidence of new subsistence behaviours and numerous technical innovations, as well as evidences of an early regionalization of traditions. This threshold time in Western Europe, corresponding to the end of the Lower Paleolithic (and Acheulean) and the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic, is at present under-investigated, in particular as regards why and how innovations appeared and were transmitted among populations. The reasons underlying these changes, pushing back the roots of the Neanderthal world further back, have yet to be identified: (1) Was this behavioral evolution rooted in pre-existing traditions?, (2) Was it due to arrivals of new populations or the onset of Neanderthal from Middle Pleistocene hominids?, (3) Was there a population increase conducive to early regional networks of sites and the diffusion of innovations, or/and (4) Was it due to environmental adaptation to changes in climatic cycles? The last hypothesis is supported by climatic and environmental reconstructions. MIS 12 is a severe glacial period and MIS11 is an exceptionally long interglacial. Such a long-lasting interglacial period after a harsh glacial could have encouraged hominin occupation in Europe. European vegetation is one key, driving biomass availability for large herbivores and affecting the mobility of human groups. As part of this interdisciplinary project, NEANDROOTS proposes: (1) to build a large comprehensive database of existing sites covering the 450 to 350 ka period, (2) to bridge the gap between the chronological framework of the archaeological sites and the environmental data, (3) to develop methodological approaches to identify regional patterns and diffusion models of innovations, (4) to question the role of population size and structure by modelling, and (5) to test the impact of climate evolution on hominin adaptation by iLOVECLIM model and ECN modelling. This innovative contribution to Human Evolution for the period after the MIS 12 aims to contribute to: (1) Building models of hominid responses to various (and new) environments based on the disappearance and acquisition of tools and the expertise retained for successful adaptation, (2) Understanding the mechanisms of cultural transmission over time and the processes by which innovations or inventions spread, and are maintained. We aim to contribute to understanding the earliest cyclic process of regionalization during prehistoric times, well before those of late Neanderthals (MIS 4-3). This approach has never been undertaken for the beginning of the Neanderthal world. The creation of a homogenous, unified chronostratigraphy will enable us to place new behaviours, technological advances and morphological modifications of hominins in a single climatic and environmental framework. Synoptic maps will encompass climate, vegetation and comprehensive archaeological data with a high resolution. A detailed analysis of interactions between Humans and Environments could become a model for understanding past and current analogous evolutions. Ultimately, we question the resilience of societies to climate change. The close association between physical mechanisms, climate proxy data and archaeological evidence will improve our capacity for trans-disciplinary work and set new boundaries for the method. Our interdisciplinary project involves seven French teams, with complementary specialties: MNHN, LSCE, EPOC/PACEA/University of Bordeaux, IGE, LMD, LGP and University of Lille. An extensive European network will contribute to the project, comprising prehistorians, anthropologist, specialist of micro-wear and of modelling of demography.

Hunted, eaten, used, large herbivores held a central place for the nomadic hunters-collectors of the European Paleolithic. For nearly 200,000 years, Neandertals lived in changing and varied environments, adapting to sometimes extreme conditions. This huge adaptability of human societies is directly related to the eco-ethological flexibility of their essential resources: animals, especially large and megabivorous - the "BigGame". The BigGame project aims to identify how these changes impacted the fauna consumed and used by ‘super-predator’ Neanderthal societies in the plains of Northern France. A vast archaeological and faunal corpus attests to marked ecological changes there, but the plasticity of the species and the detail of the human responses is largely unknown. BigGame aims to investigate the detail of these processes, over short and long time scales, through different specialties at the interfaces of humanities and geosciences, intending to apply a corpus of methods at the forefront of the latest advances of paleoanthropology and prehistoric archeology, where animal will be examined in the different components of its relationship with Neandertal nomadic hunters. Focusing on the period from MIS 7 to MIS 3 that has seen several glacial / interglacial cycles, and the emergence, development and disappearance of Neandertal cultures, a total of 34 archaeological sites and more than 90 sedimentary levels will be considered in our dataset. By initiating a transversality between the disciplines that deal with material aspects, societies and environmental relationship, the BigGame project intend to address a virgin area of ​​any systemic approach. BigGame is a unique opportunity to bring together recent scientific works and advanced technologies to perform a thorough in-depth investigation of human relationship with its environment. Aiming to bring new lights to the details of the 'super-predator' Neandertal behaviors for most of its chronological expansion. In such, BigGame will be the first large-scale, integrative and systemic study, encompassing different animal taxa throughout the development and disappearance of a fossil human species. The BigGame team is composed of 20 scientists from 11 French laboratories, a private entity and 4 international institutions. Based on long-standing collaborations, BigGame will allow colleagues from different institutional partners to strengthen scientific relationships while creating new research dynamics. The communication and dissemination component will set up new collaborations and student training. Communication and dissemination of the results concerns the scientific community and also the general public.

The question of the correspondence between cerebral and endocranial features is crucial for applications in palaeoneurology and has never been addressed. To do so, the PaleoBRAIN project will investigate for the first time the correlation between the shape of the brain and that of the intracranial cast within a sample of modern humans using MRI (for Magnetic resonance imaging) acquisitions, including some with a specific sequence that allows the characterisation of bone tissues. This input will be decisive for detailed study of neurological information from fossil humans. We will then reconstruct for the first time H. erectus brains and Neandertal brains, as well as their respective growth pattern, taking into account the specificities of these species. Understanding brain morphology and ontogeny of extinct hominins will also enhance the understanding of the emergence of the specificities of the brain of our species, Homo sapiens. A more specific objective is to investigate patterns of variation and of correlation between brain and cranial asymmetries. We will be able to decipher the expression of functionally related biological asymmetry (shown as directional asymmetry variations) and environmental effects through developmental instability (shown as fluctuating asymmetry) among the available different samples for geographic diverse populations of Homo sapiens and different species of great apes. Those results, confronted to the variation observed in fossil hominins, will document our knowledge of the evolution of the hominid brain and therefore on the generally supposed link between form and function at the end of PaleoBRAIN. Pluridisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity are strong components of PaleoBRAIN and an essential condition to achieve the scientific objectives. Moreover, this project is deeply engaged in a policy of open science: all the virtual imaging datasets produced during the project will be made available for scientific research to other scientists.

Beyond their role in artistic creation and symbolic expression of prehistoric societies, colouring materials were involved in different kind of activities related to technical and subsistence practices. The analytical developments of recent years, founded on the combination of naturalist (geology/ petrography) and archaeometric (mineralogical and elemental analysis) approaches, have provided a better understanding of the nature of these materials and allowed to investigate their geological origin. However, the application of these studies remains rare, even if colouring materials constitute an important potential of information for the understanding of technical and cultural behaviours, and the circulation of people and materials. There are several reasons for this scarcity of applications: 1/ the lack of knowledge about the evolutionary chains, i.e. the modifications of their characteristics due to bio-geochemical, anthropic and taphonomic transformations that occur from the deposit to their discovery: these modifications of their composition constitute biases that can limit the identification of the geological and geographical origin of the colouring materials; 2/ the diversity of the analytical protocols and the heterogeneity of data produced between laboratories and research teams: these biases limit the comparison of data between studies and limit the generalisation of these approaches; 3/ the difficulty of analysing and comparing the composition of blocks of colouring matter with that of residues on the surface of archaeological remains: while the protocols for analysing cohesive blocks are efficient and hardly invasive, the analysis of residues remains difficult and the analytical techniques used on the blocks do not provide the necessary spatial resolution for analysing these thin layers; 4/ the lack of robust geological references: the establishment of geological references at a regional or supra-regional scale requires considerable investment. The geological reference collections, established independently by researchers or teams as a result of projects centred on archaeological sites, are not easily accessible and reusable, notably because of standardisation issues. The objective of the Color-Sources project is to overcome these constraints in order to provide a new dynamic to the study of the origins of prehistoric colouring materials at a national and international scale, by developing and sharing knowledges and methodologies necessary to build geological reference collections and to compare them with archaeological collections. This objective will be achieved by developing an "open science" dynamic and the production of "FAIR" (Easy to Find, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data. To this aim, Color-Sources will be supported by an interdisciplinary consortium in order a) to share the experience acquired in our various archaeological fields in order to better understand the evolutionary chains, to develop a common methodology for studying colouring materials and to implement it in a common field: the Dordogne and its periphery; b) to develop interoperable data acquisition protocols, to improve the statistical processing protocols for the data produced (particularly elementary data), and to develop an elementary analysis methodology by LA-ICP-MS/MS that could be applied to both blocks and residues of colouring materials in order to limit the biases induced by the use of several different techniques, c) to design an information system to save, reuse and disseminate the data acquired by the French community on the sources of raw colouring materials used in the Palaeolithic period.