Reflections on the term Micoquian in Western and Central Europe. Change in criteria, changed deductions, change in meaning, and its significance for current research

Frick, Jens Axel

doi:10.1007/s12520-019-00967-5

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…A more detailed analysis of the pattern and chronology of negative scars allows us to conclude that the described specimen is a fragment of a modified or repaired tool, whose traces are particularly well visible on the relatively flat, ventral face with the burin-like spin off scar. One of the elongate negatives located parallel to the blade is probably a relic of the earlier phase of shaping the tool -a relic of the "dominant blow" (Jöris 1992;2001;Urbanowski 2003;Migal and Urbanowski 2006;Frick et al 2017;Frick 2020). The pattern of negatives on the more convexly formed, dorsal surface, is far less disturbed by subsequent repairs, which are particularly well detectable in the area of the transverse break of the tool.…”

Section: Inv M458 Excavation Unit M63b Layer Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Palaeolithic flint materials from Central Poland. Case study of the site Polesie 1, Łowicz county, Łódź voivodship

Wąs

Domańska²,

Rzepecki³

2020

Spraw. Arch.

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This paper deals with the presentation of flint artefacts of Middle Palaeolithic provenience discovered during the excavations at the site of Polesie 1 in the central part of Central Poland. An in-depth analysis of its morphology, taphonomy and readable technological features helped uncover some elements of the products of the Micoquian tradition. This article discusses these extraordinary findings in the context of their importance as the northern-most such finds on the map of Middle Palaeolithic sites in Poland. Selected elements of research on paleoenvironmental conditions of the studied area are also presented as key points in the discussion on the possibilities of researching the Neanderthal settlement ecumene within the Polish Lowland.

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Section: Inv M458 Excavation Unit M63b Layer Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Palaeolithic flint materials from Central Poland. Case study of the site Polesie 1, Łowicz county, Łódź voivodship

Wąs

Domańska²,

Rzepecki³

2020

Spraw. Arch.

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“…Analysis of KMTB assemblages reveals two extremes of matrix selection: on the one hand, at Abri du Musée (Bourguignon 1992;Frick 2020) and only flint blanks (mostly Levallois blanks) are used and, on the other hand, at sites such as Buhlen (Jöris 2001) and Balve (Jöris 1992) plates of flinty slate (Kieselschiefer) are mainly used as matrices.…”

Section: Equifinality and Permutationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Technological Feature of Tranchet Blow on Keilmesser as a Connecting Element Between Similar Middle Paleolithic Assemblages from the Côte Chalonnaise (Saône-et-Loire, France)

Frick,

Herkert,

Hoyer

et al. 2024

The Rhine During the Middle Paleolithic: Boundary or Corridor?

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This article examines lithic artifacts which, because of a particular modification, may be considered a shared feature of late Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the Saône-et-Loire Department in eastern France. There, the modification of the cutting edges referred to as tranchet blow was first described in detail in the 1970s using the lithic material from Grotte de la Verpillière I, which was excavated in 1868. However, research carried out in recent years has shown that this tranchet blow modification on Keilmesser is not confined to this site; in fact, it also occurs at several surrounding sites. Thus, the tranchet blow modification can be seen as a specific regional phenomenon. Research on Keilmesser and the tranchet blow modification brings us face to face with the problem of terminology. It is not the linguistic barrier that is important here, but rather the use of different terms and very different spellings in the literature. This makes the search for further assemblages featuring this phenomenon considerably more difficult. In this context, a technological and terminological rethink is called for. In previous studies, the similarity between burin blow and tranchet blow modification was highlighted. It has recently been more often assumed that the technological prerequisites of these two reduction variants can be regarded as similar but nevertheless different. This article addresses these technological concerns in a general overview and proposes a coherent standardized terminology using the more neutral term “Keilmesser” with the addition of the qualifier “with tranchet blow.” Furthermore, regional research on Keilmesser, and related tranchet blow modification, is described and the initial results of recent studies on the suggested technological clustering of Middle Paleolithic behavior in Saône-et-Loire are presented.

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“…The numbers of the individual specimens are provided within the text, the .RData file within the Supplementary Information to recreate the article with rMarkdown, as well as in the S1 Table. I incorporated 35 bifacial Keilmesser and 7 unifacially shaped Keilmesser (Table 1) from the sites Lichtenberg, Pouch, Löbnitz and Goitzsche (Fig 1) in my dataset. The sample size for Pouch (6) and Goitzsche (3) is low, but the focus of the present study lies mainly on the Lichtenberg Keilmesser type and not on a comparison of tools from different sites. In the few cases that I do that the results have to be regarded as tentative.…”

Section: Artifactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The bifacial backed knife, and more specifically the Keilmesser-concept, observed on bifacial and unifacially shaped tools [ 1 ], is the most prominent tool type of the central European Micoquian [ 2 – 6 ]. Furthermore, its presence in late Middle Paleolithic (LMP) assemblages defines the eponymous Keilmessergruppen [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lichtenberg Keilmesser - it’s all about the angle

Weiß

2020

PLoS ONE

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The presence of the 'Keilmesser-concept' in late Middle Paleolithic assemblages of Central and Eastern Europe defines the eponymous 'Keilmessergruppen'. The site of Lichtenberg (Lower Saxony, Germany) was discovered in 1987 and yielded one of the most important Keilmessergruppen assemblages of the northwestern European Plain. At that time, researchers used the bifacial backed knives to define a new type, the 'Lichtenberger Keilmesser', which they characterized by an aesthetic form-function concept with a specific range of morphological variability on the one hand, and a standardized convex cutting edge one the other hand. Thereby, a shape continuum was observed between different formfunction concepts in the Lichtenberg assemblage, from Keilmesser through to Faustkeilblä tter and handaxes. In a contrasting view, it was recently suggested that the morphology of Keilmesser, including what is defined here as type Lichtenberg, is the result of solutions to establish and maintain edge angles during resharpening. With the intention to evaluate these contrasting hypotheses, I conducted a re-analysis of the Keilmesser from Lichtenberg and their relationship to central German late Middle Paleolithic knives, using 3D geometric morphometric analyses and an automatized approach to measure edge angles on 3D models. Despite a morphological overlap of the tools from both regions, I could show that the Lichtenberg Keilmesser concept refers to one solution to create a tool with specific functionalities, like potentially cutting, prehension, and reusability. To establish and maintain its functionality, certain angles where created by the knappers along the active edges. This behavior resulted in specific shapes and positions of the active parts and created what looks like a standardized or template morphology of this Keilmesser type.

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Reflections on the term Micoquian in Western and Central Europe. Change in criteria, changed deductions, change in meaning, and its significance for current research

Cited by 10 publications

References 74 publications

Middle Palaeolithic flint materials from Central Poland. Case study of the site Polesie 1, Łowicz county, Łódź voivodship

Middle Palaeolithic flint materials from Central Poland. Case study of the site Polesie 1, Łowicz county, Łódź voivodship

Using the Technological Feature of Tranchet Blow on Keilmesser as a Connecting Element Between Similar Middle Paleolithic Assemblages from the Côte Chalonnaise (Saône-et-Loire, France)

The Lichtenberg Keilmesser - it’s all about the angle

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