Tag Archives: stone age

The Meaning of Colors

Colorful Neolithic arrowheads (largest example: 6×1,8×0,3 cm).  All material productions are culturally, socially and physically embedded. From the ethnological record, we know that in traditional societies, raw material for stone tool production is not solely selected for its functional properties. … Continue reading

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Resharpening, Retooling, Lithic Variability and Behavioral Patterns

Resharpening of stone artifacts as an important factor in determining lithic variability became an important issue in the 1980ies, although first considerations about this topic appeared in the literature as early as the 1867 (Reliquiae Aquitanicae). The phenomenon was also … Continue reading

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Middle Paleolithic Convergent Scraper

This is a large scraper from a Non-Levallois blank with convergent ends and side retouches. It was found in the Department of Seine Maritime and is dated between 300 and 50 thousand years BP. Convergent scrapers provide a good example … Continue reading

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Mousterian / MSA Point from Maroc

This is a Middle Paleolithic / MSA Point from Maroc with extraordinary continuous and regular retouches. The projectile function of the artifact displayed here, is obvious. Convergent artifacts in the European Middle Paleolithic and the MSA have been found to … Continue reading

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Between the Raw Material Provinces: Handaxe from the Weser Valley

There is a pattern apparent in the distribution of Lower Palaeolithic artefact assemblages in Europe: Handaxe (Acheulian) signatures are normal in the south and west but generally are rare or even absent in the North and East. Lower Paleolithic ensembles … Continue reading

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The Quina Mousterian in the Charente: Mousterian Variability

 These artefacts are from a single site in the Charente, showing characteristic traits of the Quina-Mousterian of the region. In 1953 François Bordes published an Essay of the classification of “industries moustériennes”, in which he proposed a typology for the … Continue reading

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Espines

Espins is a small village 27 km south of Caen in the Region in the Lower-Normandy, Department of Calvados. These handaxes were made of low quality chert and display an “Acheulian” character. They seem to be older than other handaxes … Continue reading

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A Leaf Point from Solutré

The time period of the late glacial maximum, around 20 k.a. years ago, offered the most rigorous and challenging environments for human adaptation, and may have offered the most severe natural selection pressure for evolutionary changes in the organization of … Continue reading

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Early controlled Fire use in Africa and the Levant

Fire is important for warmth, protection, cooking, light, pest control, tool-making, social interaction and perhaps hunting. There are some early Stone Age sites in Africa, that can may seen as candidates for the documentation of early controlled fire use of … Continue reading

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Provisioning Water during the Paleolithic and Neolithic

A reliable source of drinking clean water is the most basic requirement for human physical survival. Water makes up more than two thirds of human body weight. About 2/3 of body water is found in the intracellular and 1/3 in … Continue reading

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