Lithic Tool Kit Research Articles

A quantitative analysis of Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy and evolution in Europe.

Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical processes, migration, or cultural adaptation to climate change and resource availability. Yet, cultural taxonomic practice is known to be variable across research history and academic traditions, and few large-scale replicable analyses across such traditions have been undertaken. Drawing on recent developments in computational archaeology, we here present a data-driven assessment of the existing Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy in Europe. Our dataset consists of a large expert-sourced compendium of key sites, lithic toolkit composition, blade and bladelet production technology, as well as lithic armatures. The dataset comprises 16 regions and 86 individually named archaeological taxa ('cultures'), covering the period between ca. 15,000 and 11,000 years ago (cal BP). Using these data, we use geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical techniques to explore to what extent the dynamics observed in different lithic data domains (toolkits, technologies, armature shapes) correspond to each other and to the culture-historical relations of taxonomic units implied by traditional naming practice. Our analyses support the widespread conception that some dimensions of material culture became more diverse towards the end of the Pleistocene and the very beginning of the Holocene. At the same time, cultural taxonomic unit coherence and efficacy appear variable, leading us to explore potential biases introduced by regional research traditions, inter-analyst variation, and the role of disjunct macroevolutionary processes. In discussing the implications of these findings for narratives of cultural change and diversification across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we emphasize the increasing need for cooperative research and systematic archaeological analyses that reach across research traditions.

Stone tools beyond traditional functions: the journey of lithics from profane to ceremonial

The production of flint tools evolved and diversified in response to the increasing and newly appearing demands of the early societies. The maintenance of this tradition coupled with the durability of stone tools resulted in the development of the lithic tool kit and the accumulation of large lithic assemblages mainly in settlements. The twentieth century witnessed the wide investigation of those assemblages through techno-typological approaches that aim at classifying and interpreting lithic assemblages and using them to reconstruct the chronological and cultural phases of given societies. The wide use of stone tools in daily-life activities i.e. hunting, gathering, farming, and food processing, enhanced the perception of lithics as functional objects that are mainly associated with secular activities. However, investigating the changing roles of stone tools over time remained partially overlooked. Apart from finely-made flint knives, the ritual functions of stone tools remain an unexplored research area. The current paper focuses on assessing the symbolic roles of the Predynastic lithics based on their use as grave goods. The results show that varied classes of tools were recruited for funerary purposes and that the evolving roles of lithics were influenced by a long process of human-nature and people-object interactions.

Stone tools beyond traditional functions: the journey of lithics from profane to ceremonial

The production of flint tools evolved and diversified in response to the increasing and newly appearing demands of the early societies. The maintenance of this tradition coupled with the durability of stone tools resulted in the development of the lithic tool kit and the accumulation of large lithic assemblages mainly in settlements. The twentieth century witnessed the wide investigation of those assemblages through techno-typological approaches that aim at classifying and interpreting lithic assemblages and using them to reconstruct the chronological and cultural phases of given societies. The wide use of stone tools in daily-life activities i.e. hunting, gathering, farming, and food processing, enhanced the perception of lithics as functional objects that are mainly associated with secular activities. However, investigating the changing roles of stone tools over time remained partially overlooked. Apart from finely-made flint knives, the ritual functions of stone tools remain an unexplored research area. The current paper focuses on assessing the symbolic roles of the Predynastic lithics based on their use as grave goods. The results show that varied classes of tools were recruited for funerary purposes and that the evolving roles of lithics were influenced by a long process of human-nature and people-object interactions.

By the lakeshore: Multi-scalar geoarchaeology in the Turkana Basin at GaJj17, Koobi Fora (Kenya)

The Late Pleistocene archaeological record in the Turkana Basin is important for studying Homo sapiens evolution, but the record in this region is poorly documented, despite a long history of significant paleoanthropological discoveries. Ambiguity around ages and site formation processes are paramount problems. We investigated the chronometric, geological, archaeological, and paleoenvironmental context of GaJj17, a locality with an artifact-bearing deposit in the Koobi Fora region. Sedimentological facies analysis coupled with micromorphological evidence indicate the depositional environment at the site changed over time from a fluvial system to an aeolian one, forming the remnant lunate feature seen today. Caliche caps the site and likely mitigated erosion of the site during high lake stands; similar deposits (∼25 m2) are found within a 2 km radius and are archaeologically sterile. Optically stimulated luminescence dating indicates the deposit and associated artifacts and fossils were emplaced circa 52–43 thousand years ago. Small (average length ∼ 3.5 cm) flakes dominate the stone artifact assemblage and include unretouched triangular flakes on diverse raw materials indicating shared affinity with Middle and Late Pleistocene lithic toolkits elsewhere in eastern Africa. Hippopotamus, crocodiles, and fish are well-represented in the faunal assemblage, along with a small sample of terrestrial ungulate specimens. More taphonomic research to understand the accumulating agent(s) of the faunal assemblages is needed. These results contribute to our understanding of Late Pleistocene archaeological site formation processes in lacustrine contexts of the Omo-Turkana Basin.

Life Around the Elephant in Space and Time: an Integrated Approach to Study the Human-Elephant Interactions at the Late Lower Paleolithic Site of La Polledrara di Cecanibbio (Rome, Italy)

During the Lower Paleolithic, the interaction between hominins and elephants through the medium of lithic tools is testified by numerous sites in Africa, Europe, and Asia. This interaction ensured hominins a large source of food and of knappable raw material, bone. The availability of the huge package of resources represented by these animals had a deep impact on hominins behavior and their strategies of exploitation of the landscape. This article, for the first time, documents this behavior with a spatial and chronological viewpoint. At the Late Lower Paleolithic site of La Polledrara di Cecanibbio (Rome), the outstanding in situ find of a quite entire carcass of Palaeoloxodon antiquus surrounded by lithic tools of small dimensions allowed us to explore the relation between the elephant, fatally entrapped in muddy sediments, and the hominins that exploited its carcass with their lithic toolkit. The application of an integrated approach including technology, refitting, use-wear, residues, and spatial analyses to the study of the small tools allowed us to unveil the activities carried out around the elephant in a timeline. As a result, hominins exploited the carcass for meat and fat possibly in more than one time and selected the area of the carcass as an atelier to knap and possibly cache their lithic products for future use. These data introduce the intriguing suggestion that the carcass was, besides a source of food and raw material, also a landmark for humans in the landscape.

Microlithic variation and the Mesolithic occupations of western India.

Considerable confusion and uncertainty persist on the cultural and chronological contexts of Holocene microlithic assemblages reported from South Asia. The paucity of securely dated sites with microlithic remains has compounded the confusion. Evidence from sites securely attributed to the Mesolithic based on a holistic approach (including direct evidence of plant and animal exploitation strategies) is needed to provide a better understanding of Mesolithic lithic tool-kits. This study uses morphometric and statistical methods to assess the nature of the Holocene hunter-gatherer microlithic tools-kit from a radiometrically secured chronological context at Vaharvo Timbo, a recently excavated Mesolithic site in North Gujarat (India). The assemblage is further compared with the nearby contemporary site of Loteshwar to highlight similarities and differences within hunter-gatherer lithic assemblages, understanding which can provide detailed information about subsistence strategies as well as patterns of settlement and mobility. The results show general standardisation between these two sites regarding raw materials and manufacturing technique but variation in the relative abundance of tool types between these two sites, despite their close proximity, indicating diverse strategies of resource exploitation by the Holocene hunter-gatherer groups in western India.

The function of small tools in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene: The case of Marathousa 1 (Megalopolis, Greece)

Small flake industries are a commonly identified component of Lower Paleolithic archaeological assemblages in Eurasia. Utilized as blanks for tools, at many sites, their functions are often poorly understood. Here we present a preliminary traceological analysis of lithics from Marathousa 1 (MAR-1; Megalopolis, Greece). MAR-1 dates to ca. 400-500 ka BP and is one of the oldest open-air sites in South-Eastern Europe. It has yielded a lithic assemblage made almost exclusively of small-sized flakes found in direct association with diverse megafauna including elephants, hippo and deer.
 For this preliminary study, a total of 223 artifacts were sampled for a taphonomical analysis and 13 for a functional analysis. The lithic artifacts from MAR-1 are exceptionally well-preserved and are only slightly affected by chemical alterations. They are therefore ideal for a techno-morpho-functional analysis. Use-wear traces confirm on-site butchery. Our results also confirm that plants were worked at the site, whereas technological traces, rarely observed on lithics from this age, can also be seen on a number of specimens. Whereas both retouched and unretouched tools contribute significantly to the MAR-1 toolkit, shapes are varied, and at this phase of the study do not appear morphologically or technologically standardized. However, backing (natural or retouched) opposite to a sharp edge can be observed on numerous specimens. When compared to the sparse functional data available on small tools from Lower Paleolithic Europe and the Levant, small flake tools include a wide variety of techno-functional types. To fully begin to understand this diversity, lithic toolkits must be considered in relation to the rest of the assemblage and the accompanying contextual data, including information from technological, archaeozoological, and palaeoenvironmental datasets.

Western Stemmed Tradition Settlement–Subsistence and Lithic Technological Organization in the Catnip Creek Delta, Guano Valley, Oregon, USA

ABSTRACT Cave and rockshelter sites have long been the cornerstone of Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) research in the northwestern Great Basin; however, these sites likely offer a narrow view of Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene lifeways. Open-air sites dominate the WST record and are critical to our understanding of WST settlement–subsistence practices and technological organization. I present the results of a lithic technological, source provenance, and spatial analysis of the Catnip Creek Delta (CCD) Locality, Guano Valley, OR. The CCD Locality contains one of the densest concentrations of Paleoindian artifacts in the region. My results indicate that the CCD Locality WST assemblage is likely a product of numerous short-term occupations by residentially mobile groups who primarily used the location to replenish their lithic toolkit and as a hunting location.

The Salpetrian culture toward the end of the Solutrean around 23 ka cal BP in the Rhône Valley (France)

During the last ice age, between 25.5 and 23.5 ka cal. BP approximatively, the Solutrean culture was present in Western Europe, located on a vast area, which corresponds to the present territories of France and the Iberian Peninsula. According to French stratigraphic references, the Solutrean culture was replaced by the Badegoulian culture without technological transition between 23.5 and 23 ka cal. BP. But at the same time, a cultural group deriving from the Upper Solutrean appeared in the Rhône Valley. It is known as the Salpetrian culture. The lithic tool kit of this post-Solutrean group demonstrates both technological rupture and continuity in comparison with the Upper Solutrean: persistence of the main tool, the Mediterranean shouldered point with abrupt retouch, but loss of flat and invasive retouch. This article presents the technological and cultural specificities of the Salpetrian group and the knapping objectives in particular, which are clearly defined by the technological analysis of the lithic industry. It is also a discussion of the chronological place of the Salpetrian and the question of its cultural relationship with other regional Paleolithic groups.

Microliths in the South Asian rainforest ~45-4 ka: New insights from Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka.

Microliths–small, retouched, often-backed stone tools–are often interpreted to be the product of composite tools, including projectile weapons, and efficient hunting strategies by modern humans. In Europe and Africa these lithic toolkits are linked to hunting of medium- and large-sized game found in grassland or woodland settings, or as adaptations to risky environments during periods of climatic change. Here, we report on a recently excavated lithic assemblage from the Late Pleistocene cave site of Fa-Hien Lena in the tropical evergreen rainforest of Sri Lanka. Our analyses demonstrate that Fa-Hien Lena represents the earliest microlith assemblage in South Asia (c. 48,000–45,000 cal. years BP) in firm association with evidence for the procurement of small to medium size arboreal prey and rainforest plants. Moreover, our data highlight that the lithic technology of Fa-Hien Lena changed little over the long span of human occupation (c. 48,000–45,000 cal. years BP to c. 4,000 cal. years BP) indicating a successful, stable technological adaptation to the tropics. We argue that microlith assemblages were an important part of the environmental plasticity that enabled Homo sapiens to colonise and specialise in a diversity of ecological settings during its expansion within and beyond Africa. The proliferation of diverse microlithic technologies across Eurasia c. 48–45 ka was part of a flexible human ‘toolkit’ that assisted our species’ spread into all of the world’s environments, and the development of specialised technological and cultural approaches to novel ecological situations.

The Iceman's lithic toolkit: Raw material, technology, typology and use.

The Tyrolean Iceman, a 5,300-year-old glacier mummy recovered at the Tisenjoch (South Tyrol, Italy) together with his clothes and personal equipment, represents a unique opportunity for prehistoric research. The present work examines the Iceman’s tools which are made from chert or are related to chert working - dagger, two arrowheads, endscraper, borer, small flake and antler retoucher - and considers also the arrowhead still embedded in the shoulder of the mummy. The interdisciplinary results achieved by study of the lithic raw material, technology, use-wear analysis, CT analysis and typology all add new information to Ötzi‘s individual history and his last days, and allow insights into the way of life of Alpine Copper Age communities. The chert raw material of the small assemblage originates from at least three different areas of provenance in the Southalpine region. One, or possibly two, sources derive from outcrops in the Trentino, specifically the Non Valley. Such variability suggests an extensive provisioning network, not at all limited to the Lessini mountains, which was able to reach the local communities. The Iceman’s toolkit displays typological characteristics of the Northern Italian tradition, but also comprises features typical of the Swiss Horgen culture, which will come as no surprise in the toolkit of a man who lived in a territory where transalpine contacts would have been of great importance. Ötzi was not a flintknapper, but he was able to resharpen his tools with a medium to good level of skill. Wear traces reveal that he was a right-hander. Most instruments in the toolkit had reached their final stage of usability, displaying extensive usage, mostly from plant working, resharpenings and breaks. Evidently Ötzi had not had any access to chert for quite some time, which must have been problematic during his last hectic days, preventing him from repairing and integrating his weapons, in particular his arrows. Freshly modified blade tools without any wear suggest planned work which he never carried out, possibly prevented by the events which made him return to the mountains where he was killed by a Southern Alpine archer.

Caractérisation de l’industrie lithique de la fin du Néolithique, dans le bassin de la Seine (de la deuxième moitié du IVe millénaire à la fin du IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.)

Cet article présente une synthèse sur l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent et final dans le bassin de la Seine (entre 3500 et 2100 avant notre ère). Son objectif est de distinguer l’industrie lithique du Néolithique récent de celle du Néolithique final et, plus largement, de préciser la définition des groupes culturels, leur localisation et leur chronologie par l’étude du mobilier lithique en contexte domestique et sépulcral. La première étape de la caractérisation porte sur les modalités de l’approvisionnement, généralement réalisé à proximité des occupations durant le Néolithique récent et final. L'importation de matières premières suit une même tendance, sur deux aspects, le sens de circulation des pièces en silex secondaire et tertiaire mais aussi la forme sous laquelle ces produits circulent. Le Néolithique final se distingue par une diffusion d’artefacts en roche verte et en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny. Au Néolithique récent, la production laminaire présente certaines caractéristiques au niveau du type de percussion utilisé (indirecte et directe tendre) mais aussi de la répartition géographique de ces techniques et sur le statut des produits laminaires en contexte sépulcral. Plusieurs indices suggèrent que le ralentissement de la production laminaire domestique débute à partir du Néolithique final. Cette période se distingue aussi par une diversification de l'outillage et par l’existence d’une production d’éclats par débitage centripète sur la façade maritime. L’étude comparative de plusieurs zones du bassin de la Seine met en évidence les variabilités temporelles et spatiales et interroge la validité des faciès régionaux (Augereau et al., 2007). L''existence d'un « faciès Marne » , proposé à l’issue de synthèses sur les pratiques funéraires, le mobilier en matière dure animale et la parure, est à nouveau validée par l''industrie lithique.

Complete biceps femoris long head rupture : a loading approach to a complex injury

This paper summarizes the current data about the site of Las Callejuelas (Teruel, Spain) and, for the first time, offers an accurate chronological proposal for its human occupations. The AAR dates confirm the chronology deduced after the lithic industry features and link it to some other uncommon Mousterian sites such as Bolomor or Estret de Tragó, which like Las Callejuelas are characterised by the profusion of small-sized tools, resharpened pieces and exhausted cores. Besides the lithic toolkit, a copious assemblage of faunal remains was found: most were large mammals (horses and bovids) that could have been hunted and/or scavenged by the human groups that frequented the site. Its striking high altitude (1400 m asl) is discussed in the final part of the paper, which also proposes a comprehensive review of similar high-altitude Neanderthal occupations in Iberia.

The Dry Puna as an ecological megapatch and the peopling of South America: Technology, mobility, and the development of a late Pleistocene/early Holocene Andean hunter-gatherer tradition in northern Chile

Current scientific evidence shows that humans colonized South America at least 15,000 years ago, but there are still many unknown aspects of this process, including the major and minor migratory routes involved, and the pattern of successive occupation of a diverse continental mosaic of ecosystems. In this context, the role of the Andean highlands (≥3400 meters above sea level) has been neglected, because of the supposedly harsh conditions for humans including hypoxia and cold climate. Nevertheless, the environmental and cultural resources available in the high Andes constitutes an important “megapatch” that should be assessed in terms of human settlement patterns. We review the evidence for late Pleistocene/early Holocene hunter-gatherer occupation of one part of this megapatch, the northern Chilean Dry Puna, in its palaeoecological context. We focus on lithic technology, faunal remains, radiocarbon dates, and other archaeological materials related to different social activities, which allow us to suggest that groups of hunter-gatherers organized and adapted their way of life to highland ecosystems through logistical mobility, and curatorial strategies for lithic tool kits that included projectile points and other formalized tools. The morphology and technological processes involved are recognized over vast territories along the high Andes. We identify this material expression as the high south central Andean Archaic hunter-gatherer tradition, which also featured long distance mobile settlement systems and communication processes over this broad and distinct megapatch. More speculatively, we outline the hypothesis that these highland ecosystems constituted a suitable migratory route that may have been key for the early peopling of the continent, and contrast it with the alternative hypothesis of the initially secondary and seasonally intermittent exploitation of this habitat by hunter-gatherers dispersing along the Pacific coastal corridor.

An Early Stone Age in Western Africa? Spheroids and polyhedrons at Ounjougou, Mali

Ounjougou stratigraphic sequence (Bandiagara, Dogon Country, Mali) is the most complete record in Western Africa for the Middle Pleistocene. This paper focuses on the lithic industry unearthed in the lowest levels of the sequence. Despite the impossibility to fix the dating of those layers, the assemblage clearly presents Oldowan features. A strong erosive process, combined to the absence of Acheulean industry, strengthens the idea of a probable ancient age for the lithic industry. Morphometric, Technological and techno-functional approaches were performed to study sandstone polyhedrons, spheroids and bolas, abundant in the collection, along with a flake production on quartz and quartzite pebbles.
 This study demonstrates that polyhedrons, spheroids and bolas were shaped from independent chaînes opératoires to realize specific tasks. The hypothesis of opportunistic knapping does not fit with these materials at Ounjougou. The evidence of shaping is highlighted by diacritic schemes showing that the flakes detached are not controlled for their usability, but for shaping the morphology of the spheroid. Apart from those polyhedrons and spheroids, flake production is also identified. While the shaping process is made on sandstone cobbles, sharp flakes are produced from quartz pebbles. This clear choice of different raw materials to produce shaped heavy tools in one hand and light flake tools in another hand strengthens the idea of a deliberate shaping of spheroid tools.
 The discussion compares this assemblage with other known assemblages like Ain Hanech and Olducai Gorge. Our point focus on the methodology used to study these specific artefacts, very different from one author to another. We stress out the fact that using the term ‘polyhedron’ is not accurate to define artefacts that can refer to shape tools or multifacial cores. We suggest to avoid using it and to focus on a technical identification to name the artefacts as cores or tools. The technological and techno-functional approaches are relevant to make this distinction.
 Then we propose some hypothesis about the use of spheroid and bolas and suggest experiments and traceological analyses in the future to confirm their functionality.
 Ounjougou lithic tool kit, composed of flake débitage, retouched flakes and shaped tools on pebbles, along with the spheroids and bolas component, gives an evidence of a diversified tool kit corresponding to the Oldowan Industrial Complex, and then represents the first Early Stone Age site in stratigraphy in Western Africa.

Exploring human responses to climatic fluctuations and environmental diversity: Two stories from Mesolithic Norway

This paper explores environmental variations in time and space, adaptive strategies and possible cultural responses to climatic changes as manifested through archaeological data in terms of lithic tool technology, site density and settlement patterns. The objective is investigated by two case studies from Mesolithic Norway. The first case deals with the earliest settlement phase of Norway (c. 11,500–10,000 cal. BP), which climatically encompasses gradual changes from cold, arctic conditions, to a milder sub-arctic climate, as well as the rapid Preboreal Oscillation (PBO) cold event. The second case explores the 8200 cal. BP cold event and its effect on culture and settlement in Southeast Norway.The studies suggest that the coastal settlement, in terms of site density, was not affected by either the PBO or the 8200 cal. BP event. Changes in site location patterns seem to have occurred gradually and on a long-term scale. Shifts in lithic technology are detected within the Mesolithic periods, but a correlation between abrupt climatic alterations and cultural changes are yet to be proved. We argue, therefore, that in these northern, coastal environments, declining temperatures may have had less impact than on the Continental Plains, and may in fact have improved the living conditions for a range of marine species. Also, the Mesolithic populations seemed to have employed a generalized lithic toolkit and a flexible mobility system – adaptive strategies that was able to withstand environmental variations in time and space.

Nahal Ein Gev II, a Late Natufian Community at the Sea of Galilee.

The Natufian culture is of great importance as a starting point to investigate the dynamics of the transition to agriculture. Given its chronological position at the threshold of the Neolithic (ca. 12,000 years ago) and its geographic setting in the productive Jordan Valley, the site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEG II) reveals aspects of the Late Natufian adaptations and its implications for the transition to agriculture. The size of the site, the thick archaeological deposits, invested architecture and multiple occupation sub-phases reveal a large, sedentary community at least on par with Early Natufian camps in the Mediterranean zone. Although the NEG II lithic tool kit completely lacks attributes typical of succeeding Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) assemblages, the artistic style is more closely related to the early PPNA world, despite clear roots in Early Natufian tradition. The site does not conform to current perceptions of the Late Natufians as a largely mobile population coping with reduced resource productivity caused by the Younger Dryas. Instead, the faunal and architectural data suggest that the sedentary populations of the Early Natufian did not revert back to a nomadic way of life in the Late Natufian in the Jordan Valley. NEG II encapsulates cultural characteristics typical of both Natufian and PPNA traditions and thus bridges the crossroads between Late Paleolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers.

Neanderthal highlanders: Las Callejuelas (Monteagudo del Castillo, Teruel, Spain), a high-altitude site occupied during MIS 5

Abstract This paper summarizes the current data about the site of Las Callejuelas (Teruel, Spain) and, for the first time, offers an accurate chronological proposal for its human occupations. The AAR dates confirm the chronology deduced after the lithic industry features and link it to some other uncommon Mousterian sites such as Bolomor or Estret de Trago, which like Las Callejuelas are characterised by the profusion of small-sized tools, resharpened pieces and exhausted cores. Besides the lithic toolkit, a copious assemblage of faunal remains was found: most were large mammals (horses and bovids) that could have been hunted and/or scavenged by the human groups that frequented the site. Its striking high altitude (1400 m asl) is discussed in the final part of the paper, which also proposes a comprehensive review of similar high-altitude Neanderthal occupations in Iberia.

Lithic tool kits: A Metronome of the evolution of the Magdalenian in southwest France (19,000–14,000 cal BP)

Under the Magdatis project a new evolutionary model has been proposed for the Middle and Upper Magdalenian based on a review of several lithic assemblages from southwest France. The Lower Magdalenian is not addressed in this article. Single lithic assemblages and stratigraphic sequences have been compared according to several parameters: the origin of the siliceous raw materials, the interconnection between domestic tool production and hunting armatures, and the typo-technology of the microliths. Alongside the new techno-economic data, the geographical distribution of certain practices and particular artefacts in southwest France has led to a discussion of the cultural geography of the different phases of the Magdalenian between 19,000 and 14,000 cal BP. The Early Middle Magdalenian covers an extensive European cultural territory, demonstrating social interactions over vast distances both in the circulation of raw materials and in the distribution of certain morphotypes of lithic armament. The Late Middle Magdalenian appears to correspond to a phase of population contraction in which cultural emulation is observed among lithic tool kits in the socio-economic value placed on large blades. The Early Upper Magdalenian coincides with the renewed settlement of the north Aquitaine plains. Among the technological innovations observed is the development of lithic points on small blades, leading to a first geographical division of the southwest (Aquitaine Basin versus Pyrenees). Finally, the Late Upper Magdalenian confirms this evolution of lithic equipment with new developments in lithic armaments in parallel with some easing off of the technical constraints associated with blade production. This period thus coincides with the progressive dilution of Magdalenian norms. With these four phases of the Middle and Upper Magdalenian, it is possible to gain a clearer understanding of the sequence of technical and economic changes observed in an environment in recomposition. At the same time, population fluctuations over these five millennia can be associated with developing phenomena of regionalism, particularly in the southwest of France.

The Surface Paleoindian Record of Northern Warner Valley, Oregon, and Its Bearing on the Temporal and Cultural Separation of Clovis and Western Stemmed Points in the Northern Great Basin

The chronological and technological relationships between Clovis and Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) projectile points in the Great Basin are unclear. There are no dated and stratified sites containing both point types. We present data from Oregon's Warner Valley, where a rich Paleoindian surface record associated with dated landforms and differences in raw materials represented within each technology allow us to evaluate current hypotheses regarding Clovis and WST points. Our results provide little support for the hypothesis that Clovis and WST points were initially components of the same lithic toolkit in the northern Great Basin. Instead, we suggest that the technologies were separated by a narrow period of time or that two cultural traditions existed during the terminal Pleistocene in the northern Great Basin.