Environment, Lithic Economy, and Mobility during the Aurignacian Occupation of the Lower Vézère Valley in France

B. Blades (1997). Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, New York University.

Abstract

Most hunter-gatherer groups recorded in ethnohistorical or ethnographic accounts are mobile to some extent and many exhibit a considerable degree of mobility. The analysis of lithic economy provides one means of addressing the structure of mobility among prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations. Lithic raw materials may be attributed to specific geographic source locations. Site loci often contain materials originating at varying distances and directions, indicating some form of cultural circulation of these materials. Analyses of the technological stages and typological forms indicated on these varied materials provides insight into the modes of circulation. These considerations provide the premises for evaluating Aurignacian assemblages in the lower Vezere Valley of France, some of the earliest archaeological manifestations associated with anatomically modern humans in southwestern Europe.

The coexistence of direct ("embedded") and indirect (social exchange) procurement systems for different aspects of the Aurignacian material record is indicated. Lithic economy during Aurignacian occupation at Le Facteur and La Ferrassie, when evaluated in comparison with data from the neighboring locus of Abri Pataud and the sites of Le Piage and Roc de Combe in the Dordogne Valley, reveals the primary importance of human settlement patterns and local subsistence environments. Geographical differences between Le Facteur and La Ferrassie are mirrored in varied intensities of core reduction, despite overall similarities in reduction technology. Certain forms of lithic retouch suggest temporal trends that emphasize the arbitrary nature of phase divisions within the Aurignacian.

All assemblages are dominated by lithic raw materials available within a radius of a few kilometers. A modest increase in materials from distant sources--30 kilometers and beyond--is apparent during the early Aurignacian. Faunal data from these early assemblages, although hardly ideal, indicate low diversities of species dominated by reindeer. Later Aurignacian assemblages are often still dominated by reindeer, but do reflect a greater diversity of species. These data suggest some Aurignacian groups adjusted mobility patterns in response to subsistence strategies.

Number of samples in dataset: 132

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