Mousterian
 | |
| Geographical range | Africa and Eurasia |
|---|---|
| Period | Middle Paleolithic |
| Dates | c. 160,000 – 40,000 BP [1] |
| Type site | Le Moustier |
| Major sites | Creswell Crags, Lynford Quarry, Arcy-sur-Cure, Vindija Cave, Atapuerca Mountains, Zafarraya, Gorham's Cave, Devil's Tower, Haua Fteah, Jebel Irhoud |
| Preceded by | Acheulean, Micoquien, Clactonian |
| Followed by | Châtelperronian, Emiran, Baradostian, Aterian |
| The Paleolithic |
|---|
↑ Pliocene (before Homo) |
Lower Paleolithic (c. 3.3 Ma – 300 ka)
|
Middle Paleolithic (300–45 ka)
|
Upper Paleolithic (50–10 ka)
|
↓ Mesolithic |
mtDNA-based simulation of the species Homo sapiens in Europe starting 1600 generations ago. Homo neanderthalensis range in light grey.[2]
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is a techno-complex (archaeological industry) of flint lithic tools associated primarily with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia, as well as with the Neanderthals in Europe. The Mousterian largely defines the latter part of the Middle Paleolithic, the middle of the West Eurasian Old Stone Age. It lasted roughly from 160,000 to 40,000 BP.
If its predecessor, known as Levallois or "Levallois-Mousterian" is included, the range is extended to as early as c. 300,000–200,000 BP.[3]
Contents
1 Naming
2 Characteristics
3 Locations
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Naming
The culture was named after the type site of Le Moustier, three superimposed rock shelters in the Dordogne region of France.[4] 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.[5]
Characteristics
The European Mousterian is the product of Neanderthals. It existed roughly from 160,000 to 40,000 BP.[6]
Some assemblages, namely those from Pech de l'Aze, include exceptionally small points prepared using the Levallois technique among other prepared core types, causing some researchers to suggest that these flakes take advantage of greater grip strength possessed by Neanderthals.[7]
In North Africa and the Near East, Mousterian tools were produced by anatomically modern humans. In the Levant, for example, assemblages produced by Neanderthals are indistinguishable from those made by Qafzeh type modern humans.[8] The Mousterian industry in North Africa is estimated to be 315,000 years old.[3]
Possible variants are Denticulate, Charentian (Ferrassie & Quina) named after the Charente region,[9] Typical and the Acheulean Tradition (MTA) - Type-A and Type-B.[10] The industry continued alongside the new Châtelperronian industry during the 45,000-40,000 BP period.[11]
Locations
- Mousterian artifacts have been found in Haua Fteah in Cyrenaica and other sites in Northwest Africa.[12]
- Contained within a cave in the Syria region, along with a Neanderthaloid skeleton.[12]
- Located in the Haibak valley of Afghanistan.[12]
Zagros and Central Iran- 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.[12]
Turkmenistan also has Mousterian relics.[12]
Siberia has many sites with Mousterian style implements, eg Denisova Cave.[12]- Israel is one of the places where remains of both Neandertals and Homo sapiens sapiens have been found in association with Mousterian artifacts.[13]
Lynford Quarry near near Mundford, Norfolk, England has yielded Mousterian tools
Artistic impression of the head of the Shanidar 1 fossil, a Homo neanderthalensis male who lived circa 70000 BCE discovered in the mid-20th century at the Mousterian archaeological site Shanidar Cave
Range of Homo neanderthalensis. Mousterian industries have been found outside this range (e.g., Jordan, Saudi Arabia).
Restoration of Le Moustier Homo neanderthalensis by Charles R. Knight
Levallois points
See also
- Neanderthal extinction hypotheses
- Levallois technique
References
^ Neanderthals: Bone technique redrafts prehistory : Nature News & Comment "From the Black Sea to the Atlantic coast of France, these [Mousterian] artefacts and Neanderthal remains disappear from European sites at roughly the same time, 39,000–41,000 years ago, Higham’s team conclude. The data challenge arguments that Neanderthals endured in refuges in the southern Iberian Peninsula until as recently as 28,000 years ago"
^ Currat, Mathias; Excoffier, Laurent (2004). "Modern Humans Did Not Admix with Neanderthals during Their Range Expansion into Europe". PLoS Biology. 2 (12): e421. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020421. PMC 532389. PMID 15562317..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ ab Richter, Daniel; Grün, Rainer; Joannes-Boyau, Renaud; Steele, Teresa E.; Amani, Fethi; Rué, Mathieu; Fernandes, Paul; Raynal, Jean-Paul; Geraads, Denis (2017-06-07). "The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age". Nature. 546 (7657): 293–296. doi:10.1038/nature22335. ISSN 0028-0836.
^ 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.
^ Shaw, Ian; Jameson, Robert, eds. (1999). A Dictionary of Archaeology. Blackwell. p. 408. ISBN 0-631-17423-0. Retrieved 1 August 2016. "the classic Mousterian can be identified after berpahs 160,000 BP and lasts until c. 40,000 BP in Europe."
^ Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (October 2006). "The Missing Mousterian". Current Anthropology. 47 (5): 777–803. doi:10.1086/506282.
^ 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 Archived 2012-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-01-06
^ http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v512/n7514/full/nature13621.html
^ abcdef Langer, William L., ed. (1972). An Encyclopedia of World History (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 9. ISBN 0-395-13592-3.
^ Levy, T.(Ed.).(2001). The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. London : Leicester University Press.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mousterian. |
Neanderthals’ Last Stand Is Traced — New York Times article (Published: September 13, 2006)
| Preceded by Micoquien | Mousterian 600,000 years before present — 40,000 years before present | Succeeded by Châtelperronian |
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