Towards a synchronic view of Aurignacian lithic economy

Summary

The Aurignacian is considered a product of the first modern human groups in Western Europe. Nevertheless, we have approached this important moment in Prehistory with a diachronic vision, ultimately inhibiting us from investigating the synchronic organization of this archaeological culture. By enlarging our field of vision to several sites in southwestern France we hope to characterize the variability of Aurignacian lithic industries on two scales: the inter- and the intra-site.

At the intra-site level, through spatial analysis of refits and the evaluation of variability in lithic knowledge and know-how, we will go further in the interpretation of site function by identifying different skill levels of flint-knappers. The comparison of these results at the inter-site level, while taking into account their location relative to raw-material sources, will ultimately allow us to refine our understanding of variability, function, and respective roles in mobility patterns of Aurignacian sites. Here we present preliminary results contrasting four sites with presumed differing functions: the Bergerac flint workshops of Champ-Parel 3 and Corbiac-Vignoble 2, the open-air campsite of Régismont-le-Haut, and the cave occupation of La Tuto de Camalhot. This nuanced approach will help us determine whether variability in Aurignacian lithic-economy was, in reality, structural, or simply circumstantial.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Space and time in the Upper Palaeolithic: a mixed traditions approach to the study of prehistory

Keywords

Spatial Coverage