| Summary: | International audience Biomolecular analysis, and more particularly palaeoproteomics, is one of the means currently used to understand the behaviour of Neanderthals and their exploitation of faunal material. This approach makes it possible to re-study sites excavated before the 21st century by providing new elements to confirm, or question, the first taxonomic identifications. This method, combined with functional analysis (traceology) and experimental archaeology, provides a more precise understanding of the use of bone by Neanderthals: is there an intentionality in the choice of the raw material used? How were these bone tools used and what was their function?The Biache-Saint-Vaast site (BSV, Pas-de-Calais, MIS 7) studied in the 1980s yielded three levels rich in bone remains of large land mammals, including more than 300 remains with wear evidence and morphologically attributed to the three main species: the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the aurochs (Bos primigenus) and the grassland rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus). A first sampling allowed us to verify their morphological attribution. Preliminary results are indicative for a use as retouchers and confirm the presence of the 3 dominant species within the assemblage although certain remains had to be reclassified. Also, it appears that Neanderthal's choice of raw material is related to its availability at the site.The approach proposed here is not very invasive and it is easy to implement. Its systematic application to all the bone remains from the site of Biache-Saint-Vaast will allow us to characterise this assemblage and subsequently to relate it to other deposits in the region.
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