Transition From Mousterian to Perigordian: Skeletal and Industrial [and Comments and Replies]

At the terminal period of the Mousterian, the Upper Palaeolithic artifacts became more abundant in a number of beds. Some deposits present a tool assemblage dominated by small, odd, worn flakes, more or less denticulated either intentionally, through wear, or because of geological phenomenon. ost horizons, however, are marked by polymorphism and are evidence of a trend towards the longer blade. At the Audi rock-shelter, we find that the heavy Mousterian-backed knife is refined and reshaped, in a modification tending towards de Chatelperron from. The most highly evolved Mousterian standard is found at Fontmaure. We lack an evolutionary series of skeletons to match the transformation of the tool industry. The morphological transition between Neanderthal Man and Upper Palaeolithic Man is not demonstrated by the teeth from the sites at Arcy-sur-Cure or by the skeletal material from Mount Carmel. At this stage of our knowledge, we may advance 2 hypotheses. Either Neanderthal Man evolved both in France and in Palestine (the intermediate forms remain to be specified) or Homo sapiens, coming from elsewhere, progressively invaded the regions occupied by Neanderthals. Working with this 2nd hypothesis, it seems likely that the passage of man from the Mousterian to the Upper Palaeolithic would have taken place in a region with mild climate, such as that found in Asia. Unfortunately, the evidence to support this hypothesis is missing. Little Lower Perigordian material has been discovered between Asia and France or in the Near East. The challenge to us lies in the Near East.