ESR and ESR/U-series dating study of several middle Palaeolithic sites of Pléneuf-Val-André (Brittany, France): Piégu, Les Vallées and Nantois

The area of Pléneuf-Val-André, Brittany, France, has delivered several Palaeolithic sites containing palaeontological remains, very rare into this granitic area. In order to precise the stratigraphical framework of the prehistoric human occupations of this zone, an ESR dating program was initiated in the late 1980s and different kinds of materials (mammal bones and teeth, naturally bleached quartz extracted from marine or aeolian sediments and marine mollusc shells) were then sampled for geochronological analyses. The present paper displays the main obtained results on three stratigraphically connected middle Palaeolithic sites: Piégu, Les Vallées and Nantois. The results are consistent with the regional chronostratigraphic framework and permit to suggest palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the area and the dating of the various archaeological evidences.