The Early Aurignacian in Central Europe and its Place in a European Perspective

Nicolas Teyssandier (1)

1 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés

This paper places the current research on the Aurignacian of the Upper and Middle Danube region in a broader European context. Technological and typological studies show that the Swabian Aurignacian, particularly as documented in the well-dated deposits from Geißenklösterle, closely resemble the assemblages of Peyrony'sAurignacian I. We use the term Early Aurignacian in this context to distinguish the well documented Swabian assemblages including Geißenklösterle, Hohle Fels, and Vogelherd from other early Upper Paleolithic cultural groups including the Proto-Aurignacian of southern Europe. Although the assemblage from Willendorf II,3 is very small, it also appears to belong to the Early Aurignacian. The early phases of the Aurignacian date to about 35,000 radiocarbon years ago and about 40,000 calendar years ago based on TL measurements. These dates indicate a great antiquity of the upper and middle Danubian Early Aurignacian, but similar radiocarbon ages are also known from the Early Aurignacian of the Aquitain region. Thus, for now, questions about the poly- or monocentric origin of the Aurignacian remain open. The available data, however, do not support the claims for an origin of the Aurignacian in the Balkans or other regions of Eastern Europe.

Mots clés: Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition; Early Aurignacian; Proto-Aurignacian; central Europe; Swabian Jura; techno-economy; 14C chronology

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Nicolas Teyssandier. The Early Aurignacian in Central Europe and its Place in a European Perspective. Towards a definition of the Aurignacian, 2002, Lisbonne, Portugal. pp.241-256. ⟨hal-00174678⟩