Mobility and the Importance of Bone and Bulb Retouchers in the Middle Palaeolithic of the Swabian Jura
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21757774 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Laura Centi (0000-0001-9865-718X, corresponding author), N J Conard (0000-0002-4633-0385, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 2023 |
| Pages | 33-52 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-13 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1611-7948 • E-ISSN: 2748-2189 |
| Publisher | Kerns Verlag (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.51315/mgfu.2023.32003 |
| OpenAlex | W4405421390 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
Modifying the form of lithic artifacts through retouch represents a central technological feature of the Middle Palaeolithic, and retouchers made of a variety of materials appear frequently in the archaeological record. Bone and bulb retouchers are the most common types. The first, are often described as ad hoc tools with short use-lives, while researchers have tentatively iden-tified the second as curated artifacts included in the mobile toolkit. Here we present two bulb retouchers from the Middle Palaeolithic layers VIII/VII of Sirgenstein Cave in the Ach Valley of the Swabian Jura, and discuss their general characteristics together with bone retouchers re-covered from the same archaeological layers. The data on bone and bulb retouchers from Sir-genstein support the proposed complementary uses of the two types of retouchers. We suggest that the intrinsic properties of bone and flint, together with other aspects specific to the chaînes operatoires of these two materials, played a major role in determining the retouchers’ suitability within toolkits, and can help to explain the high variability in retouching techniques encountered in the Middle Palaeolithic record. Based on these considerations, our study highlights the im-portance of the organization of technology and the potential of retouchers for reconstructing past mobility and settlement dynamics
Archaeology · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology
Les Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, France)
Tales of Multifunctionality
El utillaje óseo musteriense del nivel “D” de Axlor (Dima, Vizcaya)
Le recyclage et la réutilisation de nucléus et de bifaces au Paléolithique Moyen en Europe occidentale
New data from old collections
Bulb retouchers half a million years ago
A newly discovered antler flint-knapping hammer and the question of their rarity in the Palaeolithic archaeological record
The Neandertal bone industry at Chagyrskaya cave, Altai Region, Russia
Recycling bones in the Middle Pleistocene
Middle Paleolithic land use, spatial organization and settlement intensity in the Swabian Jura, southwestern Germany
Middle Paleolithic bone retouchers in Southeastern France
The Zooarchaeology of Sirgenstein Cave
The Mousterian bone retouchers of Noisetier Cave
Mousterian Lithic Technology
Bone retouchers from Lower Palaeolithic sites
When Neanderthals used cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) remains
Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from Schöningen 12 II
Lower Paleolithic bone tools from the 'Spear Horizon' at Schöningen (Germany)
The use of bone retouchers in a Mousterian context of Discoid lithic technology
Use and selection of bone fragments in the north of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Palaeolithic
Change and continuity in subsistence during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in the Ach Valley of Swabia (south-west Germany)
Technological Organization and Settlement Mobility
Organization and Formation Processes
A Formal Approach to the Design and Assembly of Mobile Toolkits
On Tool-Class Use Lives and the Formation of Archaeological Assemblages
Coming into the Country
On Planning and Curated Technologies in the Middle Paleolithic
Carry That Weight
Tool-Making Tools and Middle Paleolithic Behavior
| Highly cited | No |
|---|