Leiden University Student Repository

Vital, Ana Catarina (2015)

Why are strangled blades absent from most Early Aurignacian archaeological records?

Master thesis | Archaeology (MA/MSc)

The Early Aurignacian is essentially characterised by the manufacture of Aurignacian retouched blades, strangled blades, carinated and nosed scrapers and/or end-scrapers and split-based points, amongst other materials. Both the last artefact and strangled blades are well-established type fossils for this Upper Palaeolithic industry. An apparent absence of strangled blades from the archaeological record in Eurasia is shown by the lack of research into this particular topic. In this sense, the main discussion of this thesis centres on possible explanations for this phenomenon. For instance, were strangled blades less fabricated than other types of Aurignacian blades, or have they simply been less studied by researchers? Perhaps their small numbers makes it appear that they are absent when in reality they are not. Additionally, could it be that their production is restricted to certain geographical areas in Eurasia? This thesis consists of a comparative study of 39 Eurasian Early...Show moreThe Early Aurignacian is essentially characterised by the manufacture of Aurignacian retouched blades, strangled blades, carinated and nosed scrapers and/or end-scrapers and split-based points, amongst other materials. Both the last artefact and strangled blades are well-established type fossils for this Upper Palaeolithic industry. An apparent absence of strangled blades from the archaeological record in Eurasia is shown by the lack of research into this particular topic. In this sense, the main discussion of this thesis centres on possible explanations for this phenomenon. For instance, were strangled blades less fabricated than other types of Aurignacian blades, or have they simply been less studied by researchers? Perhaps their small numbers makes it appear that they are absent when in reality they are not. Additionally, could it be that their production is restricted to certain geographical areas in Eurasia? This thesis consists of a comparative study of 39 Eurasian Early Aurignacian sites, complemented by a case study that focuses on the Early Aurignacian blade assemblage of Les Cottés, a Middle and Upper Palaeolithic site located in France. This last study represents a physical examination of such industry in order to better help the analysis of those 39 sites. This comparative approach highlights a clear low number of sites with strangled blades, since only ten of them have yielded such artefacts. It also highlights a clear concentration of sites in the French region of Aquitaine, along with other sites within the country and the adjacent Spanish Cantabrian region. This phenomenon is verified both in the group with and the group without strangled blades. However, this may be due to an increased interest in this particular area of Europe, since it appears that the east has been less studied. Moreover, the fact that strangled blades are included in large lithic assemblages, and the fact that there is a lack of studies on them may have quickly induced this picture of absence. It seems that these artefacts only appear to be absence from these archaeological records.Show less

Author

Vital, Ana Catarina

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Supervisors

Soressi, M.A.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en