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<p>The interpretation of Mousterian lithic variability patterns has been a long-standing issue in Palaeolithic archaeology. After a critical review of the variability debate, this paper reports on a novel examination using a large set of chronometric dates available for Mousterian sequences of southwest France and taking the long culture-stratigraphic succession of Combe-Grenal as a reference. This examination reveals a threefold recurrence of the same succession of Mousterian assemblage types across the entire region concerned. A surprisingly similar cyclic pattern in the succession of analogical typological constellations is evidenced in the late Micoquian sequence of Sesselfels Cave in Germany, suggesting that it may be a shared feature of both techno-complexes and rekindling the issue of their taxonomic distinction. In terms of the behavioural explanation of this archaeological signal there is reason to believe that it is a reflection of changing mobility patterns over time, governed in their turn by demographic fluctuations. In the long sequence of Combe-Grenal the end of each cycle does indeed coincide with an occupational hiatus, probably during stadial conditions as suggested by the tuning of the cycle chronology to the climatological timescale. This first part of the paper is concluded with a reflection on the Mousterian debate and on the relationship between long-term cyclic recurrences in the archaeological record and directional change. In the second part the variability structure of the Aquitaine Mousterian, apparently parallelled in the late Micoquian, is examined against the wider background of the Upper Pleistocene Middle Palaeolithic of western Europe. A remarkably clear gradient in the chrono-geographic distribution of sites is apparent, most likely the consequence of long-term demographic displacement. The early Last Glacial comes forward as a long period of technological stasis in the north, only at the very end of which massive flake tool production, prone to Bordean analysis, makes its appearance. Further demographic shift resulted in significantly increased occupation density in southwest France from MIS 4 on and, according to the examination in the first part, lithic variability as measured in the Bordean grammar assumes a cyclic structure. During MIS 3 Middle Palaeolithic sites are distributed across entire western Europe as a result of recolonisation of the north to which the presence of the same variability pattern in late Micoquian Sesselfels testifies. The paper ends with an interpretation of modes of culture change in late Neanderthals. This leads to the proposition of a new threshold ~ 70&#xa0;ka in the European archaeological timescale.</p>

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From Stasis To Cyclic Variation: the Chronological Arrangement of the Mousterian in southwest France and Modes of Culture Change in the Late Middle Palaeolithic of western Europe

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月21日

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  • Philip Van Peer

摘要

The interpretation of Mousterian lithic variability patterns has been a long-standing issue in Palaeolithic archaeology. After a critical review of the variability debate, this paper reports on a novel examination using a large set of chronometric dates available for Mousterian sequences of southwest France and taking the long culture-stratigraphic succession of Combe-Grenal as a reference. This examination reveals a threefold recurrence of the same succession of Mousterian assemblage types across the entire region concerned. A surprisingly similar cyclic pattern in the succession of analogical typological constellations is evidenced in the late Micoquian sequence of Sesselfels Cave in Germany, suggesting that it may be a shared feature of both techno-complexes and rekindling the issue of their taxonomic distinction. In terms of the behavioural explanation of this archaeological signal there is reason to believe that it is a reflection of changing mobility patterns over time, governed in their turn by demographic fluctuations. In the long sequence of Combe-Grenal the end of each cycle does indeed coincide with an occupational hiatus, probably during stadial conditions as suggested by the tuning of the cycle chronology to the climatological timescale. This first part of the paper is concluded with a reflection on the Mousterian debate and on the relationship between long-term cyclic recurrences in the archaeological record and directional change. In the second part the variability structure of the Aquitaine Mousterian, apparently parallelled in the late Micoquian, is examined against the wider background of the Upper Pleistocene Middle Palaeolithic of western Europe. A remarkably clear gradient in the chrono-geographic distribution of sites is apparent, most likely the consequence of long-term demographic displacement. The early Last Glacial comes forward as a long period of technological stasis in the north, only at the very end of which massive flake tool production, prone to Bordean analysis, makes its appearance. Further demographic shift resulted in significantly increased occupation density in southwest France from MIS 4 on and, according to the examination in the first part, lithic variability as measured in the Bordean grammar assumes a cyclic structure. During MIS 3 Middle Palaeolithic sites are distributed across entire western Europe as a result of recolonisation of the north to which the presence of the same variability pattern in late Micoquian Sesselfels testifies. The paper ends with an interpretation of modes of culture change in late Neanderthals. This leads to the proposition of a new threshold ~ 70 ka in the European archaeological timescale.