Stone Tool Assemblage Richness during the Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic in France

Regression-based analysis of 164 French Mousterian, Chatelperronian and Aurignacian stone tool assemblages reveals that most of the perceived difference in typological richness between the Mousterian and Aurignacian is associated with differences in assemblage size. Within the framework of the classification systems involved, this discovery diminishes the importance of stone tool kit richness as a character that distinguishes between the Mousterian and Aurignacian. It also heightens the importance of explaining why assemblage sizes differ between these two industries. Even given that distinct classification systems are used to analyse Chatelperronian and Mousterian lithic assemblages, the Chatelperronian shows distinct similarities in richness to the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition, the Mousterian facies that has often been argued to be its most likely immediate ancestor.

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