Adoption, abandonment and revival of a technical innovation

Principal investigator

Antonin TOMASSO

Funding

European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - BeIPD COFUND)

Years

2017-2019

Summary

Technological studies have highlighted several innovative elements in Palaeolithic technologies, such as pressure for the manufacture of stone tools or heat treatment of raw materials to improve fracture properties. An intriguing phenomenon that is still not understood is the production of twisted blanks. Twisted blank production was for a long time associated with the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic, namely the Aurignacian around 40,000 BP. Recently, studies have brought to light the persistence of these productions throughout the upper Palaeolithic. In all these contexts, the production of twisted blanks was the result of particular methods of production. Using carinated cores is the most famous one, but other methods have also been described. In some contexts, the specificity of twisted bladelets is evidenced by their specific use as blanks, as for the Dufour bladelets in the Aurignacian. However, it remains unclear why these twisted blanks were produced and to what needs they responded. Therefore, the goal of this research project is to understand the reasons behind the production of twisted blanks, i.e. their intended use, hafting. By exploring the reasons behind technological changes, this project will improve our understanding of the socio-economic significance of lithic assemblages.