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Mousterian


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


*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 tool from Syria

Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals
and date from between 300,000 BP and 30,000 BP (from Layer 2A dated 330 ±
5 ka, (OIS) 9 at Pradayrol, France)^[2] . 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 Qafzeh type modern humans.^[3] It may be an example
of acculturation of modern humans by Neanderthals because the culture
after 130,000 years reaching the Levant from Europe (the first Mousterian
industry appears there 200,000) and the modern Qafzeh type humans appear
in the Levant another 100,000 years later .

It was superseded by the Châtelperronian industry around 35,000-29,000
BP.^[/citation needed /]

Several Mousterian variants are known:

* Denticulate Mousterian

* Ferrassie Mousterian

* Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA)

* Quina Mousterian * Typical Mousterian



[edit ] See also

* Neanderthal extinction hypotheses

* Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures



[edit ] References

1. *^ * 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./ 2. *^ * Skinner et al.,
ʺNew ESR Dates for a New Bone‐Bearing Layer at Pradayrol, Lot, Franceʺ
2007, "Abstracts of the PaleoAnthropology Society 2007 Meetings."
PaleoAnthropology 2007:A1-A35 3. *^ * Shea, J. J., 2003: Neandertals
[sic], competition and the origin of modern human behaviour in the Levant,
/Evolutionary Anthropology/, 12:173-187.