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Stone Age network reveals ancient Paris was an artisanal trading hub

Ancient stone goods found across France may have been made by skilled craftspeople in what is now Paris, who traded along vast networks

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre

28 October 2024

Blades and other artefacts were traded across France during the Stone Age

Jacques Descloitres/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

Around 7000 years ago, long knives, bracelets and other stone goods fashioned by skilled Parisian crafters were reaching people hundreds of kilometres away, via complex trade networks that are now being mapped for the first time.

By combining archaeology with computer modelling, Solène Denis at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Nanterre and Michael Kempf at the University of Basel in Switzerland have reconstructed the lengthy and winding paths taken to supply people from what is now Normandy…

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