Mousterian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stone Age Historical Epoch |
|---|
|
↑ before Homo (Pliocene) |
| ↓ Bronze Age |
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age. It was named after the type site of Le Moustier, a rock shelter in the Dordogne region of France.[1] Similar flintwork has been found all over unglaciated Europe and also the Near East and North Africa. Handaxes, racloirs and points constitute the industry; sometimes a Levallois technique or another prepared-core technique was employed in making the flint flakes.
Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from between 300,000 BP and 30,000 BP. In Northern Africa and the Near East they were also produced by anatomically modern humans. In the Levant for example, assemblages produced by Neanderthals are indistinguishable from those produced by modern humans.[2]
Mousterian technology may have been evolutionarily significant because it may have partially replaced the function of the incisor teeth[citation needed]. This could have contributed to the reduction of robustness of some of the facial features.[citation needed]
Several Mousterian variants are known:
- Denticulate Mousterian
- Ferrassie Mousterian
- Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA)
- Quina Mousterian
- Typical Mousterian
[edit] See also
- Cro-Magnon interaction with Neanderthals
- Neanderthal extinction hypotheses
- Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures
[edit] References
- ^ http://anthropology.si.edu/humanorigins/ha/lemoust.htm The importance of the cave site of Le Moustier lies not in the partial skeleton located there, but in the tool assemblage recovered, which gives the name to the "Mousterian" tool tradition.
- ^ Shea, J. J., 2003: Neandertals [sic], competition and the origin of modern human behaviour in the Levant, Evolutionary Anthropology, 12:173-187.
[edit] External links
- Mousterian Neanderthal Stone Tools
- geocities.com — The Neanderthal Sites at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium
- Neanderthals’ Last Stand Is Traced — New York Times article (Published: September 13, 2006)7
