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The Châtelperronian conundrum: Blade and bladelet lithic technologies from Quinçay, France

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Abstract

The discovery of an almost complete Neanderthal skeleton in a Châtelperronian context at Saint-Césaire 35 years ago changed our perspective on the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe. Since then, the Châtelperronian has generally been considered a "transitional" industry rather than an Upper or a Middle Paleolithic industry because of its chronological position, and the association of Neanderthal remains with blades, bone tools and personal ornaments. Several competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the association between Neanderthals and these types of artefacts including post-depositional mixing, acculturation from anatomically modern human populations, or an independent technological evolution by local Neanderthal populations. Quinçay Cave is the only Châtelperronian site where personal ornaments have been found that does not contain an overlying Upper Paleolithic layer. This means that the post-depositional mixing of later elements into the Châtelperronian may not be used as an explanation for the presence of these materials. We report here on a detailed technological analysis of lithic artefacts from the three Châtelperronian layers at Quinçay Cave. We compare our results with the technology of Mousterian blade industries dating to OIS (oxygen isotope stage) 5, the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition type B, and the Proto-Aurignacian. We show that the Châtelperronian is sufficiently divergent from the Middle Paleolithic to be classified as a fully Upper Paleolithic industry, with a focus on blade and bladelet production. We also show that the Quinçay Châtelperronian includes retouched bladelets that resemble those found in the Proto-Aurignacian, but were produced in a different manner. We argue that a technological convergence cannot account for these behaviors, since the specific type of retouched bladelet associated with the Châtelperronian was also regularly used by Proto-Aurignacian of neighboring regions. We suggest that the idea of retouched bladelets may have diffused from the northern Proto-Aurignacian to the Quinçay Châtelperronian and that the transmission of the morphology of this desired end-product without the transmission of its manufacturing process may point toward a low degree of social intimacy between these groups. We conclude that the apparent paradox of the Châtelperronian is the result of the complexity of interaction between Neanderthal and anatomically modern human groups in western Europe between 45,000 and 40,000 years ago.

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... The technology of Châtelperronian or Uluzzian assemblages has been described in several studies (e.g. Arrighi et al., 2020a;Collina et al., 2020;Moroni et al., 2013Moroni et al., , 2018Rossini et al., 2022;Roussel et al., 2016). However, each industry has always been studied independently -by different researchers who never had the opportunity to see the two industries (that are curated in Fig. 1 Excerpt from Palma di Cesnola's excavation field notes, Grotta del Cavallo dated 10 July 1963, documenting the discovery of the first lunate. ...
... As it stands, no Châtelperronian assemblages have been identified east of the Rhone valley -and its northern limit has recently been extended to the site of Ormesson in the Paris basin (Bodu et al., 2017) ( Fig. 2; Table 1). Some key sites include Grotte du Renne (Julien et al., 2019), Les Cottés (Soressi & Roussel, 2014), Quinçay (Roussel et al., 2016), Saint-Césaire (Gravina et al., 2018), Canaule II (Bachellerie, 2011), Ormesson (Bodu et al., 2017) and Aranbaltza II (Rios- Garaizar et al., 2022). ...
... Following the finding of an almost complete Neanderthal skeleton at Saint-Césaire (Lévêque & Vandermeersch, 1980), it progressively came to be seen as an industry produced by local late Neanderthals. Subsequently, a temporal bone and over 30 isolated teeth from at least 6 individuals were identified, displaying traits aligned closely with Geographic distribution France and northern Spain (Aubry et al., 2012(Aubry et al., , 2014Bachellerie, 2011;Baillet et al., 2014;Bodu et al., 2017;Boëda, 1991;Bordes, 2003;Bordes & Teyssandier, 2011;Bricker & Laville, 1977;Connet, 2002;Discamps et al., 2019;Grigoletto et al., 2008;Guilbaud, 1993;Harrold, 2000;Pelegrin, 1995;Rios-Garaizar et al., 2022;Roussel, 2011;Roussel et al., 2016;Soressi, 2011) Italy (Puglia region, Tyrrhenian side, northeast), Greece (Peloponnese) (Arrighi et al., 2020a;Benini et al., 1997;Collina et al., 2020;Gambassini, 1997;Hahn, 1984;Kaczanowska et al., 2011;Koumouzelis et al., 2001;Marciani et al., 2020;Moroni et al., 2013Moroni et al., , 2018Oxilia et al., 2022;Palma di Cesnola, 1993;Peresani et al., 2019;Rossini et al., 2022;Silvestrini et al., 2022;Spinapolice et al., 2022;Villa et al., 2018) Chronology ...
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The Châtelperronian and Uluzzian techno-complexes are identified in western Europe in the same stratigraphic position, between the late Middle Palaeolithic and other Upper Palaeolithic assemblages. Both industries include retouched artefacts with abrupt retouch and arched backs, and radiometric dating indicates that these two technocomplexes belong to the same window of time. Here, we provide a detailed, qualitative technological comparison of two Châtelperronian and two Uluzzian lithic assemblages based on a collaborative, first-hand examination of these collections. This study results from a one-week workshop designed to bring relevant researchers together to conduct an in-person investigation of these lithic industries. Our analysis highlights significant technological divergences between these industries. In short, the Châtelperronian is a blade industry with a minor bladelet component produced by freehand direct percussion, whereas the Uluzzian is a flake-bladelet industry with massive use of bipolar percussion and a minor component produced by freehand, direct percussion. Our results suggest that there are no, or very little, technological affinities between the Châtelperronian and the Uluzzian — despite occupying the same window of time. As an extension, this suggests that there was little to no relationship/contact between the groups producing these industries during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition. The distinctiveness of the Châtelperronian and Uluzzian highlights that technological behaviours in western Europe during the 45–40 ka can be very diverse and that general labels such as ‘transitional industries’ are unsatisfactory in describing this diversity. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41982-024-00202-1.
... Nonetheless, a local Neandertal origin for the Châtelperronian remained the most commonly accepted model, eventually superseded by the idea that the 'Upper Palaeolithic' character of the Châtelperronian is the result of a diffusion of behaviors from intrusive Homo sapiens onto local late Neandertal populations (e.g. Mellars, 2010;Roussel et al., 2016;Ruebens et al., 2015;Soressi & Roussel, 2014). ...
... Bar-Yosef & Bordes, 2010;Bordes & Teyssandier, 2011;Gravina & Discamps, 2015;Jaubert et al., 2011) and those who continued to stress a local Neandertal origin with new data and argumentationfrom chronological, biological, and material perspectives (e.g. Caron et al., 2011;Hublin et al., 2012;Roussel et al., 2016;Ruebens et al., 2015;Soressi & Roussel, 2014;Welker et al., 2016). Firstly, the re-working hypothesis as proposed by Bar-Yosef and Bordes (2010), and subsequently strengthened by Higham et al. (2010), was met by the objections that (a) the uppermost Mousterian layers at the Grotte du Renne in fact yielded very few human remains in comparison to the Châtelperronian layers and (b) the Neandertal remains are not only present in the lowermost Châtelperronian layers, but also in the uppermost (layer VIII) . ...
... A number of years later, a subsequent study provided molecular support that the human remains present in the Châtelperronian layers are indeed Neandertals, and additionally identified 28 new fragmentary specimens (Welker et al., 2016). Furthermore, in the meantime, the hypothesis of a local origin of the Châtelperronian from the elongated production characterising the MTA Type-B was supplemented with the argument that the transition from the latter to the former was likely the result of an external influence of incoming Homo sapiens producing Protoaurignacian technology onto local late Neandertals-based most notably on the description of bladelet production and retouch in the Châtelperronian of Quinçay (Roussel et al., 2016;Soressi & Roussel, 2014). ...
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The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in France and northern Spain reflects the transition from Neandertals to Homo sapiens and the emergence of novel cultural entities and standardised blade and bladelet technologies between ~ 55 and 40 thousand years ago. The Châtelperronian stone tool industry represents the first unambiguous appearance of Upper Palaeolithic technologies in this region, and is traditionally considered as representing a geographically isolated archaeological entity produced by late Neandertals. However, debate as to the makers and origin of this industry has been ever-present. In recent years, fuel has been thrown onto this discussion through (a) the demonstration that the association between Neandertal remains and Châtelperronian artefacts at the key site of Saint-Césaire could not be reliable, (b) the identification of an immature Homo sapiens pelvic fragment in association with Neandertal remains and Châtelperronian artefacts at the Grotte du Renne (Arcy-sur-Cure), and (c) the formulation of a disruptive hypothesis in which the Châtelperronian directly originates from the Early Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant. In conjunction with the increasing evidence for a protracted presence of Homo sapiens across Europe, these observations have led to the arrival of an inflection point for the competing interpretations concerning the origin and implications of this industry. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the Châtelperronian in light of the emerging data—taking into account technological, chronological, geographic, stratigraphic, and genetic perspectives. First we provide a detailed, three-part historiography of this industry and a modern, synthetic review of Châtelperronian lithic technology. Our review reinforces the fact that the Châtelperronian is a fully Upper Palaeolithic industry with no ‘transitional’ nor Initial Upper Palaeolithic-type technological features. Subsequently, we highlight a series of prospects, problems, and uncertainties which remain to be addressed in discussions concerning the origins, maker(s), and implications of the Châtelperronian and the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic in western Europe. Finally, we propose a few potential paths forward and call for an open and critical approach towards the re-conceptualisation of the Châtelperronian in the years to come.
... 40,000 years ago in Europe. Two sites have become prime candidates for a secure association between Neanderthal remains and Châtelperronian artifacts (d'Errico et al. 1998;Roussel, Soressi, and Hublin 2016). One is Saint-Césaire, France, where an almost complete Neanderthal skeleton was found with Châtelperronian artifacts that date to about 36,000 years ago (Hublin, Spoor, Braun, Zonneveld, and Condemi 1996). ...
... Originally, d'Errico et al. (1998 maintained that the Châtelperronian artifacts show stylistic continuity with the Mousterian, and that in terms of both stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates, the oldest Châtelperronian (about 45,000 years ago) predates the oldest Aurignacian (about 40,000 years ago) and thus was not derived from the Aurignacian. Currently, Châtelperronian is considered a transitional industry between Upper and Middle Paleolithic "because of its chronological position, and the association of Neanderthal remains with blades, bone tools and personal ornaments" (Roussel, Soressi, and Hublin 2016). At the open-air site of Ormesson in the Paris Basin, about 300 kilometers northeast of Arcy, Châtelperronian and Middle Solutrean settlements lie immediately below Gravettian remains of a bison hunt (Bodu et al. 2014). ...
... If Neanderthals did produce the ornaments in the Châtelperronian assemblage (Roussel et al. 2016), can we locate their learning process on our four-quadrant map? The first question is whether Neanderthals imitated or emulated Aurignacian material culture. ...
Chapter
Scholars from a variety of disciplines consider cases of convergence in lithic technology, when functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Hominins began using stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago, perhaps even 3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by humans and their ancestors, the study of lithic technology offers an important line of inquiry into questions of evolution and behavior. This book examines convergence in stone tool-making, cases in which functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Identifying examples of convergence, and distinguishing convergence from divergence, refutes hypotheses that suggest physical or cultural connection between far-flung prehistoric toolmakers. Employing phylogenetic analysis and stone-tool replication, the contributors show that similarity of tools can be caused by such common constraints as the fracture properties of stone or adaptive challenges rather than such unlikely phenomena as migration of toolmakers over an Arctic ice shelf. ContributorsR. Alexander Bentley, Briggs Buchanan, Marcelo Cardillo, Mathieu Charbonneau, Judith Charlin, Chris Clarkson, Loren G. Davis, Metin I. Eren, Peter Hiscock, Thomas A. Jennings, Steven L. Kuhn, Daniel E. Lieberman, George R. McGhee, Alex Mackay, Michael J. O'Brien, Charlotte D. Pevny, Ceri Shipton, Ashley M. Smallwood, Heather Smith, Jayne Wilkins, Samuel C. Willis, Nicolas Zayns
... Unanimously used for close to 20 years, the correlation between this second phase of Ksar Akil's Early Ahmarian and the Protoaurignacian [28,32,[42][43][44][45][46] must be abandoned definitively. These systems do not overlap technologically, technically, nor typologically. ...
... What about Ksar Akil's second phase from layers XIX to XVI? Would there not exist, in Western Europe, an initial phase of the UP organized around the debitage of small blades obtained by essentially bipolar debitage and turned toward obtaining backed points? The debate on the origin of the Châtelperronian and its technical relations with preceding and succeeding industries began with Breuil [54] and continued throughout the 20 th century [20,[55][56][57][58]. Today, it opposes two schools of thought that either consider the Châtelperronian as a full UP that has no real roots in the local industries of the Mousterian [59][60][61][62][63][64], or as a local product resulting from the evolution of preceding local Mousterian [46,[65][66][67][68]. In this debate, the question of backed points occupies a central place, as does the supposed absence of backed points or pointed blades in Mousterian collections located outside the range of the Châtelperronian and other early UP complexes [68; Supplementary Note 7 in S1 File). ...
... The Châtelperronian would then correspond to a second migratory phase, which is only archaeologically visible several millennia later, around 45 ka. The data from Cova Foradada show that this second phase does not concern the French Atlantic area and the Cantabrian cornice alone [77] but was also expressed as far as the Iberian Mediterranean area, far away from the distribution territories of any Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition which has been sometimes considered as a local antecedent to these industries [46,65,67,68]. If the Châtelperronian effectively corresponds to a second migratory phase by H. sapiens, and originated from the same Levantine cultural substrate, the absence of chronological and geographical overlap between phase I (IUP / Neronian) and phase II (NEA / Châtelperronian) is all the more remarkable, as the territorial expansion of this phase II affected large territories-Atlantic, continental, and Mediterranean-which remain quite geographically disjointed. ...
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The Neronian is a lithic tradition recognized in the Middle Rhône Valley of Mediterranean France now directly linked to Homo sapiens and securely dated to 54,000 years ago (ka), pushing back the arrival of modern humans in Europe by 10 ka. This incursion of modern humans into Neandertal territory and the relationships evoked between the Neronian and the Levantine Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) question the validity of concepts that define the first H. sapiens migrations and the very nature of the first Upper Paleolithic in western Eurasia. Direct comparative analyses between lithic technology from Grotte Mandrin and East Mediterranean archeological sequences, especially Ksar Akil, suggest that the three key phases of the earliest Levantine Upper Paleolithic have very precise technical and chronological counterparts in Western Europe, recognized from the Rhône Valley to Franco-Cantabria. These trans-Mediterranean technical connections suggest three distinct waves of H. sapiens expansion into Europe between 55–42 ka. These elements support an original thesis on the origin, structure, and evolution of the first moments of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe tracing parallel archaeological changes in the East Mediterranean region and Europe.
... We then applied this method to 11 osseous objects, labelled Q10 to Q19 as well as Q27, that were excavated several decades ago in the Châtelperronian layers of Quinçay Cave in France and that had potentially been used as tools some 35-45 thousand years ago (ka) 21 (Extended Data Table 1 and Extended Data Fig. 3). We prepared single-stranded DNA libraries 22,23 from the first DNA fraction recovered at each temperature, and enriched the libraries for mammalian mitochondrial (mt) DNA 24 . ...
... On the basis of the branch length of the DCP1 consensus sequence in a tree with other present-day and ancient human mtDNA genomes (Fig. 3a), we estimated its age to 18.5 thousand years (kyr), with a 95% 21 For nuclear DNA analysis, hybridization capture was performed using libraries from the second and third 90 °C phosphate fractions, targeting sites in the human genome that are known to be polymorphic in modern or archaic humans and that are located in regions of high sequence divergence between humans and other mammals 8 . Sequence information was obtained for 336,429 of these sites (71.5% of the sites targeted), with estimates of present-day human and faunal contamination both below 1%. ...
... Extended Data Fig. 2). The estimated ages of these specimens range from 55 to 35 kyr21,37,38 . Non-destructive DNA extraction was then applied to 15 osseous specimens excavated at Quinçay Cave, all from layers attributed to the Châtelperronian technocomplex and probably dating to45-35 ka 21,37 , to three tooth pendants excavated in the Initial Upper Palaeolithic(45-43 ka) 39 layers in the niche 1 area of Bacho Kiro Cave 40,41 , as well as on one tooth pendant excavated in 2019 in layer 11 (39-24 ka), square E-3, of the south chamber of Denisova Cave (Extended DataTable 1and Extended Data ...
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Artefacts made from stones, bones and teeth are fundamental to our understanding of human subsistence strategies, behaviour and culture in the Pleistocene. Although these resources are plentiful, it is impossible to associate artefacts to specific human individuals¹ who can be morphologically or genetically characterized, unless they are found within burials, which are rare in this time period. Thus, our ability to discern the societal roles of Pleistocene individuals based on their biological sex or genetic ancestry is limited2–5. Here we report the development of a non-destructive method for the gradual release of DNA trapped in ancient bone and tooth artefacts. Application of the method to an Upper Palaeolithic deer tooth pendant from Denisova Cave, Russia, resulted in the recovery of ancient human and deer mitochondrial genomes, which allowed us to estimate the age of the pendant at approximately 19,000–25,000 years. Nuclear DNA analysis identifies the presumed maker or wearer of the pendant as a female individual with strong genetic affinities to a group of Ancient North Eurasian individuals who lived around the same time but were previously found only further east in Siberia. Our work redefines how cultural and genetic records can be linked in prehistoric archaeology.
... Hence, the unidirectional exploitation of this angled intersection was carried out by following an oblique direction, which was not parallel to either of the two worked surfaces, as, for example, in the UP technologies. This technical expedient allowed the production of blades with both symmetrical and asymmetrical cross sections which were better predisposed to modification by abrupt retouch (Pelegrin, 1995;Roussel, 2013;Roussel et al., 2016). At Quinçay, a similar technological reduction is documented also in small cores, and it is aimed at the production of bladelets that successively were modified with an inverse marginal retouch (Roussel et al., 2016). ...
... This technical expedient allowed the production of blades with both symmetrical and asymmetrical cross sections which were better predisposed to modification by abrupt retouch (Pelegrin, 1995;Roussel, 2013;Roussel et al., 2016). At Quinçay, a similar technological reduction is documented also in small cores, and it is aimed at the production of bladelets that successively were modified with an inverse marginal retouch (Roussel et al., 2016). Among the stone tools, circular endscrapers are common, while side scrapers and denticulates are found only in some sites (Roussel et al., 2016). ...
... At Quinçay, a similar technological reduction is documented also in small cores, and it is aimed at the production of bladelets that successively were modified with an inverse marginal retouch (Roussel et al., 2016). Among the stone tools, circular endscrapers are common, while side scrapers and denticulates are found only in some sites (Roussel et al., 2016). ...
Chapter
Homo sapiens evolved in Africa during the late Middle Pleistocene, dispersed to South-East and East Asia at c. 100 ka BP, and only at c. 50 ka BP crossed the gates of Europe. Thus far, the European archaeological data suggest consecutive waves of migrations of H. sapiens from the Levant and both along the Danube River and the Mediterranean coast. The earliest dispersal reached Bulgaria and Moravia as well as southern Europe at ~ 47–44 ka BP, whereas another wave diffused rapidly between ~ 44 and 42 ka BP to Central Europe and the Western Mediterranean. In concomitance of these migrations, new cultural behaviours emerged in the European territories and, at ~ 41–39 ka BP, Neanderthals, the autochthonous European population, demised. The foremost consequence of these displacements in different territories and environments is that H. sapiens lasted as the only human species on Earth.
... Concernant les lames à dos, non seulement les aspects techniques de leur retouche n'ont été documentés que par deux hypothèses de la part de deux chercheurs (Pelegrin 1995(Pelegrin , 2004Bachellerie 2011), mais personne n'a été en mesure de saisir la signification réelle des différences morphologiques entre les différents types d'outils à dos (e.g. Leroi-Gourhan et Leroi-Gourhan 1964 ;Harrold 1978 ;Plisson et Schmider 1990 ;Connet 2002 ;Maíllo 2003 ;Scandiuzzi 2008 ;Rios 2008 ;Grigoletto et al. 2008 ;Souchaud 2011 ;Roussel 2011 ;Roussel et al. 2016 ;Floss et al. 2016 ;Bodu et al. 2017). Le premier travail de définition des techniques châtelperroniennes de retouche des dos est celui de J. Pelegrin, qui concernait un nombre relativement conséquent de sites, principalement Roc-de-Combe, la Côte, et, de façon préliminaire, le Piage, Canaule II, et le Basté (Pelegrin 1995). ...
... supra) ; au contraire, toutes se sont cantonnées à une description typologique de la retouche des dos (e.g. Sonneville et Perrot 1956 ;Leroi-Gourhan et Leroi-Gourhan 1964 ;Laplace 1966 ;Harrold 1978 ;Plisson et Schmider 1990 ;Connet 2002 ;Maíllo 2003 ;Scandiuzzi 2008 ;Rios 2008 ;Grigoletto et al. 2008 ;Roussel 2011 ;Rios et al. 2012 ;Roussel et al. 2016 ;Floss et al. 2016 ;Bodu et al. 2017). En effet, par contraste, l'ensemble de ces travaux ne fournit qu'une description trop partielle de la retouche : opposant « minceur » et « épaisseur », précisant le caractère croisé ou unidirectionnel, qualifiant l'angulation, et réduisant la technique au seul mode d'application (i.e. ...
... Pour la première fois, cet auteur introduit la possibilité que certaines de ces lamelles à dos puissent être « égrisées ». Pour les autres séries de lamelles à dos, en particulier la Grande Roche de la Plématrie (Quinçay) qui est la principale du point de vue quantitatif, l'interprétation technique de la retouche fait encore défaut (Mazière 1978 ;Bachellerie 2011 ;Roussel 2011Roussel , 2014Michel et al. 2013 ;Roussel et al. 2016 ;Bodu et al. 2017 ;Falcucci et al. 2018). La série d'Ormesson, à ce jour en cours de découverte sur le terrain, a livré une seule véritable lamelle à dos partiel, qui a fait l'objet d'une description préliminaire (Bodu et al. 2017, Falcucci et al. 2018). ...
... À Quinçay, les nucléus à deux plans de frappe sont fréquents. Mais les séries de lames y restent unidirectionnelles, car les deux plans de frappe desservent des surfaces d'exploitation indépendantes (Roussel, Soressi et Hublin 2016). À Germolles, les nucléus sont trop fortement exploités pour permettre d'identifier un tel type d'exploitation. ...
... Nous avons également sélectionné des lames brutes appartenant probablement au corpus du Châtelperronien. Nous nous sommes intéressés de préférence, aux trois groupes de supports définis auparavant comme supports pour les pointes et plus particulièrement aux pièces disposant d'un négatif dorsal d'orientation orthogonal aux autres, type de lame très prisé, car facilitant l'aménagement du dos (Roussel 2013 ;Roussel, Soressi et Hublin 2016). À Quinçay, ce type de lames occupe 20 % des produits laminaires. ...
... Vingt pointes proviennent des fouilles récentes(GH 1, 19, 40, 44B et 44X). L'analyse lithique emprunte le système de Tübingen(Hahn 1993 ; Floss 2012) tout en adoptant quelques éléments d'autres études, nous pensons notamment à celle de La Grande Roche de la Plématrie à Quinçay (Vienne)(Roussel 2011(Roussel , 2013(Roussel , 2014 Roussel & Soressi 2010 ;Roussel, Soressi et Hublin 2016), à l'étude du matériel de la grotte du Renne à Arcy-sur-Cure (Connet 2002) ainsi qu'à celle de Roc-de-Combe et de La Côte(Pelegrin 1995). ...
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The Châtelperronian of Germolles (Grotte de la Verpillière I, Mellecey, Saône-et-Loire, France). The Grotte de la Verpillière I in Germolles (Saône-et-Loire, France) has yielded an archaeological sequence from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Gravettian period. This contribution focusses on the Châtelperronian lithic industry, covering 150 years of research. From a techno-typological point of view, all known lithic objects presumably dating to this period are subject of this investigation. This study includes in-situ observations of Châtelperronian layers, as part of our own recent excavations. The lithic assemblage is put into context with other Châtelperronian samples in Southern Burgundy and Eastern France.
... Efforts have been made to more finely capture the variability of blade core morphology by describing striking platform angles, the shape of cores in cross section, and the position of the flaking surface relative to the overall volume of the core at discard (e.g. Roussel 2013;Roussel et al. 2016). However, with few exceptions (Bretzke & Conard 2012) this has almost exclusively been done using qualitative descriptors and manual categorization. ...
... Researchers have observed that Châtelperronian and Protoaurignacian blade cores tend to have differently shaped cross sections. It has been proposed that Châtelperronian knappers were specifically seeking asymmetrical blade blanks in order to produce Châtelperronian knives or points (Roussel 2013;Roussel et al. 2016). In order to do this, it is argued that knappers tended to successively work two distinct cores faces. ...
... The retreat axis is the axis perpendicular to a vector defined by the greatest extents of the flaking surface when the core is viewed from above (Figure 2). Based on qualitative observations, Roussel et al. (2016) posit that because of the reduction strategy used in the Protoaurignacian, the angle between these two axes should be close to zero. In contrast, it is argued that the angle between these axes should be more oblique (i.e. ...
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This study uses data extracted from 3D models to compare blade cores from the Châtelperronian and Protoaurignacian stone tool industries. These technocomplexes are at the center of the debate surrounding the interactions between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans approximately 45 to 40,000 years ago. We created 3D models of lithic cores from the sites of Roc de Combe and Les Cottés using a standardized photogrammetry protocol. We then used data derived from these 3D models to make quantitative comparisons of artifact attributes that have previously been argued to distinguish the two stone tool industries in question. These attributes include the angle between the platform and flaking surfaces, the shape of core cross sections, and the angle between core axes. The conception of this study was not to privilege the use of new technological and statistical approaches over more traditional or qualitative forms of lithic analysis. Rather, our aim was to experiment with using digital tool to develop nuanced, reproducible ways to describe variability in lithic artifacts. Our results support the hypothesis that there is a difference in the angle between core surfaces between these two industries. Our analysis also indicates a difference in the angle between core axes, although we are more cautious in interpreting these results. An elliptical Fourier analysis of core cross section shape was inconclusive. We discuss what archaeological and methodological factors may have contributed to our results, and the roles of both qualitative and quantitative observations in archaeological research. 3D artifact models generated for this study are included as supplemental data and are available for use by other researchers.
... Due to the overall paucity of diagnostic skeletal remains, the timing and nature of anatomically modern human (AMH) dispersal into Europe and the demise of Neanderthals is reconstructed largely via archaeological proxies, with different archaeological assemblage types taken to represent biologically distinct populations (e.g., Higham et al., 2014;Hublin, 2015;Kadowaki et al., 2015;Roussel et al., 2016;Teyssandier and Zilhão, 2018). The biological transition is broadly coeval with the appearance of Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP:~37e30 ka BP 1 ;~42e34 ka cal BP) assemblages, while preceding European Late Middle Paleolithic (LMP) assemblages are generally accepted as being made by Neanderthals. ...
... The earliest assemblages generally agreed to be of AMH authorship are Proto-and Early Aurignacian (Zilhão, 2013;Higham et al., 2014;Nigst et al., 2014;Benazzi et al., 2015;Hublin, 2015;Kadowaki et al., 2015;Roussel et al., 2016;Teyssandier and Zilhão, 2018). The chronology of sites dating to this period is still the subject of active research, but broadly appears to fit the periods 41e39 ka cal BP for Proto-Aurignacian and~39e36 ka cal BP for Early Aurignacian sites (using IntCal13; Supplementary Online Material [SOM] S1, Fig. S1 and Table S1; J€ oris and Street, 2008; Banks et al., 2013a,b;Wood et al., 2014). ...
... A Proto-Aurignacian-like assemblage at Kostenki not only extends the known geographical limits of this assemblage type into the East European Plain, but also extends the known range northwards. This is significant given the often-noted southern European distribution of Proto-Aurignacian sites (Mellars, 2006b;Demidenko and Noiret, 2012b;Roussel et al., 2016;Demidenko and Haulk, 2017). In Western Europe, the Proto-Aurignacian Layer VII of Grotte du Renne (Schmider, 2002) lies at 47.5 N, while Beg ar C'hastel (~48.5 N; Giot et al., 1975), and a possible Proto-Aurignacian component in the mixed assemblage from Spy Cave (~50.5 N; Flas et al., 2012) may suggest a more northerly limit. ...
... During this period, technocomplexes generally exhibit faster rates of diachronic change and intermittent regionalization, likely linked to varying degrees of population interconnectivity (Maier et al., 2022). The Aurignacian stands out as the first Upper Paleolithic technocomplex with a broad geographic distribution (Le Brun-Ricalens & Bordes, 2007), contrasting with more regionally localized and debated technocomplexes like the Uluzzian (Moroni et al., 2018;Peresani et al., 2019b) and the Châtelperronian (Pelegrin, 1995;Roussel et al., 2016). ...
... A notable feature of the shift from the Protoaurignacian to the Early Aurignacian is the increased use of carinated technology, leading to a marked dissociation in the production of blades and bladelets. This technological shift is evident across Europe at stratified sites such as Le Piage (Bordes, 2006), Isturitz (Normand, 2006), Labeko Koba (Arrizabalaga & Altuna, 2000, La Viña (Santamaría, 2012), and Les Cottés (Roussel et al., 2016), among others. At Fumane, the lithic evidence is further supported by the discovery of a split-based antler point in D3b alpha, a tool considered diagnostic of the Early Aurignacian (Doyon, 2020;Tejero & Grimaldi, 2015;Teyssandier & Zilhão, 2018). ...
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High-resolution stratigraphic frameworks are crucial for unraveling the biocultural processes behind the dispersals of Homo sapiens across Europe. Detailed technological studies of lithic assemblages retrieved from multi-stratified sequences allow archaeologists to precisely model the chrono-cultural dynamics of the early Upper Paleolithic. However, it is of paramount importance to verify the integrity of these assemblages before building explanatory models of cultural change. In this study, multiple lines of evidence suggest that the stratigraphic sequence of Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy experienced minor post-depositional reworking, establishing it as a pivotal site for exploring the earliest stages of the Aurignacian. By conducting a systematic search for break connections between blade fragments and applying spatial analysis techniques, we identified three well-preserved areas of the excavation containing assemblages suitable for renewed archaeological investigations. Subsequent technological analyses, incorporating attribute analysis, reduction intensity, and multivariate statistics, have allowed us to discern the spatial organization of the site during the formation of the Protoaurignacian palimpsest A2–A1. Moreover, diachronic comparisons between three successive stratigraphic units prompted us to reject the hypothesis of techno-cultural continuity of the Protoaurignacian in northeastern Italy after the onset of the Heinrich Event 4. Based on the variability of the lithic and osseous artifacts, the most recent assemblage analyzed, D3b alpha, is now ascribed to the Early Aurignacian, aligning the evidence from Fumane with the current understanding of the development of the Aurignacian across Europe. Overall, this study demonstrates the high effectiveness of the break connection method when combined with detailed spatial analysis and lithic technology, providing a methodological tool particularly amenable to be applied to sites excavated in the past with varying degrees of recording accuracy.
... Secondly, and relatedly, the true emergence and/or extinction dates may in some cases be slightly more conservative than the upper limits of the oldest and/or youngest calibrated dates themselves. This is perhaps particularly relevant for the Châtelperronian, which is widely acknowledged as largely reflecting relatively ephemeral and short-lived occupations 15 -with the exception of some notable examples 16,38 . ...
... From an archaeological perspective, of relevance to these results is the acknowledged presence of bladelet technologies, osseus artefacts, and personal ornaments within a growing number of Châtelperronian and Protoaurignacian contexts. Unanimously seen as a trademark of the Protoaurignacian techno-complex (with the laterally retouched Dufour bladelet [sub-type Dufour] fossile directeur commonly constituting a substantial portion of Protoaurignacian assemblages), evidence for some form of intentional bladelet production and/or modification within the Châtelperronian has now been reported from at least five open-air sites 14,17,49,50 and six cave sites 16,42,49,[51][52][53] . To what extent (if any) these similarities represent some form of connection between these industries remains unclear, but the potential contemporaneity of the groups producing these assemblages is certainly of relevance. ...
Article
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Recent fossil discoveries suggest that Neandertals and Homo sapiens may have co-existed in Europe for as long as 5 to 6000 years. Yet, evidence for their contemporaneity at any regional scale remains highly elusive. In France and northern Spain, a region which features some of the latest directly-dated Neandertals in Europe, Protoaurignacian assemblages attributed to Homo sapiens appear to 'replace' Neandertal-associated Châtelperronian assemblages. Using the earliest and latest known occurrences as starting points, Bayesian modelling has provided indication that these occupations may in fact have been partly contemporaneous. The reality, however, is that we are unlikely to ever identify the 'first' or 'last' appearance of a species or cultural tradition in the archaeological and fossil record. Here, we use optimal linear estimation modelling to estimate the first appearance date of Homo sapiens and the extinction date of Neandertals in France and northern Spain by statistically inferring these 'missing' portions of the Protoaurignacian and Châtelperronian archaeological records. Additionally, we estimate the extinction date of Neandertals in this region using a dataset of directly-dated Neandertal fossil remains. Our total dataset consists of sixty-six modernly produced radiocarbon determinations which we recalibrated using the newest calibration curve (IntCal20) to produce updated age ranges. The results suggest that the onset of the Homo sapiens occupation of this region likely preceded the extinction of Neandertals and the Châtelperronian by up to 1400-2900 years. This reaffirms the Bayesian-derived duration of coexistence between these groups during the initial Upper Palaeolithic of this region using a novel independent method, and indicates that our understanding of the timing of these occupations may not be suffering from substantial gaps in the record. Whether or not this coexistence featured some form of direct interaction, however, remains to be resolved. Between 40 and 50,000 years ago (kya cal BP), the demographic landscape of Europe is transformed as Neander-tals are replaced by anatomically modern humans (AMH) and disappear from the fossil record 1. Recent evidence from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and southeastern France indicates that the first AMH arrived in Europe by at least 47-45 kya cal BP-and possibly as far as ~ 54 kya cal BP 2-4. At a continental scale, this would suggest a possible overlap of upwards of 14,000 years between these human species 3. Yet, little is known about the nature, timing, and specific geographic areas of interaction between Neandertals and Homo sapiens during this critical period in human evolutionary history. For example, genetic data has shown there to be notable variation in the presence of recent Neandertal ancestry in early AMHs in Europe 3,5-7 and-although the sample size is limited-it is interesting to note that no late European Neandertals have yet exhibited evidence of a recent modern human ancestor 8. One possible explanation for this pattern is that, at least in some regions, the first AMHs to colonise Europe may not have directly encountered Neandertals.
... The interaction between production and maintenance phases also sheds light on how the different actions interact to achieve the production goals. The study of diacritic schemes and refits also provides insight into the technical processes involved in knapping strategies (Cahen, 1980;Delagnes & Roche, 2005;Castañeda, 2009;Scerri et al., 2015, Roussel et al., 2016. ...
... Reduction systems have been studied in depth in the Middle Palaeolithic (Boëda, 1991;Casanova et al., 2008;Mourre, 2003;Slimak, 2008), in the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (Bordes & Teyssandier, 2012;Soressi & Roussel, 2014;Roussel et al., 2016) and the Early Upper Palaeolithic (Le Brun-Ricalens et al., (2005) ;Bon, 2006;Conard & Bolus, 2006;Bordes et al., 2007;Bataille & Conard, 2018b;Falcucci & Peresani, 2018;Sánchez-Martínez et al., 2021), describing a series of knapping strategies and methods that underpin the technical genesis of lithic technology. These analytical categories allow the hierarchical organisation of lithic exploitation schemes, providing an excellent frame to the study core reduction strategies (Geneste, 1991;Karlin, 1991b). ...
Article
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Core reduction provides insight into the technical actions involved in knapping sequences, one of the central elements in technological analysis. By examining reduction phases, cognitive and operational aspects of the management of lithic resources can be explored, and the technical behaviours of human groups reconstructed. This paper presents a technological and morphometric analysis of cores from the Magdalenian sequence of the Cova Gran de Santa Linya (SE Pyrenees), which ranges from 23 to 16 k cal BP. The knapping strategies suggest two types of lithic exploitation: one on nodules using semi-circumferential methods and the other on thick flakes using burin-core methods. Five knapping modalities were identified through the study of reduction sequences and the analysis of technical attributes, which highlights the technical diversity of lithic production systems. The data collected are supported by statistical analysis and reveal significant differences at the diachronic level and among the lithic assemblages. This study aims to suggest a reference model with which to characterise Magdalenian cores in technological terms. This model can broaden our understanding of the diversity of technical behaviours that appear from the beginning of LGM-b to the end of MIS 2 in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula.
... Most of the cores have been exploited to produce bladelets (n = 10) and blades (n = 7), but there are also some non-standardized "expedient" flake cores (n = 4) and some core roughouts (n = 6), tested blocks (n = 3) and exhausted cores (n = 1). Among the blade cores, 4 are typical [21][22][23][24] bidirectional ones with two, opposed flaking surfaces that are not strictly parallel (bipolaire décalé), which were used for the production of pointed asymmetrical blades ( [26]. Blanks are dominated by narrow (6.4-13.5 mm width) and wide (>13.6 mm) blades and ...
... No typical Middle Paleolithic Levallois, Discoid or Quina products have been identified at Aranbaltza II US4b. Furthermore, blank production at Aranbaltza II is basically oriented towards the production of blades and bladelets, following the same production schemas seen at classic sites such as Roc de Combe, La Côte and Quinçay [21,26], Morin level 10 [34], and also evidenced in assemblages such as Labeko Koba [27], Ekain [35], and Cova Foradada [36]. Blade and bladelet production in the regional Middle Paleolithic are very rare, and never formed part of the structural productions for the Mousterian Neandertals [37][38][39][40]. ...
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Multiple factors have been proposed to explain the disappearance of Neandertals between ca. 50 and 40 kyr BP. Central to these discussions has been the identification of new techno-cultural complexes that overlap with the period of Neandertal demise in Europe. One such complex is the Châtelperronian, which extends from the Paris Basin to the Northern Iberian Peninsula between 43,760–39,220 BP. In this study we present the first open-air Châtelperronian site in the Northern Iberian Peninsula, Aranbaltza II. The technological features of its stone tool assemblage show no links with previous Middle Paleolithic technology in the region, and chronological modeling reveals a gap between the latest Middle Paleolithic and the Châtelperronian in this area. We interpret this as evidence of local Neandertal extinction and replacement by other Neandertal groups coming from southern France, illustrating how local extinction episodes could have played a role in the process of disappearance of Neandertals.
... Large flakes equipped with a semi-circular scraper-head are considered diagnostic of this complex, as they have been documented at several sites under different names such as "circular," "discoid," "circular arc," or "large front" endscraper (see Arambourou and Jude 1964;Connet 2002;Delporte 1953;Leroi-Gourhan and Leroi-Gourhan 1964;Pelegrin 1995;Pradel 1959Pradel , 1961de Sonneville-Bordes 2002). On these objects, retouching shaped the front in continuity with the adjacent edges with a consistent degree of invasiveness (Roussel et al. 2016). At Quinçay, several endscrapers were made on large laminar rejuvenation flakes (length range 1.2 to 5.8 cm and 4 to 9 cm in width; Roussel et al. 2016). ...
... On these objects, retouching shaped the front in continuity with the adjacent edges with a consistent degree of invasiveness (Roussel et al. 2016). At Quinçay, several endscrapers were made on large laminar rejuvenation flakes (length range 1.2 to 5.8 cm and 4 to 9 cm in width; Roussel et al. 2016). The only functional data currently available on Châtelperronian endscrapers are from a small sample found at the open-air site Canaule II (Creysse, Dordogne, France; Bachellerie 2011). ...
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Endscrapers are specialized tools that are usually recovered in great quantities in every Upper Paleolithic site in Europe. Although they make their first ephemeral appearance in the Middle–late Middle Paleolithic transitional technocomplexes, endscrapers commonly appear in toolkits from initial and early Upper Paleolithic traditions onwards. Nevertheless, endscrapers and, in general, domestic tools have attracted relatively little attention in debates revolving around the significance of technological change, tool function, and tool specialization after the end of the Middle Paleolithic. With the aim to overcome this paucity of information, here, we present the results of a techno-functional study performed on the large endscraper assemblage recovered from the early and late Protoaurignacian layers at Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy. We analyzed these artifacts using technological, morpho-metrical, typological, and functional approaches. Despite the large morphological variability, use-wear traces reveal functional consistency and high levels of specialization for these tools. Almost all the use-wear traces we recorded developed from hide working with transverse motion. Moreover, we find no evidence that endscrapers were involved in the production of bone and antler tools during the late Protoaurignacian. Macroscopic and microscopic wear on the lateral edges of tools point to a considerable number of hafted endscrapers, which implies systematic time investment and planning depth. Comparison with the few endscrapers from transitional industries that have been analyzed highlights marked differences in the production, morphology, and use of these tools and reinforces our view of the Aurignacian as a complex not directly related with preceding European traditions.
... Evidence for behavioral change during the Middle (MP) to Upper Paleolithic (UP) shift in western Europe, including material culture, hunting strategies, and raw material procurement, are concurrent to the incoming Homo sapiens and the demise of local Neandertal populations. Over the last few decades, lithic studies have consistently been employed to unravel the techno-cultural and techno-economical aspects of hunter-gatherer groups in Europe approximately 55-40 Kya, demonstrating the existence of different macro-regional techno-complexes: Châtelperronian, Uluzzian, Bohunician, Szeletian, Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ), and Bachokirian (Flas, 2011;Hublin et al., 2020;Moroni et al., 2013;Pelegrin, 1995;Rossini et al., 2022;Roussel et al., 2016;Škrdla, 2017;Svoboda & Bar-Yosef, 2003;Teyssandier, 2024). Late Middle Paleolithic (LMP) assemblages endure in specific regions, chronologically overlapping with some of these techno-complexes. ...
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In the Italian peninsula, the Late Middle Paleolithic exhibits significant technological diversity, featuring blades, points, and bladelets. Assemblages displaying these distinctive characteristics have, in some cases, been labeled as Musteriano evoluto or Evolved Mousterian, and they are interpreted as contributing to the technological and typological variability within the Middle Paleolithic. In this study, we report the results of a detailed technological analysis of the lithics recovered from the latest layers preserved at Riparo l’Oscurusciuto (SU1 to SU3) in southern Italy. These layers were previously attributed to the Late Mousterian based on their chronological age and a preliminary techno/typological analysis of a small number of artifacts. Our comprehensive analysis of entire assemblages reveals the presence of original technological features, including blades, bladelets, and specific production of micro-points on flake cores. Some of these technological traits are comparable to those recently described at Grotte Mandrin in south-eastern France, which have been attributed to an early phase of the Initial Upper Paleolithic and associated with one modern human tooth. The study confirms the variability of the Late Middle Paleolithic in southern Italy and emphasizes the necessity to reassess it considering recent theories on the earlier arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe and their potential interaction with local populations.
... www.nature.com/scientificreports/ The impact of IUP technology on the L1 assemblage is underscored not just by the presence of flat-faced and semi-rotated cores -duplicating the bifacial recurrent centripetal ones (Mousterian-like)-or the Levallois-like points and blades, but also by the abundance of flakes potentially associated with the reduction of these cores (1,5) and prismatic (6)(7)(8). Pointed negatives in light red (1,2). Artefacts come from the current excavation (1,5,8) ...
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The extended period of coexistence between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in Europe coincided with the emergence of regionally distinctive lithic industries, signalling the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic. The Iberian Peninsula was on the periphery of pioneering Upper Palaeolithic developments, with archaeological remains primarily found in northern territories. We report the discovery of an initial Upper Palaeolithic lithic industry at Cueva Millán in the hinterlands of Iberia. This industry, termed here Arlanzian, not only represents the earliest and southernmost evidence of such industries in Iberia but also lacks a direct counterpart. However, it exhibits chronological and technological parallels with the lithic industries associated with the earliest expansion of Homo sapiens throughout Eurasia. We interpret this as potential evidence of its intrusive nature, but not necessarily associated with a migration event, as more complex scenarios derived from inter-population connectivity must be also considered. The biological identity of the Arlanzian makers remains unknown, but they coexisted with declining Neanderthal groups from neighbouring territories.
... On the other hand, the reduction system does not follow the technical parameters described for blade production systems defined for the Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian technocomplexes (Bon, 2002;Zilhão, 2009). Technology and refitting analyses (Martínez- Moreno et al., 2019) have allowed the identification of some technical features similar to those observed in the Châtelperronian (Roussel et al., 2016). However, the lack of specific diagnostic elements, such as Châtelperronian points, prevents us from assigning this lithic assemblage to the Châtelperronian. ...
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The Early Upper Paleolithic Level 497D of Cova Gran (Pre-Pyrenees, Spain) comprises large assemblages of lithics, fauna, hearths, ash accumulations and well-preserved refitting sequences. This provides exceptional information to analyze spatial patterns and deepen our understanding of the socio-economic behavior of these human groups. This large interdisciplinary dataset has allowed us to carry out a detailed spatial study based on density analysis, geostatistics, fabric analysis and orientation techniques, revealing a structuring of the activities performed within the rock shelter. The distribution and accumulation of lithic artifacts, fauna and refits, and their association with the 10 hearths and ash accumulations, show that different types of activities were developed at the site, as well as showing the different uses of the hearths. 497D is a palimpsest where several short-term occupations and/or activities could have occurred in a relatively short period of time, avoiding prolonged exposure to biotic and abiotic post-depositional factors that could have significantly disturbed this well-preserved assemblage. This level shows a place visited several times in relation to the development of specific activities, with movements throughout the landscape for the exploitation of local and regional resources, and less so its use as a domestic space. This implies that the central settlement, or dwelling space, would have been located somewhere other than Cova Gran.
... Nevertheless, some general conclusions can be drawn despite these problems. Laterally retouched blades, endscrapers and backed blades (including Châtelperronian points) constitute around 72% of all tool types in Châtelperron, which is relatively high compared to Quinçay, where they represent around 57% (after Roussel et al. 2016: Table 2). The remaining tool types identified at Quinçay, such as truncations, burins, endscrapers, splintered pieces and sidescrapers are all represented in Châtelperron in comparable quantities; however, borers are almost entirely absent in Châtelperron, as are notches and denticulates. ...
Chapter
The Rhine, while separating West and Central Europe, also formed a major corridor not only for the movement of people but also of ideas during the Paleolithic. This volume by a group of researchers working along both sides of the Rhine explores both of these premises.
... However, while backing as a technique to modify lithics is straightforward in the sense of blunting one edge of an implement to make it easier to haft or to handle, the question of what the term "microlith" implies is less clear 2 (e.g., Leplongeon 2014). It is highly debatable whether rare backed bladelets from the Last Interglacial complex (Conard 1992), the later Châtelperonnian or the Mousterién de tradition Acheuléenne (e.g., Bolus 2012b;Bosinski 1967;Bordes 1961;Roussel et al. 2016;Soressi 2005;Soressi and Roussel 2014) are comparable to the Gravettian and Magdalenian both in terms of numbers as well as production. Nonetheless, the backing of comparably small lithic implements occurred in several different geographical and chronological contexts, and varying explanations for these developments have been put forward (e.g., Blinkhorn and Poort assemblages of southern Africa often contain relatively large backed tools, and these tools are often made from flakes. ...
Article
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During the Gravettian several innovations in lithic technology and typology appear. Blank production focuses on long, straight and narrow blades and bladelets. The preparation and maintenance of cores is frequent, and core exploitation is efficient. Often bladelets and smaller blades are transformed into standardized backed elements, among them the well-known Gravette and Microgravette points. Backed elements were often hafted. Many were parts of a modular projectile technology, but some probably served other uses such as cutting or perforating.
... In other words, patterns in macro-regional technological data should be related to the structural organization of the corresponding toolkits, but the relationship must not always be strictly co-evolutionary as technical trade-offs may for example promote informal tool-use not documented in the dataset 43 . Conversely, tools shapes may be more readily copied and tool concepts may thus be more mobile between communities (reflected in Tools-based similarity and co-occurrence of rarer forms such as Zinken, specific geometric microliths or tanged points), whereas specific ways of working lithic raw material volumes (combinations of Technology variables) are often expected to diffuse less easily 44,45 , but this hypothesis should be empirically explored and different techno-cultural contexts may yield varying dynamics 46,47 . The offered data structure so enables the comparative investigation of patterned co-variation between technology and toolkit data, and to test whether such relationships differ between regions and time slices. ...
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Comparative macro-archaeological investigations of the human deep past rely on the availability of unified, quality-checked datasets integrating different layers of observation. Information on the durable and ubiquitous record of Paleolithic stone artefacts and technological choices are especially pertinent to this endeavour. We here present a large expert-sourced collaborative dataset for the study of stone tool technology and artefact shape evolution across Europe between ~15.000 and 11.000 years before present. the dataset contains a compendium of key sites from the study period, and data on lithic technology and toolkit composition at the level of the cultural taxa represented by those sites. The dataset further encompasses 2D shapes of selected lithic artefact groups (armatures, endscrapers, and borers/perforators) shared between cultural taxa. These data offer novel possibilities to explore between-regional patterns of material culture change to reveal scale-dependent processes of long-term technological evolution in mobile hunter-gatherer societies at the end of the Pleistocene. Our dataset facilitates state-of-the-art quantitative analyses and showcases the benefits of collaborative data collation and synthesis.
... Originally used as a barrier to keep Neanderthals outside the realm of cognitive modernity, archaeological discoveries postdating the publishing of Mellars' (1991) diagnostic list have broken down the barriers between the two hominins. The production of awls by a culture indicates an advanced level of the habitual manufacturing of clothing (Sørensen, 2009 produce similarly complex tools as the proto-Aurignacian but with completely different production methods (Roussel et al., 2016). The site of Quincay also demonstrates this Neanderthal population's predilection for blade rather than flake production and so also includes these hominins within this criterion of cognitive modernity. ...
Thesis
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Historically, the almost synchronous emergence of Neanderthal upper Palaeolithic archaeology and the appearance of anatomically modern Homo sapiens (AMHS) in Europe has been explained by a process of acculturation before the eventual subsummation of the Neanderthals. However, increasing numbers of studies have recently started to report incongruencies between this premise and what the archaeological record actually demonstrates – namely that many Neanderthal upper Palaeolithic archaeology significantly predates the intrusion of AMHS. This project therefore sought an alternative explanation to this phenomenon by investigating the interaction between environmental factors and the technological complexity exhibited by the two aforementioned hominins. In a wider context the project aimed to provide a much-needed rubric and statistical foundation for future research into this greatly under-studied field of palaeoanthropology. The project incorporated data from 44 sites associated with both AMHS and Neanderthals throughout Afro-Eurasia dating from the middle and late Pleistocene. These sites were assigned to groups based on the likely climate and habitat conditions, in addition to whether it was located coastally. The lithic assemblages were quantified to form a Cumulative Innovation Score (CIS). Inferential statistics were utilized to investigate significant differences between hominins in different environmental conditions. Additional exploratory statistics were performed to assess which assemblage features associated together in each hominin. Coastal and non-coastal sites produced a significant difference in the composition of AMHS assemblages which could have important ramifications in explaining how AMHS outcompeted the autochthonous Neanderthals. This could imply a difference in the responsiveness of subsistence strategies to environmental change between the two hominins which has implications in the eventual subsummation of the Neanderthals. Resolution of both the assemblages’ CIS and the estimation of palaeoenvironments of each site was unfortunately an issue throughout the project. Suggestions to limit these problems of resolution and potential future research is discussed.
... The careful study by one of us of the almost 17,000 lithics larger than 2cm, as well as almost 70,000 lithics smaller than 2cm, enabled the discovery of 33 bladelet cores, 61 complete bladelets, and 200 fragmented bladelets (see Figures 11, 12, and 15). The only through the reconstitution of the reduction systems and production targets (e.g., Roussel et al., 2016;Demidenko et al., 2020;Zwyns, 2020). ...
Article
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Middle Paleolithic blade production is documented in northwestern Europe as early as 250 ka between the Seine and the Rhine valleys. If Middle Paleolithic blade production is now a well-established fact, it is still unclear whether bladelets-or microlithic blade production-were intentionally produced during the Middle Paleolithic. Evidence suggesting Middle Paleolithic bladelet production is sparse, often debatable, perhaps unrecognized in the old collections and usually dated to MIS 3 and, less frequently, to MIS 4. Here, a detailed chaîne opératoire analysis is applied to more than 100,000 lithic artifacts (including the microlithic elements collected through sieving) excavated in fourteen different layers at the Bau de l'Aubesier rock shelter in southeastern France. The Bau de l'Aubesier contained several Neandertal and (pre) Neandertal remains, and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), Uranium-Thorium (U-Th), Thermoluminescence (TL), and biostratigraphy indicate that the oldest layers are at least 200,000 years old, while the top of the sequence is ~110,000 years old. We found blade production in several layers, constituting direct evidence for laminar reduction strategies in the south of Europe from MIS 7 to MIS 5d and as early as 200 ka. Blades show distinct morpho-technical features that result from using both volumetric and non-volumetric reduction strategies. We also document the earliest independent bladelet production to date in a sedimentary context (level 4) radiometrically dated to MIS 5d and containing six Neandertal teeth. Bladelet cores on flakes and maintenance bladelets are found in the MIS 5d level only, and only rare irregular bladelets are found in levels older than MIS 5d-suggesting that recurrent bladelet production was not used at the Bau de l'Aubesier before MIS 5d. Our results support the idea that detailed and exhaustive technological analyses of the entirety of lithic assemblages are required to identify Middle Paleolithic bladelet production, which would otherwise go unnoticed. We suggest that Middle Paleolithic bladelet productions still remain to be discovered, especially in the old collections, and that a better understanding of their variability through time and space is a prerequisite to reconstructing the significance of these technologies some 50 to 200 ka and before the proliferation of Upper Paleolithic blade and bladelet technologies.
... Furthermore, it is worth noting that at the end of regional Mousterian sequences at Fumane and in the other Discoid or Levallois assemblages, there is no standardization of backing techniques and of the overall form of backed implements. This contrasts with the Uluzzian (Moroni et al. 2018) and the Chatelperronian (Roussel et al. 2015), or the Howiesons Poort and Post-Howiesons Poort complexes in South Africa (Villa et al. 2010), where standardized tools are considered proxies of modern behavioral expressions. ...
Article
Of the many critical phases of human evolution, one of the most investigated is the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic with the pivotal bio-cultural substitution of Neanderthals by Homo sapiens in Western Eurasia. The complexity of this over ten thousands years phase raises from the ensemble of evidence ascribed to the diverse adaptations expressed by Neanderthals and the first representatives of our species. In countless archaeological records Neanderthals left clear traces of a cultural variability dotted with innovations in the technology of stone and bone tools, alongside with manifestations in the range of the symbolic sphere. Together with other aspects of daily life, this evidence contributes shedding light on the cognitive aptitudes of those hominins and reassessing gaps in Pleistocene human diversities. Among archaeological contexts, the cave of Fumane in the Monti Lessini (Veneto Pre-Alps, northeastern Italy) is a key site. It is positioned along the potential trajectory of hominins moving into southern Europe from eastern and southeastern regions and includes a finely layered sedimentary sequence with cultural layers ascribed to the Mousterian, Uluzzian, Aurignacian and Gravettian. The ensemble constitutes one of the most complete, detailed and dated continental stratigraphic series from a segment of the late Pleistocene between 50 and 30 ka cal BP in a cave context of Southern Europe. Assessments based on sedimentological and palaeontological record provide indicators for framing Neanderthals in their respective ecological contexts since the late Middle Pleistocene until their demise during MIS3. On-going research is producing data ascribable to the human ecological relations and the interaction with specific natural resources, thus contributing to shed light on the complexity of Neanderthal behavior. Thanks to the high-resolution archaeological record of the earliest appearances of Homo sapiens, Fumane also provides clues to compare life, subsistence, and cultures between these Pleistocene hominins for comprehensive reasonings on our unicity.
... Differently put: for 6,000 years (up to 20,000 if coexistence in the Levant is included after Homo sapiens' OOA) our evolutionary cousins kept our ancestors at the doorstep, enduring their incursions, admixing, interbreeding 5 and perhaps intermingling culturally, as the controversial taxonomic affiliation of some transitional industries has long suggested (Roussel et al. 2016). ...
Article
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Neanderthal extinction is a matter of intense debate. It has been suggested that demography (as opposed to environment or competition) could alone provide a sufficient explanation for the phenomenon. We argue that demography cannot be a ‘stand-alone’ or ‘alternative’ explanation of token extinctions as demographic features are entangled with competitive and environmental factors, and further because demography should not be conflated with neutrality.
... Differently put: for 6,000 years (up to 20,000 if coexistence in the Levant is included after Homo sapiens' OOA) our evolutionary cousins kept our ancestors at the doorstep, enduring their incursions, admixing, interbreeding 5 and perhaps intermingling culturally, as the controversial taxonomic affiliation of some transitional industries has long suggested (Roussel et al. 2016). ...
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Published version available on RG or at this link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-022-09881-y . Neanderthal extinction is a matter of intense debate. It has been suggested that demography (as opposed to environment or competition) could alone provide a sufficient explanation for the phenomenon. We argue that demography cannot be a ‘stand-alone’ or ‘alternative’ explanation of token extinctions as demographic features are entangled with competitive and environmental factors, and further because demography should not be conflated with neutrality.
... 2B). In Western Europe, in the same timeframe, this interaction has been suggested as a trigger for the development of Chatelperronian material culture (Roussel et al. 2016), whereas the Uluzzian techno-complex in Mediterranean Europe may tentatively be better explained by an additional, yet uncharacterized expansion from the Hub (Benazzi et al. 2011;Marciani et al. 2020) although genomic data from Uluzzian strata are still lacking. The Uluzzian techno-complex is indeed characterized by unprecedented versatility and efficient management of production costs, considerably lower standardization in design compared with Mousterian industries, lower time, and energy expenditure for initialization and management of volumes, and a much shorter response time to change in raw material or environmental conditions (Riel-Salvatore 2007Moroni et al. 2013;Moroni et al. 2018;Peresani et al. 2019;Arrighi, Marciani et al. 2020;Collina et al. 2020;Marciani et al. 2020;Silvestrini et al. 2021). ...
Article
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The population dynamics that followed the Out of Africa (OoA) expansion and the whereabouts of the early migrants before the differentiation that ultimately led to the formation of Oceanian, West and East Eurasian macropopulations have long been debated. Shedding light on these events may, in turn, provide clues to better understand the cultural evolution in Eurasia between 50 and 35 ka. Here, we analyze Eurasian Paleolithic DNA evidence to provide a comprehensive population model and validate it in light of available material culture. Leveraging on our integrated approach we propose the existence of a Eurasian population Hub, where Homo sapiens lived between the OoA and the broader colonization of Eurasia, which was characterized by multiple events of expansion and local extinction. A major population wave out of Hub, of which Ust'Ishim, Bacho Kiro, and Tianyuan are unadmixed representatives, is broadly associated with Initial Upper Paleolithic lithics and populated West and East Eurasia before or around 45 ka, before getting largely extinct in Europe. In this light, we suggest a parsimonious placement of Oase1 as an individual related to Bacho Kiro who experienced additional Neanderthal introgression. Another expansion, started before 38 ka, is broadly associated with Upper Paleolithic industries and repopulated Europe with sporadic admixtures with the previous wave (GoyetQ116-1) and more systematic ones, whereas moving through Siberia (Yana, Mal'ta). Before these events, we also confirm Zlatý Kůň as the most basal human lineage sequenced to date OoA, potentially representing an earlier wave of expansion out of the Hub.
... In all the three areas, the data recovered from Cardina-Salto do Boi's upper levels characterized by Middle Palaeolithic technology confirm the absence of the bidirectional blade reduction sequence that characterises the Chatelperronian of France (Pelegrin, 1995;Pelegrin and Soressi, 2007;Bachellerie, 2011;Roussel et al., 2016) and Northern Spain (Arrizabalaga et al., 2000;Rodriguez-Hidalgo, 2019), dated of the 44-36 ka cal BP interval (Higham et al., 2010(Higham et al., , 2014Hublin et al, 2012;Talamo et al., 2012;Rodriguez-Hidalgo, 2019), and correlatively proves the persistence of discoid reduction sequence, by this time, in the Côa Valley. ...
Article
Hunter-gatherer societies mobility has been interpreted as a dialectical interplay of social and environmental factors. Demography and social network restriction have been pointed out as potential factors for the demise of Neanderthal and to differ them from anatomically modern human. To reconstruct land use and social network we investigate Middle and Upper Palaeolithic lithic remains from an open-air site located in Iberian hinterland, spanning from MIS 5 to 3. In a geological environment with a variety of quartz veins but no available flint or silcrete sources, data reveal common patterns through Neanderthal occupations, and substantial differences interpreted as distinct subsistence strategies and social networks of the two populations.
... 40 ka cal BP) (Devièse et al. 2019;Fu et al. 2013, Massilani et al. 2020. More complicated are the alternative scenarios in which the IUP was made by local populations, such as Denisovans, or the multiple possibilities of acculturation/transculturation (Douka et al. 2019;Hublin et al. 1996; Le Brun-Ricalens 2019; Roussel et al. 2016). Difficult to falsify, they remain less parsimonious and leave important questions open such as: Where is the archaeology of modern humans? ...
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Archaeological assemblages labeled as Initial Upper Paleolithic are often seen as possible evidence for dispersals of Homo sapiens populations in Eurasia, ca. 45,000 years ago. While most authors agree that the IUP can be recognized by a set of shared features, there is far less consensus on what these features are, and what they mean. Because of methodological challenges inherent to long distance comparisons, documenting and establishing a firm connection between archaeological assemblages remain difficult and often draw legitimate skepticism. There could be many reasons why Paleolithic hunter-gatherers used comparable technologies, but it usually comes down to two kinds of processes: cultural transmission or convergence. In other words, technological similarities may illustrate a cultural link between regions or may be caused by mechanisms of independent reinvention between more distantly related populations. Here, I focus on three assemblages from the Siberian Altai, Zabaikal region, and North Mongolia to address one main question: is there such thing as a united IUP in Central and East Asia, or are we looking at unrelated yet comparable adaptive processes? First, I describe the common structure of lithic blade production at the sites, with special attention to derived features relative to the regional sequence. After comparing the complexity of the production system with those of other lithic technologies, I suggest that this coherent, intricate, yet unprecedented technological pattern found across contiguous regions in Asia is better explained by transmission processes than by multiple unrelated reinventions, or local developments. The blade production system described in Siberia and Mongolia reoccur as a package, which is consistent with indirect bias and/or conformist cultural transmission processes. Overall, the results point toward close contact between individuals and hunter gatherer populations, and supports the recognition of a broad cultural unit to encapsulate Asian IUP assemblages. Considering other lines of evidence, the geographical and chronological distribution of Asian IUP lithic technology is consistent with a dispersal of Homo sapiens populations in Central and East Asia during the Marine Isotopic Stage 3, although the geographical origin of such movement is less clear.
... It was, therefore, likely to be vertically transmitted (sensu Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 2006) and maintained within local learning communities (Gosselain 2000;Macdonald 2013;Premo and Tostevin 2016). Outside the Levantine EP context, the production of similar endproducts with different manufacturing procedures is proposed to reflect the existence of distinct yet interacting populations for example in French Châtelperronian and Proto-Aurignacian (Roussel et al. 2016) and in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B of the Middle Euphrates valley (Borrell and Molist 2014). ...
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In the Levant, the Epipalaeolithic is a long sequence of cultural entities dated between ca. 24,000 to 11,500 cal BP. Different Epipalaeolithic entities are mainly defined based on chronological and geographical patterns in the produced types of microliths. However, typological variability provides limited information on the dynamics of the local learning communities through time. The present study wishes to test whether the analysis of the microlith manufacturing process can help track the movement of people and ideas beyond the observed variability in microlith types, providing a novel insight on the population dynamics. The study focuses on the area of Ein Gev, where three different Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic cultural entities (Kebaran, Nizzanan, and Geometric Kebaran) were recorded respectively in three sites (Ein Gev I, III, and IV). We conducted an attribute analysis of cores and production blanks. Our results were discussed in light of a theoretical framework for the transmission of typological and technological traits among prehistoric populations. It suggests that, in a geographically limited area, continuity of technological traits among assemblages attributed to different cultural entities can be associated with continuity in the population. The analysis enabled tracking the continuity between the local Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran manufacturing traditions. In contrast, the Nizzanan occupation of the area presents technological traits that may reflect a different manufacturing tradition. It is suggested that the possible increase in territoriality of local groups can be considered among the factors that triggered, during the Natufian, the onset of sedentism.
... This additional technical investment is supposed to enhances the performance by improving the prehensive grip or to adapt the tool for hafting. Unaware of the precise function, it is the standardization of prepared backed implements which is considered as an indicator of "modern behavior" due to the degree of problem solving behind their manufacture and the growing importance they acquire within MP-EUP and Middle Stone Age contexts [76][77][78][79][80]. ...
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In the Late Middle Paleolithic of Central Europe, two main cultural complexes have been distinguished: the Micoquian or Keilmessergruppe (KMG), and the Mousterian. Their differences mainly consist in the frequence of some retouched tools and the presence of bifacial technology. When these industries coexist, one element of discussion is the application of different concepts to manufacture tools with the same techno-functionality. This is particularly true for backed artifacts, such as Keilmesser (backed, asymmetrical bifacially-shaped knives) opposed to flake-tools equipped with a natural or knapped back. We conducted a techno-functional analysis of the backed tools from the G-Layer-Complex of Sesselfelsgrotte, one of the main Late Middle Paleolithic sequences in Central Europe, characterized by a combination of KMG and Mousterian aspects. In order to better understand the morpho-metrical data, 3D scans were used for recording technical features and performing semi-automatic geometric morphometrics. Results indicate that the techno-functional schemes of Keilmesser show a moderate variability and often overlap with the schemes of other typological groups. Within bifacial backed knives, a process of imitation of unifacial flake tools’ functionaly was recognized particularly in the cutting edge manufacturing. Keilmesser proved to be the long-life, versatile version of backed flake-tools, also due to the recurrent valence as both tool and core. This is why Keilmesser represent an ideal strategic blank when a mobile and multi-functional tool is needed. Based on these data, it is assumed that the relationship between Mousterian and KMG is deeply rooted and the emergence of KMG aspects could be related to constrained situations characterizing the long cold stages of the Early Weichselian. A higher regional mobility caused by the comparably low predictability of resources characterized the subsistence tactics of Neanderthal groups especially at the borders of their overall distribution. For this reason, Keilmesser could have represented an ecological answer before possibly becoming a marker of cultural identity.
... It derives from the Châtelperronian layer Ej at the site, and was recovered between 1968-1990 (excavations led by F. Lévêque). No recent radiocarbon ages are available for the site or its Châtelperronian layers, but the specimen can be expected to date between 40-50 ka BP [28]. Equid2 represents a non-diagnostic bone specimen from the Châtelperronian layer 6 at La Ferrassie, France, recovered during recent excavations (directed by Alain Turq). ...
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Ancient protein analysis is providing new insights into the evolutionary relationships between hominin fossils across the Pleistocene. Protein identification commonly relies on the proteolysis of a protein extract using a single protease, trypsin. As with modern proteome studies, alternative or additional proteases have the potential to increase both proteome size and protein sequence recovery. This could enhance the phylogenetic potential recovered from ancient proteomes. Here we identify 18 novel hominin bone specimens from the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte using MALDI-TOF MS peptide mass fingerprinting of collagen type I. Next, we use one of these hominin bone specimens and three Late Pleistocene Equidae specimens identified in a similar manner and present a comparison of the bone proteome size and protein sequence recovery obtained after using nanoLC-MS/MS and parallel proteolysis using six different proteases, including trypsin. We observe that the majority of the preserved bone proteome is inaccessible to trypsin. We also observe that for proteins recovered consistently across several proteases, protein sequence coverage can be increased significantly by combining peptide identifications from two or more proteases. Our results thereby demonstrate that the proteolysis of Pleistocene proteomes by several proteases has clear advantages when addressing evolutionary questions in palaeoproteomics. Significance Maximizing proteome and protein sequence recovery of ancient skeletal proteomes is important when analyzing unique hominin fossils. As with modern proteome studies, palaeoproteomic analysis of Pleistocene bone and dentine samples has almost exclusively used trypsin as its only protease, despite the demonstrated advantages of alternative proteases to increase proteome recovery in modern proteome studies. We demonstrate that Pleistocene bone proteomes can be significantly expanded by using additional proteases beside trypsin, and that this also improves sequence coverage of individual proteins. The use of several alternative proteases beside trypsin therefore has major benefits to maximize the phylogenetic information retrieved from ancient skeletal proteomes.
... The miniaturization of stone tools, as reflected through the systematic production of bladelets and bladelet tools (microliths), characterized many industries of the Late Pleistocene, with its sprouts emerging already in the Middle Stone Age of Africa, the Middle Paleolithic of Eurasia [1][2][3][4] and also manifested in small flake production in various contexts of the Pleistocene [5,6] (and references therein). The exploitation of microliths intensified at the end of the Late Pleistocene [1] with the Levantine Epipaleolithic (ca. ...
Article
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The miniaturization of stone tools, as reflected through the systematic production of bladelets and bladelet tools (microliths), characterized many industries of the Late Pleistocene, with the Levantine Epipalaeolithic serving as a well-studied example. It is commonly held that microliths were used as modular inserts in composite projectiles, while their incorporation in other tools for different tasks is generally overlooked, the latter aspect being the main focus of this paper. We present here a more inclusive approach through a case study of the Geometric Kebaran (Middle Epipalaeolithic, ca. 18,500–15,000 cal BP) site of Neve David, Mount Carmel, Israel. Recent excavations at the site exposed a variety of features, and one well-preserved shallow pit provided a large lithic assemblage with ca. 90 microliths. We studied this assemblage using both the low- and high- magnification use-wear protocols, accompanied by a range of experiments. Our results show that a) the fragmentation rate is very high in this assemblage (ca. 90%), b) most of the microliths have identifiable use-wear, c) the microliths were commonly used as inserts in composite projectiles, d) many microliths were used for functions not related to weaponry and hunting, such as wood-working, weed harvesting and meat processing. These findings strongly support the suggestion that the small insets, regardless of their specific type (trapeze, rectangle, backed/retouched bladelet), were used in a wide variety of composite tools. We argue that such a versatile approach and flexibility in the use of microliths reflect a technological advantage where a minimal set of microlithic types, produced in large numbers, could provide the required elements for weapons, as well as for a variety of cutting, processing and harvesting tools needed for mundane tasks at a large Middle Epipalaeolithic camp.
... Typically, acculturation, independent in situ development, or an adaptive response based on interaction/observation with Upper Paleolithic populations provide behavioral explanations for transitional industries (Bednarik 2009;Clark 2009;Clark and Riel-Salvatore 2006;Harrold 2009;Riel-Salvatore 2009;Roussel et al. 2016;Zilhão and D'Errico 2003). Such explanations require that the Middle Paleolithic technologies necessarily evolved into Upper Paleolithic technologies. ...
Article
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Recycling of lithic artifacts, including both lithic scavenging and secondary recycling, is a widely recognized phenomenon in the Paleolithic archeological record, in some instances creating tools with morphological signatures characteristic of multiple time periods or technological systems. These types of tools often define transitional industries including those at the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition, suggesting a variety of behavioral interpretations for the supposed evolution of Middle Paleolithic to Upper Paleolithic toolkits. Here we test an alternative hypothesis that transitional assemblages formed via secondary recycling of stone artifacts produced by two technologically divergent populations. Results from the application of an agent-based model indicate how ordered sets of assemblages resembling archeological transitional sequences can result from the combination of simple recycling behaviors and periods of sediment deposition and erosion. This implies that some transitional assemblages could have formed without the interaction of different populations and/or without technological evolution.
... The Aurignacian sensu lato (ie, including the Proto-Aurignacian; c. 36,500-29,500 uncal BP) is central to our understanding of the Eurasian Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the coeval replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). Whereas there is disagreement over who made other archaeological assemblages at the transition (eg, Bohunician, Chatelperronian, Uluzzian, Streletskian), the Aurignacian is generally accepted as having been left by early AMHs (Henry-Gambier et al. 2004;Anikovich et al. 2007;Henry-Gambier & Sacchi 2008;Hoffecker 2009;Bar-Yosef & Bordes 2010;Benazzi et al. 2011;Müller et al. 2011;Zilhão 2011Zilhão , 2013Higham et al. 2014;Nigst et al. 2014;Hublin 2015;Kadowaki et al. 2015;Fu et al. 2016;Hoffecker et al. 2016;Roussel et al. 2016;Vishnyatsky 2016;Bataille 2017;Gravina et al. 2018;Teyssandier & Zilhão 2018). With the Aurignacian we see the appearance or increased preponderance of behaviours commonly considered 'modern' or characteristically 'Upper Palaeolithic', including art, music, personal adornment, long-distance circulation of objects/ materials, and prismatic blade/bladelet and osseous technologies. ...
Article
Western Europe is often used as the basis from which to understand the Aurignacian of other regions. For some there is good inter-regional chronocultural agreement, whereas others see significant difference. One region frequently argued to differ is the Swabian Jura (southern Germany). In a recent contribution to this issue Bataille and Conard (2018) describe the Aurignacian assemblage from Layer IV of Hohle Fels. They convincingly outline important similarities with the Western European Late Aurignacian. However, they also argue that it is older than, and different from, the most comparable Western European assemblages, and therefore that it contradicts an Aurignacian chronocultural framework built on Western European evidence. Here we assess this claim, focusing on the sites used by Bataille and Conard in their comparison. Radiocarbon dates for Hohle Fels IV of 33–30,000 uncal bp are no older than dates for Western European Late Aurignacian assemblages. Most of the features of Hohle Fels IV argued to demonstrate its dissimilarity are, in fact, evident in the Western European Late Aurignacian. One potential difference is the reported absence from Hohle Fels IV of microblades with inverse/alternate retouch. However, due to the near absence of laterally retouched microblades and uncertainty over whether the fine fraction has been searched we doubt the significance of this observation. Other recent publications have similarly suggested that the Western European chronocultural model is incompatible with other regions. In light of this we consider Eastern Europe. Despite some difference, reliable data point to the pene-contemporaneity of characteristic bladelet/microblade technologies between the two regions, a pattern that stratigraphies from sites across Europe are also consistent with. The biggest complicating factor is radiocarbon dating, which has created a culturally complex picture that is inconsistent with all chronostratigraphic data. We therefore offer some thoughts as to the use of radiocarbon dates for this period. Despite ongoing problems dates are still frequently presented with an unwarranted confidence in their accuracy. Their presentation should instead explicitly acknowledge the method’s fallibility and its inferiority to more reliable evidence such as chronostratigraphic patterning and tephra. When radiocarbon dates contradict a consistent chronostratigraphic picture the burden of proof falls to those arguing the dates’ veracity. In these cases, the reasons for the discrepancy between the radiocarbon and chronostratigraphic records require exploration.
... It is worth noting that at Fumane, as well as at the end of regional Mousterian sequences in south and south-western France, there is no standardization of backing techniques and of the overall form of backed implements (though they are often lunated/curved). This is in contrast with the European MP-UP transitional industries, such as the Uluzzian (Riel-Salvatore, 2009;Moroni et al., 2018;Peresani et al., 2019) and the Chatelperronian (Pelegrin, 1995;Roussel et al., 2016), or the Howiesons Poort and Post-Howiesons Poort complexes in South Africa (Soriano et al., 2007;Villa et al., 2010), where backed pieces typically fit standardized classes. These standardized tools are sometimes interpreted as evidence for symbolic behavior, or as social markers (Barham, 2002;Soriano et al., 2007). ...
... The Aurignacian sensu lato (ie, including the Proto-Aurignacian; c. 36,500-29,500 uncal BP) is central to our understanding of the Eurasian Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the coeval replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). Whereas there is disagreement over who made other archaeological assemblages at the transition (eg, Bohunician, Chatelperronian, Uluzzian, Streletskian), the Aurignacian is generally accepted as having been left by early AMHs (Henry-Gambier et al. 2004;Anikovich et al. 2007;Henry-Gambier & Sacchi 2008;Hoffecker 2009;Bar-Yosef & Bordes 2010;Benazzi et al. 2011;Müller et al. 2011;Zilhão 2011Zilhão , 2013Higham et al. 2014;Nigst et al. 2014;Hublin 2015;Kadowaki et al. 2015;Fu et al. 2016;Hoffecker et al. 2016;Roussel et al. 2016;Vishnyatsky 2016;Bataille 2017;Gravina et al. 2018;Teyssandier & Zilhão 2018). With the Aurignacian we see the appearance or increased preponderance of behaviours commonly considered 'modern' or characteristically 'Upper Palaeolithic', including art, music, personal adornment, long-distance circulation of objects/ materials, and prismatic blade/bladelet and osseous technologies. ...
... peoples and spirit with the 'foliate points' civilisation. In the centre and in the west in-depth acculturation changed the former Neanderthalian peoples as evidenced by the Szeletian (Hauk et al., 2016) and the Châtelperronian (Roussel et al., 2016). Initial biological components testify to the homogeneity of those Aurignacian and Gravettian populations, who can now be called European. ...
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Between ca. 50,000 and 35,000 years ago, one of the most profound upheavals in the history of humanity occurred with the replacement of the so-called “archaic” groups (Neanderthals, Denisovans, Homo luzonensis) by anatomically modern humans. Distinct macro-regional technocomplexes have long been distinguished in the European archaeological record, mainly based on their lithic typo-technological attributes and intermediate archaeo-stratigraphic position between final Mousterian and early Aurignacian assemblages. Here, I first review the data on the Châtelperronian, Uluzzian, and Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician groups, and finish with the industries grouped under the term Initial Upper Palaeolithic. I then attempt to discuss the archaeological data in the light of the most recent palaeogenomic data obtained from Homo sapiens fossils and integrate this information into considerations of the relationships between the so-called transitional industries and the first phases of the Aurignacian, the latter of which are always posterior to the former on the European continental scale.
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Around 42,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans appeared in Western Europe to the detriment of indigenous Neanderthal groups. It is during this period that new techno-cultural complexes appear, such as the Châtelperronian that extends from northern Spain to the Paris Basin. The Grotte du Renne (Arcy-sur-Cure) is a key site for discussing the biological identity of its makers. This deposit has yielded several Neanderthal human remains in its Châtelperronian levels. However, the last inventory of the paleoanthropological collection attributed to this techno-complex allowed the identification of an ilium belonging to a neonate (AR-63) whose morphology required a thorough analysis to assess its taxonomic attribution. Using geometric morphometrics, we quantified its morphology and compared it to that of 2 Neanderthals and 32 recent individuals deceased during the perinatal period to explore their morphological variation. Our results indicate a morphological distinction between the ilia of Neanderthals and anatomically modern neonates. Although AR-63 is slightly outside recent variability, it clearly differs from the Neanderthals. We propose that this is due to its belonging to an early modern human lineage whose morphology differs slightly from present-day humans. We also explore different hypotheses about the presence of this anatomically modern neonate ilium among Neanderthal remains.
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Lithic assemblages are one of the main sources for understanding variations in human behaviour over time. Through technological analysis we can observe these variations in the production and configuration of tools, which allows us to approach the social and organisational sphere of human groups, and finally, their ways of life. This doctoral thesis deals with several themes, discussions and problems focused on the study and interpretation of Palaeolithic archaeological contexts. To this end, the Upper Palaeolithic lithic assemblages from Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Les Avellanes-Santa Linya, Lleida) have been analysed from different perspectives, which has allowed them to be published in high-impact international journals. The contexts studied cover a time range between 40,000 and 15,000 years, a period that includes the disappearance of Neanderthal populations and the arrival and consolidation of anatomically modern humans in southwestern Europe. This diachrony allows us to explore the cultural trajectories of hunter-gatherers through their technical behaviour, and becomes a relevant scenario to evaluate technological and socio-organisational aspects of human populations during the Last Glacial Maximum. This thesis locates a new Upper Palaeolithic sequence in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula and reports on the human presence in the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, Gravettian and Magdalenian periods. These data extends the current knowledge about the hunter-gatherer societies in the South Pyrenean slope, helping to fill a gap in the settlement of this geographical area.
Chapter
Modern H. sapiens migrated from Africa into Asia at least twice. The first population movement apparently left an imprint in southeast Asia and Australia; the second populated the world. We can track these events not only through fossils, but also with ancient DNA, evidence of hybridization, and the impact on archaic species. The “Neanderthal problem”—the reason for their extinction—is best resolved by demographic issues and limited compatibility of intermingled genomes.
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O Uluzziano é um tecno-complexo que data entre aproximadamente 45.000 a 40.000 anos AP, e está associado ao período em que os Neandertais desaparecem e tem-se o início do sinal arqueológico do Homo sapiens na Europa. Este tecno-complexo foi inicialmente descrito tipologicamente, com base nos materiais encontrados em Grotta del Cavallo (Salento, Puglia, sudeste da Itália). Sua caracterização inicial indicou que apresentava características que geralmente são consideradas típicas do chamado "comportamento moderno", incluindo a presença de substâncias corantes, ferramentas ósseas e ornamentos. Além disso, o Uluzziano representa uma ruptura material brusca em comparação ao tecno-complexo Musteriense, anterior e parcialmente contemporâneo, tanto do ponto de vista tecnológico como de estratégia de caça e subsistência. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar a história da definição deste tecno-complexo, suas características em relação à indústria lítica, indústria óssea, ornamentos, e métodos de subsistência. Serão apresentadas as hipóteses sobre sua origem e seu fim, e sua relevância para o debate sobre a transição do Paleolítico Superior Médio na Europa.
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The Neronian is a lithic tradition recognized in the Middle Rhône Valley of Mediterranean France now directly linked to Homo sapiens and securely dated to 54,000 years ago (ka), pushing back the arrival of modern humans in Europe by 10 ka. This incursion of modern humans into Neandertal territory and the relationships evoked between the Neronian and the Levantine Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) question the validity of concepts that define the first H. sapiens migrations and the very nature of the first Upper Paleolithic in western Eurasia. Direct comparative analyses between lithic technology from Grotte Mandrin and East Mediterranean archeological sequences, especially Ksar Akil, suggest that the three key phases of the earliest Levantine Upper Paleolithic have very precise technical and chronological counterparts in Western Europe, recognized from the Rhône Valley to Franco-Cantabria. These trans-Mediterranean technical connections suggest three distinct waves of H. sapiens expansion into Europe between 55-42 ka. These elements support an original thesis on the origin, structure, and evolution of the first moments of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe tracing parallel archaeological changes in the East Mediterranean region and Europe.
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Laminar technologies were adopted by Paleolithic foragers to produce a variable range of stone implements. Archaeologists have reconstructed the different reduction procedures involved in the production of laminar stone tools, often underlying a separation between the bigger blanks (i.e., blades) and smaller bladelets. However, these two blank types are in most cases poorly defined, as their classification typically relies on arbitrary size thresholds that do not consider blank shape, which is a fundamental component of tool production and function. In this study, we investigate whether traditional classifications of blades and bladelets are morphologically and technologically meaningful. For this purpose, we employ a three-dimensional geometric morphometric approach on a large sample of complete blanks retrieved from one of the earliest laminar industries assigned to modern humans in southern Europe: the Protoaurignacian from Fumane Cave. We rely on a cutting-edge protocol for acquiring virtual 3D meshes of stone tools using micro-computed tomography. This novel approach allows us to scan large quantities of small lithics in a short period of time and without the typical technical problems associated with scanning small objects. After calculating the principal components of shape variation, we explore differences and similarities across the dataset using linear discriminant analysis and analysis of variance. Our multivariate study highlights distinct morphological tendencies across blades and bladelets that are however better framed when the technological organization of Protoaurignacian stone knapping is taken into consideration. Overall, our results demonstrate that virtual analysis of stone tool shape can help elucidate aspects of lithic technology and its implications for past human behavior.
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Discovering World Prehistory introduces the general field of archaeology and highlights for students the difference between obtaining data (basic archaeology) and interpreting those data into a prehistory, a coherent model of the past.
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The transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is a major biological and cultural threshold in the construction of our common humanity. Technological and behavioral changes happened simultaneously to a major climatic cooling, which reached its acme with the Heinrich 4 event, forcing the human populations to develop new strategies for the exploitation of their environment. The recent fieldwork at Les Cottés (France) transitional site offers a good opportunity to document subsistence strategies for this period and to provide for the first time high-resolution insights on its evolution. We present the results of the complete zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the transitional sequence, associated with a large regional synthesis of the subsistence strategy evolution during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic. We conclude that, while there is no major change in the hunting strategies, the butchery activities evolved in strict correlation with the development of range weapons. In addition, the demise of carnivore seems to be a consequence of the human pressure on the environment. Our study demonstrates how the faunal component of the environment became a structuring element of the human social organization, being at the base of future cultural evolutions.
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The fossil record suggests that at least two major human dispersals occurred across the Eurasian steppe during the Late Pleistocene. Neanderthals and Modern Humans moved eastward into Central Asia, a region intermittently occupied by the enigmatic Denisovans. Genetic data indicates that the Denisovans interbred with Neanderthals near the Altai Mountains (South Siberia) but where and when they met H. sapiens is yet to be determined. Here we present archaeological evidence that document the timing and environmental context of a third long-distance population movement in Central Asia, during a temperate climatic event around 45,000 years ago. The early occurrence of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, a techno-complex whose sudden appearance coincides with the first occurrence of H. sapiens in the Eurasian steppes, establishes an essential archaeological link between the Siberian Altai and Northwestern China . Such connection between regions provides empirical ground to discuss contacts between local and exogenous populations in Central and Northeast Asia during the Late Pleistocene.
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One of the challenges commonly faced by Paleolithic archaeologists is disentangling archaeological layers in caves and rockshelters that often reflect complex palimpests. Layers defined in the field are primarly used to distinguish occupations, yet their actual nature and integrity are rarely tested or justified after excavation. Distinct occupations may become mixed together in a single field layer either following depositional and post-depositional processes (taphonomic admixture) or difficulties in reliably separating assemblages in the field (analytical lumping). Here we explore how three-dimensional spatial analyses combined with geoarchaeological and taphonomical data can be used to interpret Pleistocene palimpsests using the example of the Châtelperronian and carnivore occupations of Cassenade, a recently excavated site in Dordogne (France). We combine field observations with extensive post-excavation analysis (using spatial, geoarchaeological, lithic and faunal data, lithic particle-size distributions, fabrics, refits, and Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates) in order to (re)define assemblage boundaries and test their integrity. This approach resulted in a more comprehensive understanding of Cassenade sequence, including 1) increased stratigraphic resolution compared to initial field layer attributions; 2) evidence of how carnivore and human activity could be mixed by natural processes; 3) more reliable interpretations weighed against data from site formation processes; and, 4) a clearer understanding of the nature of the Châtelperronian occupations at Cassenade (short stopovers with a distinct site function?) and related mobility systems. Cassenade provides yet another example of the necessity of critically revising field layers after excavation through three-dimensional spatial and taphonomic analyses.
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The Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe covers the last millennia of Neanderthal life together with the appearance and expansion of Modern Human populations. Culturally, it is defined by the Late Middle Paleolithic succession, and by Early Upper Paleolithic complexes like the Châtelperronian (southwestern Europe), the Protoaurignacian, and the Early Aurignacian. Up to now, the southern boundary for the transition has been established as being situated between France and Iberia, in the Cantabrian façade and Pyrenees. According to this, the central and southern territories of Iberia are claimed to have been the refuge of the last Neanderthals for some additional millennia after they were replaced by anatomically Modern Humans on the rest of the continent. In this paper, we present the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition sequence from Cova Foradada (Tarragona), a cave on the Catalan Mediterranean coastline. Archaeological research has documented a stratigraphic sequence containing a succession of very short-term occupations pertaining to the Châtelperronian, Early Aurignacian, and Gravettian. Cova Foradada therefore represents the southernmost Châtelperronian–Early Aurignacian sequence ever documented in Europe, significantly enlarging the territorial distribution of both cultures and providing an important geographical and chronological reference for understanding Neanderthal disappearance and the complete expansion of anatomically Modern Humans.
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The aim of this article is to offer a critically-oriented comparative crossed-glance at lithic industries from the South-West of Europe on the one hand, and the Near and Middle East on the other, with a particular emphasis on modes of bladelet production. Indeed, this type of production seems to be one of the key elements for understanding the transition from Middle Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic. The objective of this contribution is to find a common ground for the vocabulary used to describe these productions. In this perspective, we propose an updated techno-typological classification of retouched bladelet armatures, based on the original definitions of known types. This first review opens the discussion on chronocultural models traditionally applied to the initial phases of the circum-Mediterranean Upper Palaeolithic.
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The Protoaurignacian culture is pivotal to the debate about the timing of the arrival of modern humans in western Europe and the demise of Neandertals. However, which group is responsible for this culture remains uncertain. We investigated dental remains associated with the Protoaurignacian. The lower deciduous incisor from Riparo Bombrini is modern human, based on its morphology. The upper deciduous incisor from Grotta di Fumane contains ancient mitochondrial DNA of a modern human type. These teeth are the oldest human remains in an Aurignacian-related archaeological context, confirming that by 41,000 calendar years before the present, modern humans bearing Protoaurignacian culture spread into southern Europe. Because the last Neandertals date to 41,030 to 39,260 calendar years before the present, we suggest that the Protoaurignacian triggered the demise of Neandertals in this area.
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Neanderthals left diverse sets of cultural evidence just before the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe. Within this evidence, the production of lithic implements plays a key role in detecting possible affiliations (or lack thereof) with the techno-complexes that occurred during the few millennia before the large-scale spread of the Proto-Aurignacian. This crucial phase has also been recorded in the North of Italy, where around 44-45 ky cal BP, the last Neanderthals were still using the Levallois knapping technique, in common with the technology adopted at several sites in the central Mediterranean region. A similar picture is seen at the Grotta di Fumane, which provides the evidence presented in this paper. The production technology employed produced different levels of variability with respect to the production of blades, sometimes pointed, and the use of recurrent centripetal flaking at the end of the reduction sequence, in addition to bladelet and Discoidal volumetric structures. This variability does not outweigh the dominant tendency towards the use of elongated Levallois blanks and other by-products for shaping into basic retouched tools such as simple or convergent scrapers and points. A break from this apparently well-rooted use of the unipolar Levallois method is recorded in the Uluzzian where, instead, flakes and cores were made using the centripetal modality. (C) 2013 Academie des sciences. Publie par Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserves.
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A technological study of 9500 artefacts, including 302 cores and many refitted pieces, permitted us to distinguish different modes of debitage production, including non levallois, and levallois flakes as well as blades of the Upper Palaeolithic "style', though the site appears to date to recent Middle Palaeolithic. -English summary
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