The Lithic Production System of the Middle Paleolithic Settlement of Le Fond des Blanchards at Gron (Yonne, France)

Abstract

The Middle Paleolithic settlement of Le Fond des Blanchards was discovered in 1996 in a gravel quarry of the Yonne valley (Paris Basin, France). A general overview of the lithic industries allows for comparing them to assemblages of the Quina variant of the Mousterian. Thus, the Le Fond des Blanchards industries are of special interest, because the Quina variant does not exist elsewhere in the northern part of France. Therefore they do not resemble contemporaneous assemblages from the Yonne river valley or from the Paris Basin. Our study consists in a technological approach of the assemblages and a techno-functional analysis of the scrapers from level C. The understanding of these unique industries enables us to discuss the internal variability of the Quina facies and the lithic diversity of the late Mousterian. The D levels are resulting from different occupations during cold climatic conditions in an open landscape. The lithic artifacts configuration shows that all stages of the flake production in the chaîne opératoire are represented in situ. Formal tools are rare. The lithic production systems of Le Fond des Blanchards are both, classical Quina and classical Levallois. Beyond the typological and technological differences, that leads us to revise our definitions, and to look anew at the variability of the neanderthalian lithic industries.