Entrer Trois to Trois-D: Comparing Châtelperronian and Protoaurignacian Blade Technology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Variability within the Aurignacian: New Research Outlooks" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We know that Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans were exchanging DNA, but were they also exchanging ideas? In this paper, we investigate this question by comparing lithic technology across the so-called “Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition” in western Europe. Assemblages studied include La Rochette couche 7 (Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition), Abri Peyrony layer L-3A (Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition), Roc-de-Combe couche 8, Les Cottés US 6 (Châtelperronian) and Les Cottés US 4inf (Protoaurignacian). First, we use data derived from 3D models of cores attributed to the Châtelperronian and Proaurignacian to quantitatively test three hypotheses about differences between the two technologies. Second, we will include these data in a larger attribute-based analysis employing the Behavioral Approach to Cultural Transmission (BACT) to test the hypothesis that the Châtelperronian evolved from the MTA via influence from the Protoaurignacian. In the BACT, attributes of assemblage technologies are compared within analytical domains corresponding to early and late phases of production. Combinations of similarities and differences between assemblages in these domains theoretically correspond to different levels of social intimacy between groups. Finally, we discuss how these analytical techniques could be applied to different questions within the broader study of the Aurignacian.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Variability within the Aurignacian: New Research Outlooks

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51070