The Point during the Middle Palaeolithic: Reflection of a specific Status in Neandertal Hunting Equipment and Toolkits

Résumé En

During the course of the Middle Palaeolithic, Neandertals produced flakes, blades and points according to wide-ranging operative schemas. Previous research carried out in the north of France has shown the unique aspect of the laminar phenomenon (Révillion, 1994; Locht et al., 2002; Locht et al., 2010), but studies focusing on point production remained rare until recently. However, new studies have shown that the point was not just an anecdotal element of the Neandertal toolkit, as was generally considered for a long time, but that it was associated with a specific status for these populations (Knecht, 1997; Soressi & Locht, 2010; Goval, 2012; Hérisson, 2012). Although it is universally accepted that Neandertal Man was capable of hunting large herbivores for food supplies, hunting techniques and tools are often largely unexplained. To date, it is difficult to accurately identify the weapons used for hunting, although hafting and impact marks on points show that this tool must have been part of the hunting equipment (Boeda et al., 1996; Plisson & Beyries, 1998). Other use wear analyses indicate that the point was handheld, like a knife (with the pointed end serving as an apex). The status of the point thus remains enigmatic as the quantity and production methods of these tools vary hugely from site to site. In the north of France, points are produced and/or brought into the production, kill or processing sites by Man, but this phenomenon appears to be limited to certain specific geographic zones. The chronological scope of this communication is the Middle Palaeolithic, from the earliest to the most recent phase, encompassing human occupations from the Saalian to the Early Weichselian (from 300,000 B.P. to 70,000 B.P.).This chronological choice stems from the absence of points in the assemblages in the north of France after isotopic stage 4. This communication focuses on the point as an element of the toolkit of these populations, but also on the production, the function, the mobility and the representation of this object, or, in other words, on its status.ReferencesBOËDA E., CONNAN J., DESSORT D., MUHESEN S., MERCIER N., VALLADAS H., TISNÉRAT N., 1996. Bitumen as a hafting material on Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Nature, 380: 336-338.GOVAL É., 2012. Peuplements néandertaliens dans le Nord de la France: territoires, industries lithiques et occupations humaines durant la phase récente du Paléolithique moyen, 312 p.HÉRISSON D., 2012. Étude des comportements des premiers Néandertaliens du Nord de la France. Les occupations saaliennes des gisements de Biache-Saint-Vaast et de Therdonne, Ph.D. Dissertation, Université de Lille, 504 p.KNECHT H. (Ed), 1997 - Projectile Technology, 408 p.LOCHT J.-L. (Dir.), 2002. Bettencourt-Saint-Ouen (Somme): cinq occupations au début de la dernière glaciation (Documents d’archéologie française 90), 168 p.LOCHT J.-L., GOVAL É., ANTOINE P., 2010. Reconstructing Middle Palaeolithic hominid behaviour during OIS 5 in northern France. In: Conard N. J. & Delagne A. (Eds), Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, vol. 3: 329-356.PLISSON H., BEYRIES S., 1998. Pointes ou outils triangulaires ? Données fonctionnelles dans le Moustérien levantin. Paléorient, 24 (1): 5-24.RÉVILLION S., 1994. Les industries laminaires du Paléolithique moyen en Europe septentrionale: l’exemple des gisements de Saint-Germain-des-Vaux / Port-Racine (Manche), Seclin (Nord), et de Riencourt-lès-Bapaume (Pasde- Calais) (Publications du CERP 5), 187 p.SORESSI M., LOCHT J.-L., 2010. Les armes de chasse de Néandertal, première analyse des pointes moustériennes d’Angé. Archéopages, 28: 7-11.