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Mousterian

 

 
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Mousterian
 
 
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Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry
Archaeological industry

An archaeological industry is the name given to a consistent range of Assemblage s connected with a single product , such as the Langdale axe industry....
) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis
Neanderthal

The Neanderthal , or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia....
 and dating to the Middle Paleolithic
Middle Paleolithic

The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology....
, the middle part of the Old Stone Age
Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistory time period during which humans widely used Rock for toolmaking.Stone tools were made from a variety of different kinds of stone....
. It was named after the type site
Type site

In archaeology a type site is a archaeological site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture. For example, the type site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A culture is Jericho, in the West Bank, while the type site of the pre-celtic/Celt Bronze Age Hallstatt culture is the lakeside village of Hallstatt, Austria....
 of Le Moustier
Le Moustier

Le Moustier is an archeological site consisting of two rock shelters in Peyzac-le-Moustier, Dordogne , France. It is known for a fossilized skull of the species Homo neanderthalensis that was discovered in 1909....
, a rock shelter in the Dordogne
Dordogne

Dordogne is a departments of France in central France named after the Dordogne River....
 region of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. Similar flintwork has been found all over unglaciated Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and also the Near East
Near East

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other....
 and North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
. Handaxes, racloir
Racloir

A racloir is a name given by archaeologists to a certain type of flint tool made by prehistoric peoples.It is created from a flint lithic flake and looks like a large scraper....
s and points
Projectile point

In archaeology, a projectile point is an object that was hafting and used either as knife or projectile tip or both, commonly called an arrowhead....
 constitute the industry; sometimes a Levallois technique
Levallois technique

The Levallois technique is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of lithic reduction developed by humans during the Palaeolithic period....
 or another prepared-core technique
Prepared-core technique

The prepared-core technique is means of producing stone tools by first preparing common lithic core that can then be shaped into the desired implement....
 was employed in making the flint flakes.

Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from between 300,000 BP and 30,000 BP
Before Present

Before Present years are a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other science disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use 1950 Common_Era as the arbitrary origin of the age scale....
.






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Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry
Archaeological industry

An archaeological industry is the name given to a consistent range of Assemblage s connected with a single product , such as the Langdale axe industry....
) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis
Neanderthal

The Neanderthal , or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia....
 and dating to the Middle Paleolithic
Middle Paleolithic

The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology....
, the middle part of the Old Stone Age
Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistory time period during which humans widely used Rock for toolmaking.Stone tools were made from a variety of different kinds of stone....
. It was named after the type site
Type site

In archaeology a type site is a archaeological site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture. For example, the type site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A culture is Jericho, in the West Bank, while the type site of the pre-celtic/Celt Bronze Age Hallstatt culture is the lakeside village of Hallstatt, Austria....
 of Le Moustier
Le Moustier

Le Moustier is an archeological site consisting of two rock shelters in Peyzac-le-Moustier, Dordogne , France. It is known for a fossilized skull of the species Homo neanderthalensis that was discovered in 1909....
, a rock shelter in the Dordogne
Dordogne

Dordogne is a departments of France in central France named after the Dordogne River....
 region of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. Similar flintwork has been found all over unglaciated Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and also the Near East
Near East

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other....
 and North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
. Handaxes, racloir
Racloir

A racloir is a name given by archaeologists to a certain type of flint tool made by prehistoric peoples.It is created from a flint lithic flake and looks like a large scraper....
s and points
Projectile point

In archaeology, a projectile point is an object that was hafting and used either as knife or projectile tip or both, commonly called an arrowhead....
 constitute the industry; sometimes a Levallois technique
Levallois technique

The Levallois technique is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of lithic reduction developed by humans during the Palaeolithic period....
 or another prepared-core technique
Prepared-core technique

The prepared-core technique is means of producing stone tools by first preparing common lithic core that can then be shaped into the desired implement....
 was employed in making the flint flakes.

Mousterian tools that have been found in Europe were made by Neanderthals and date from between 300,000 BP and 30,000 BP
Before Present

Before Present years are a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other science disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use 1950 Common_Era as the arbitrary origin of the age scale....
. In Northern Africa and the Near East
Near East

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other....
 they were also produced by anatomically modern humans. In the Levant
Levant

The Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by the Arabian Desert, and on the west by the M...
 for example, assemblages produced by Neanderthals are indistinguishable from those produced by modern humans.

Mousterian technology may have been evolution
Evolution

In biology, evolution is change in the heritability trait of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection....
arily significant because it may have partially replaced the function of the incisor
Incisor

Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below....
 teeth. This could have contributed to the reduction of robustness of some of the facial features.

Several Mousterian variants are known:
  • Denticulate Mousterian
  • Ferrassie Mousterian
  • Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA)
  • Quina Mousterian
    Quina Mousterian

    The Middle Palaeolithic or the "Age of the Neanderthals", is characterised by the occurrence of several Middle Palaeolithic cultures. One of the "lithic" or "stone" cultures is called "Quina Mousterian," one of several mousterian variants....
  • Typical Mousterian


See also

  • Cro-Magnon interaction with Neanderthals
  • Neanderthal extinction hypotheses
  • Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures
    Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures

    The synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures gives a rough picture of the relationships between the various principal Archaeological culture of Prehistory outside the Americas, Antarctica, Australia and Oceania....


External links

  • — The Neanderthal Sites at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
    Veldwezelt-Hezerwater

    Veldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in Belgium....
    , Belgium
    Belgium

    * A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
  • — New York Times article (Published: September 13, 2006)