Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-g98kq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-19T22:37:49.100Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Production and Transport of Blanks and Tools at the French Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barbara J. Roth  and
Harold L. Dibble
Barbara J. Roth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331
Harold L. Dibble
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recent studies of Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages have focused on questions of interest to lithic analysts everywhere, including the effect of raw material availability, occupation span, and tool maintenance on assemblage characteristics. In this paper, we add to the growing database on Middle Paleolithic assemblages using material recently excavated at Combe-Capelle Bas in the Dordogne region of southern France. The site provides a unique opportunity for addressing questions concerning lithic assemblage variability because it is located on a high quality flint source. We present data on core reduction, blank selection, raw material procurement, and lithic transport that provide information on lithic use pertinent for both Old World and New World archaeologists. Our data show that raw material availability and group mobility influenced blank selection, production, and transport at Combe-Capelle.

Résumé

Résumé

El enfoque de las investigaciones recientes de los conjuntos líticos del paleolítico medio ha sido sobre temas de interés para los analistas líticos de todo el mundo. Estos temas incluyen los efectos de la disponibilidad, la procuración, y la distribución de la materia prima; la envergadura de ocupación, y el mantenimiento de las herramientas. Este articulo aporta datos sobre los conjuntos del paleolítico medio usando material excavado recientemente en Combe-Capelle Bas en la región del sur de Francia. Este sitio proporciona una oportunidad única para responder a preguntas concernientes a la gran variación de conjuntos líticos, porque este sitio se localiza en unafuente de pedernal de calidad. Presentamos datos que proporcionan información sobre el uso de lítica tanto para los arquéologos del nuevo mundo como para los del viejo mundo. Nuestros descubrimientos comprueban que la disponsibilidad de la materia prima y la movilidad del grupo influyeron en la selectión, la producción, y la distribución de lítica en Combe-Capelle.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 47 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References Cited

Ahler, S. 1971 Projectile Point Form and Function at Rodgers Shelter, Missouri. Research Series No. 8. Missouri Archaeological Society, Columbia.Google Scholar
Ahler, S. 1989 Mass Analysis of Flaking Debris: Studying the Forest rather than the Tree. In Alternative Approaches to Lithic Analysis, edited by Henry, D. O. and Odell, G., pp. 85–118. Archaeological Papers No. 1. American Anthropological Association, Arlington, Virginia.Google Scholar
Andrefsky, W. 1994 Raw-Material Availability and the Organization of Technology. American Antiquity 59: 21–35.Google Scholar
Bamforth, D. 1986 Technological Efficiency and Tool Curation. American Antiquity 51: 38–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bamforth, D. 1991 Technological Organization and Hunter-Gatherer Land Use: A California Example. American Antiquity 56: 216–234.Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. 1991 Raw Material Exploitation in the Levantine Epi- Paleolithic. In Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, edited by Montet-White, A. and Holen, S., pp. 235–250. Publications in Anthropology No. 19. University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Bierwirth, S. 1996 Lithic Analysis in Southwestern France: Middle Paleolithic Assemblages from the Site of La Quina. BAR International Series 663. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bietti, A., and Grimaldi, S. 1995 Levallois Debitage in Central Italy: Technical Achievements and Raw Material Procurement In The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Variability, edited by Dibble, H. L. and Bar, O.-Yosef, pp. 125–142. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Binford, L. 1979 Organization and Formation Processes: Looking at Curated Technologies. Journal of Anthropological Research 35: 255–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordes, F. 1953 Essai de classification des industries “mousteriennes.’ Bulletin de la Societe Prehistorique Frangaise: 457–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordes, F. 1961 Typologie du Paleolithique ancien et moyen. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.Google Scholar
Bucy, D. 1974 A Technological Analysis of a Basalt Quarry in Western Idaho. Tebiwa 16: 1–45.Google Scholar
Cattin, M. 1992 Un raccord entre deux sites Magdaleniens. Prehistoire Europeene 1: 35–12.Google Scholar
Cattin, M. 1993 Paradigms in Science and Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research 1: 203–234.Google Scholar
Demars, P.-Y. 1982 L'utilisation du silex au Paleolithique superieur: choix, approvisionnement, circulation. L'example du Bassin de Brive. Cahiers du Quaternaire 5. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L. 1987 The Interpretation of Middle Paleolithic Scraper Morphology. American Antiquity 52: 109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dibble, H. L. 1991 Local Raw Material Exploitation and Its Effects on Lower and Middle Paleolithic Assemblage Variability. In Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter- Gatherers, edited by Montet-White, A. and Holen, S., pp. 33–48. Publications in Anthropology No. 19. University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L. 1995a Middle Paleolithic Scraper Reduction: Background, Clarification, and Review of Evidence to Data. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 2: 299–368.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L. 1995b Biache-Saint-Vaast, Level Ha: A Comparison of Approaches. In The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Variability, edited by Dibble, H. L. and Bar-Yosef, O., pp. 93–116. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L. 1995c Raw Material Availability, Intensity of Utilization, and Middle Paleolithic Assemblage Variability. In The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France), edited by Dibble, H. L. and Lenoir, M., pp. 289–315. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L. 1997 Platform Variability and Flake Morphology: A Comparison of Experimental and Archaeological Data and Implications for Interpreting Prehistoric Lithic Technological Strategies. Manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L., and Holdaway, S. 1993 The Middle Paleolithic of Warwasi Rockshelter. In The Paleolithic Prehistory of the Zagros, edited by Olszewski, D. and Dibble, H.L. pp. 75–99. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L., and Lenoir, M. 1995 The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France). University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L., and Rolland, N. 1992 On Assemblage Variability in the Middle Paleolithic of Western Europe: History, Perspectives and a New Synthesis. In The Middle Paleolithic: Adaptation, Behavior and Variability, edited by Dibble, H. L. and Mellars, P., pp. 1–20. Symposium Series Vol. 2. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. L., Roth, B., and Lenoir, M. 1995 The Use of Raw Materials at Combe-Capelle Bas. In The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France), edited by Dibble, H. L. and Lenoir, M., pp. 259–287. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Feblot-Augustins, J. 1990 Exploitation des matieres premieres dans l'Acheuleen d'Afrique: perspectives comportmentales. Paleo 2: 11–13.Google Scholar
Freeman, L. G. 1991 What Mean These Stones? Remarks on Raw Material Use in the Spanish Paleolithic. In Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, edited by Holen, S. and Montet, A.-White, pp. 73–126. Publications in Anthropology No. 19. University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Gallagher, J. 1977 Contemporary Stone Tools in Ethiopia: Implications for Archaeology. Journal of Field Archaeology 4: 407–414.Google Scholar
Geneste, J.-M. 1985 Analyse lithique d'industries mousteriennes du Perigord: une approche technologique du comportement des groupes humains au Paleolithique moyen. Universite de Bordeaux No. I. Bordeaux, France.Google Scholar
Geneste, J.-M. 1988 Systemes d'approvisionnement en matieres premieres au Paleolithique moyen et au” Paleolithique superieur en Aquitaine. In L'homme de Neandertal. Vol. 8: La mutation, edited by Kozlowski, J., pp. 61–70. Etudes et Recherches Archeologiques, l'Universite de Liege, Liege, Belgium.Google Scholar
Gould, R., Koster, D., and Sontz, A. 1971 The Lithic Assemblage of the Western Desert Aborigines of Australia. American Antiquity 36: 149–169.Google Scholar
Gramly, R. 1980 Raw Materials Source Areas and “Curated” Tool Assemblages. American Antiquity 45: 823–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayden, B. 1979 Paleolithic Reflections: Lithic Technology and Ethnographic Excavation among the Australian Aborigines. Humanities Press, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Henry, D. O. 1989 Correlations between Reduction Strategies and Settlement Patterns. In Alternative Approaches to Lithic Analysis, edited by Henry, D. O. and Odell, G., pp. 139–156. Archaeological Papers No. 1. American Anthropological Association, Arlington, Virginia.Google Scholar
Henry, D. O. 1995a The Influence of Mobility Levels on Levallois Point Production, Late Levantine Mousterian, Southern Jordan. In The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Variability, edited by Dibble, H. L. and Bar-Yosef, O., pp. 185–200. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Henry, D. O. 1995b Prehistoric Cultural Ecology and Evolution: Insights from Southern Jordan. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Keeley, L. 1980 Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Kelly, R. 1985 Hunter-Gatherer Mobility and Sedentism: A Great Basin Study. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Kelly, R. 1988 The Three Sides of a Biface. American Antiquity 53: 717–734.Google Scholar
Kelly, R. 1991 Paleolithic Quarry Sites. In Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, edited by Holen, S. and Montet, A.-White, pp. 1–6. Publications in Anthropology No. 19. University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Kuhn, S. L. 1992 On Planning and Curated Technologies in the Middle Paleolithic. Journal of Anthropological Research 48: 185–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, S. L. 1994 A Formal Approach to the Design and Assembly of Mobile Toolkits. American Antiquity 59: 426–442.Google Scholar
Kuhn, S. L. 1995 Mousterian Lithic Technology. Princeton University Press, Princeton. New Jersey.Google Scholar
Kuhn, S. L. 1996 The Trouble with Ham Steaks: A Reply to Morrow. American Antiquity 61: 591–596 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marks, A. E. 1988 The Curation of Stone Tools during the Upper Pleistocene: A View from the Central Negev, Israel. In Upper Pleistocene Prehistory of Western Eurasia, edited by Dibble, H. L. and Montet, A.-White, pp. 275–286. Symposium Series Vol. I. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Marks, A. E. 1992 Typological Variability in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. In The Middle Paleolithic: Adaptation, Behavior, and Variability, edited by Dibble, H. L. and Mellars, P., pp. 127–142. Symposium Series Vol. 2. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Marks, A. E., Shokler, J., and Zilhao, J. 1991 Raw Material Usage in the Paleolithic. The Effects of Local Availability on Selection and Economy. In Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter- Gatherers, edited by Montet-White, A. and Holen, S., pp. 127–140. Publications in Anthropology No. 19. University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Marks, A. E., Shokler, J., and Zilhao, J. 1989 Investigating Patterning in Debitage from Experimental Bifacial Core Reduction. In Experiments in Lithic Technology, edited by Amick, D. and Mauldin, R., pp. 67–88. BAR International Series S528. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Meignen, L. 1988 Un exemple de comportement technologique differentiel selon les matieres premieres: Marillac, couches 9 et 10. In L'homme de Neandertal, Vol. 4: La technique, edited by Binford, L. and Rigaud, J.-P., pp. 71–80. Universite de Liege, Liege, Belgium.Google Scholar
Meignen, L. 1993 L'Abri des Canalettes. Un habitat mousterien sur les Grands Causses (Nant, Aveyron). Fouilles 1980-1986. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris.Google Scholar
Montet-White, A. 1991 Lithic Acquisition, Settlements and Territory in the Epigravettian of Central Europe. In Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, edited by A. Montet-White and S. Holen, pp. 205–220. Publications in Anthropology No. 19. University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Morrow, T. A. 1996 Bigger Is Better: Comments on Kuhn's Formal Approach to Mobile Toolkits. American Antiquity 61: 581–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munday, F. 1976 Intersite Variability in the Mousterian Occupation of the Avdat/Aqev Area. In Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel. Vol. II: The Avdat/Aqev Area, Part 2, and the Har Harif edited by Marks, A. E., pp. 113–140. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, Texas.Google Scholar
Nelson, M. 1991 The Study of Technological Organization. In Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by Schiffer, M. B., vol. 3, pp. 57–100. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Newcomer, M. 1971 Some Quantitative Experiments in Handaxe Manufacture. World Archaeology 3: 85–94.Google Scholar
Potts, R. 1991 Why the Oldowan? Pleio-Pleistocene Toolmaking and the Transport of Resources. Journal of Anthropological Research 47: 153–176.Google Scholar
Roebroeks, W, Kolen, J., and Rensink, E. 1988 Planning Depth, Anticipation and the Organization of Middle Paleolithic Technology: The “Archaic Natives” Meet Eve's Descendants. Helinium 28: 17–34.Google Scholar
RoUand, N. 1981 The Interpretation of Middle Paleolithic Variability. Man 16: 15–12.Google Scholar
RoUand, N., and Dibble, H. L. 1990 A New Synthesis of Middle Paleolithic Assemblage Variability. American Antiquity 55: 480–499.Google Scholar
Roth, B., Dibble, H. L., and Lenoir, M. 1995 Basic Descriptions of the Lithic Assemblages. In The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France), edited by Dibble, H. L. and Lenoir, M., pp. 41–159. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1989 On Tool-Class Use Lives and the Formation of Archaeological Assemblages. American Antiquity 54: 9–30.Google Scholar
Stable, D. W., and Dunn, J. R. 1982 An Analysis and Application of the Size Distribution of Waste Hakes from the Manufacture of Bifacial Stone Tools. World Archaeology 14: 84–97.Google Scholar
Sullivan, A., and Rozen, K. 1985 Debitage Analysis and Archaeological Interpretation. American Antiquity 50: 755–779.Google Scholar
Toth, N. 1985 The Oldowan Reassessed: A Close Look at Early Stone Artefacts. Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 101–121.Google Scholar
Turq, A. 1995 Raw Material Sources in the Region of Combe- Capelle Bas. In The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe- Capelle Bas (France), edited by Dibble, H. L. and Lenoir, M., pp. 321–327. University Museum Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Turq, A. 1993 L'approvisionnement en matieres premieres lithiques au Mousterien et au debut du Paleolithique superieur dans le nord-est du Bassin Aquitain (France). In El origen del hombre moderno en el suroeste de Europa, edited by V. Cabrera Valdes, pp. 315–326. Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Madrid.Google Scholar