Introduction to the session: Discontinuity, recycling and unclassified pieces within knapping processes during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic

Résumé En

The fragmented character of lithic reduction processes during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic is attested on numerous sites, especially for this latter period (Turq et al., 2013). The presence of discontinuous knapping processes in the archaeological record may be induced by mobility patterns, but not only. In the same way, some pieces can fulfill several functions, whether for economic or cultural purposes.This session aims to discuss on which forms the discontinuity exists in the lithic record and their possible causes, in various geographical contexts. We wish to make a particular focus on the artefacts which does not always match into a single box (tool/core, core/hammer etc.). In that context this session aims also to discuss recycling phenomenon and secondary uses of artefacts. The idea is to think about the lithic assemblage sometimes outside a strict typology corresponding to prehistorians and not to prehistoric populations.These issues can be addressed through raw materials management (in time & space, cf. techno-economical processes; import, discard and export events), reduction sequences organization (management of chaînes opératoires within a site -simple, ramified etc.) or tool-use (techno-functional studies).