The “Three Sides” of the Emblematic Early Azilian Blades with Flat Retouch along the Atlantic Façade

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Three Sides of a Career: Papers in Honor of Robert L. Kelly" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent research allowed us to draw a better picture of the period around 14,000 cal BP, the theatre of a shift between Magdalenian and Azilian technical concepts. The rhythm of this changing is still difficult to describe precisely because of a radiocarbon plateau and the scarcity of Early Azilian (EA) sites excavated in good contexts with modern methods. These last years, the discovery of Le Rocher de l’Impératrice rockshelter in Brittany and the restudy of Murat Rockshelter in southwest France bring key information about this period characterized by a major cultural shift. Integrated techno-functional analysis of the lithics from these sites particularly focused on blades bearing flat retouch on their cutting edges. This typological form is particularly emblematic of these sites and others reported to EA. These blades and their characteristic form are the result of a long biography alternating phases of use and maintenance according to specific modalities. Our study allowed us to understand the functioning of these tools and track the diffusion of this concept along the Atlantic façade of Europe and to start thinking about the implications of these results for our understanding of the dynamics of idea diffusion and system transformation during this pivotal period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Three Sides of a Career: Papers in Honor of Robert L. Kelly   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38758.0