First traceological study of the lithic assemblage from Marathousa 1 and contextualization of the results within the European Lower Palaeolithic

Abstract

The European Lower Palaeolithic demonstrates a wide range of human settlements and various lithic production techniques. This variability is still poorly understood, hindering the assessment of hominin techno-economical choices. Recent studies on lithic variability of the Middle Pleistocene investigated whether differences in assemblage composition is related to cultural or temporal trends, site function, or availability of raw materials. Here we focus on small flakes which constitute important blanks in many lithic assemblages of the Lower Palaeolithic (Rocca et al., 2016). They are present both in Africa and Eurasia from ≥1 Ma to 300 ka (Burdukiewicz and Ronen, 2003; Derevianko, 2006; Lemorini, 2018). Although the origin of such assemblage diversity is still debated, it is proposed to be related to the age of assemblages, to the unique preservation of sites, or to specialized activities or durations. In order to better understand how small lithics were utilized, we conduct techno-morpho-functional and traceological analyses. The combined approach provides the opportunity to further assess the chaîne opératoire from the production of tools to their use and curation through the analysis of their final morphology before discard.