The Chaîne Opératoire Approach in Middle Paleolithic Archaeology

The Chaine Operatoire Approach in Middle Paleolithic Archaeology

Special Issue: Reduction Sequence, Chaîne Opératoire, and Other Methods: The Epistemologies of Different Approaches to Lithic Analysis The History and Efficacy of the Chaîne Opératoire Approach to Lithic Analysis: Studying Techniques to Reveal Past Societies in an Evolutionary Perspective

We present here a brief history of the origins and development of the concept of chaîne opératoire, followed by details of the theory of the technological approach (including the protocol), in order to illustrate the gradual shift in lithic analyses in France: • from a Natural Science, and the study of the “progressive development of Prehistoric Humans,” • to Anthropology, and the use of techni...

Time for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe.

The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition is a key period of change in the prehistory of the Old World and one of the most studied issues in paleoanthropology, as the nature of the transition(s) is still, after at least a century of archaeological research, largely unknown. Many of the issues at stake in the transition relate to the problem of building a reliable chronology for this period, wh...

Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age

The Acheulean to Middle Stone Age (MSA) transition is examined from an evolutionary perspective. The replacement of Acheulean handaxes by MSA points represents a shift from hand-held to hafted technology, but the timing and nature of this process are poorly understood due to the rarity of sites from the early MSA (EMSA), here defined as the portion of the MSA predating 130,000 years ago. The we...

Are Upper Paleolithic blade cores more productive than Middle Paleolithic discoidal cores? A replication experiment.

It is widely believed that the change from discoidal flake production to prismatic blade-making during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe led to enhanced technological efficiency. Specifically, blade-making is thought to promote higher rates of blank production, more efficient and complete reduction of the parent core, and a large increase in the total length of cutting edge per ...