A brief overview of Aurignacian cultures in the context of the industries of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic

Abstract

Recent technological studies devoted to lithic industries from many Aurignacian sites of western Europe have made it possible to better define the earliest stages of this culture in the area. Such studies show the existence of two principal facies (Archaic and Early Aurignacian), whose chronological position and geographical dispersion are still in need of refinement; the evidence available in any case already enables some discussion of the unity of the technocomplex, in time as in space. The technological approach also shows the important role played in the characterization of these different industries by the production of elements (bladelets, in this context) associated with the manufacture of projectile points. This paper proposes to see in the search of technical solutions to make better hunting weapons one of the factors explaining some of the main technical changes observed during the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition.