The many open-air sites of Middle Paleolithic of Northern and Eastern France are characterized by a majority of flake-based industries, but bifacial elements appear during the Early-Glacial (MIS5) and Middle Plenigacial (MIS 3) stages of the Weichselian, and particularly bifacial leafpoints and bifacial scrapers. Tools of these types are present within sites with low, medium, or large number of artefacts, although they themselves are in small numbers in all occurrences. Thereby we wonder, were they brought on the sites as finished pieces or were they made on the spot ? We use scar-pattern analysis to reconstruct the shaping process of bifacial leafpoints and scrapers. We also question their place regarding the range of knapping behaviors and lithic raw material procurement strategies of Neanderthals on Late Middle Paleolithic open-air sites.
| Subject : | : | Oral communication |
| Topics | : | S7-A: Patterns and causes of spatial and temporal variability during the Middle Paleolithic |
| Keywords | : | Middle Paleolithic ; lithic tools ; leafpoints ; bifacial ; technology ; Neanderthals ; MIS 5 ; 3 |
| PDF version | : |  PDF version |
