Recycling in the Early Middle Paleolithic: The role of resharpening flakes assessed through techno-functional analysis

Abstract

The use of resharpening flakes from Early Middle Paleolithic tools and their role as recycled implements has long been discussed, as part of a broader discussion on the role of small tools in Lower and Middle Paleolithic. A sample of resharpening flakes from three levels in two Early Middle Paleolithic sites – Cueva Morín and Axlor – from northern Atlantic coastal Iberia has been studied from technological and use-wear analysis perspectives. The analysis shows that this tiny flakes were often retouched, selected with rather precise size criteria and used on hide (mainly fresh), non woody and woody plants and in animal butchery. Resharpening flakes constitute a toolkit that was well-integrated in the general operative chains, intended for deferred uses, involved rather careful planning and used in a restricted range of activities, conditioned by the context of the site. Cueva Morín and Axlor, along with other sites presented in the text, show that the role of resharpening flakes as new generation tools constitutes a structural component in the lithic industry in the Early Middle Paleolithic.