Core reduction strategies at the Initial Upper Palaeolithic sites Ksar Akil and Abou Halka in Lebanon.

Abstract

The Levant occupies a particular geographic position between Africa and Europe that has made it pivotal in understanding human dispersals between Africa and Eurasia. The so-called Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition between 50–40 ka calBP is traditionally seen as related to the advent of Homo sapiens in the Levant (Out-of-Africa 2b). This time is characterised by substantial changes in material culture. Associated lithic assemblages are traditionally accommodated under the umbrella terms Transitional industries or Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP). The aim of this paper is to identify core reduction strategies carried out at the IUP sites of Ksar Akil and Abou Halka in Lebanon and their intended end products, providing new data on past human behaviour that shaped material culture. While most studies on lithic materials from IUP assemblages revolve around techno-typological data that were collected on individual artefacts (static approach), the approach chosen here partially follows the chaîne opératoire concept that permits a reconstruction of flint knapping processes and its presumed goals (dynamic approach). Chaîne opératoire analysis was carried out in concert with multivariate statistical tests. The study shows that the various reduction strategies characterising the Lebanese IUP were not pursued to obtain specific end products, consequently, alternative hypotheses such as adaptive behaviour responding to variable raw material properties are discussed.

• GQT1

Resources

• http://journal.lithics.org/index.php/lithics/article/view/708

Bibliography

Leder, D. (2016): Core reduction strategies at the Initial Upper Palaeolithic sites Ksar Akil and Abou Halka in Lebanon.. – In: Lithics: the Journal of the Lithic Studies Society, Vol. 37, p: 33–53