La Séquence acheuléenne du Nahr el Kébir - région septentrionale du littoral syrien

Abstract

The Nahr el Kebir valley is of exceptional interest for Palaeolithic studies, since it contains numerous terraces and fluviatile deposits in connection with ancient shorelines. In collaboration with two geomorphologists, J. Besançon and P. Sanlaville, field work over several years now allows us to distinguish four series of fluviatile formations and three of marine ones. Those series contain flint industries comprising Early Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic fades. The most abundant assemblages are found in deposits older than the last interglacial. The succession of these various assemblages is more complete in the Nahr el Kebir valley than in other parts of the Near East, and provides a good basis for the definition of an Acheulean sequence. Their typology seems to confirm the opinion that the Acheulean here evolved somewhat in advance of that of Europe. In particular, Levallois technique first appears during the Middle Acheulean.