Mousterian
| The Paleolithic |
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↑ Pliocene (before Homo) |
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Lower Paleolithic (c. 2.6 Ma–300 ka)
Middle Paleolithic (300–45 ka) Upper Paleolithic (40–10 ka)
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| ↓ Mesolithic ↓ Stone 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.
Naming[edit]
The culture 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.[2]
Characteristics[edit]
Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from between 600,000 BP and 40,000 BP[3] Some assemblages, namely those from Pech de l’Aze, are exceptionally small Levallois and other prepared core types, causing some researchers to suggest that these flakes take advantage of greater grip strength possessed by Neanderthal physiology.[4] 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.[5] It may be an example of acculturation of modern humans by Neanderthals because the culture after 130,000 years reached the Levant from Europe (the first Mousterian industry appears there 200,000 BP) and the modern Qafzeh type humans appear in the Levant another 100,000 years later.
Possible variants are Denticulate, Charentian (Ferrassie & Quina) named after the Charente region,[6] Typical and the Acheulean Tradition (MTA) - Type-A and Type-B.[7] The Industry continued alongside the new Châtelperronian industry during the 45,000-40,000 BP period.[8]
Locations[edit]
- Mousterian artifacts have been located in sites in Northwest Africa.[9]
- Contained within a cave in the Syria region, along with a Neanderthaloid skeleton.[9]
- Located in the Haibak valley of Afghanistan.[9]
- The archaeological site of Atapuerca, Spain, contains Mousterian objects.
- Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar contains Mousterian objects.
- Uzbekistan has sites of Mousterian culture, including Teshik-Tash.[9]
- Turkmenistan also has Mousterian relics.[9]
- Siberia has many sites with Mousterian style implements.[9]
See also[edit]
- Neanderthal extinction hypotheses
- Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures
- Levallois technique
References[edit]
- ^ William A. Haviland; Harald E. L. Prins; Dana Walrath; Bunny McBride (24 February 2009). The Essence of Anthropology. Cengage Learning. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-495-59981-4. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ Mark Aldenderfer; Alfred J. Andrea; Kevin McGeough; William E. Mierse, Carolyn Neel (29 April 2010). World History Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 330. ISBN 978-1-85109-929-0. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ http://www.nature.com/news/neanderthals-bone-technique-redrafts-prehistory-1.15739
- ^ Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (October 2006). "The Missing Mousterian". Current Anthropology 47 (5): 777–803.
- ^ Shea, J. J., 2003: Neandertals [sic], competition and the origin of modern human behaviour in the Levant, Evolutionary Anthropology, 12:173-187.
- ^ Andrew Lock, Charles R. Peters - Handbook of human symbolic evolution - 906 pages Oxford science publications Wiley-Blackwell, 1999 ISBN 0-631-21690-1 RETRIEVED 2012-01-06
- ^ University of Oslo P.O. Box 1072 - Blindern-0316 Oslo-Norway email : fa-admin@admin.uio.no. / international@mn.uio.no - Universitetet i Oslo RETRIEVED 2012-01-06
- ^ http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v512/n7514/full/nature13621.html
- ^ a b c d e f Langer, William L., ed. (1972). An Encyclopedia of World History (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 9. ISBN 0-395-13592-3.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mousterian. |
- Neanderthals’ Last Stand Is Traced — New York Times article (Published: September 13, 2006)
| Preceded by Micoquien |
Mousterian 300,000–30,000 BP |
Succeeded by Châtelperronian |
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