Hearths and hearths-related activities in Magdalenian open-air sites: the case studies of Champréveyres and Monruz (Switzerland) and their relevance to an understanding of upper palaeolithic site structure

Except for accumulations of flint knapping debris,hearths are sometimes the only unequivocal habitationfeatures at Paleolithic sites. Their role as focalpoints for most domestic and technical activities hasbeen demonstrated in many studies. In the majorityof the sites, however, features such as heat -alteredsediment, charcoal, burned bone and ash, which indicatethe location of combustion structures, are notpreserved. With the focal points missing, the reconstructionof the spatial organization of the activitiesperformed at a site turns out to be ambiguous, whichrenders inter-site comparisons problematic. Consequently,it is important to devise methods to unambiguouslylocate the combustion structures in the absenceof evident features. Based on two remarkablyweIl-preserved open -air sites in western Switzerland- Champréveyres and Monruz - it is shown that thebest method to locate in situ fireplaces in the absenceof evident features would be the analysis of the spatialdistribution of burned flint chips and backed bladelets.Stones affected by heat, on the other hand, areless valu able indicators of fireplaces since many ofthem are widely dispersed outside the fireplaces, dueto their multiple re-use in different hearths and theremoval of their fragmented elements from the combustionareas.