Comparison of "Prepared Core Technologies" between Southern Europe and the Levant: Some preliminary insights and main issues.
Résumé
During the second half of the Middle Pleistocene, numerous changes are reflected in the archeological record in
terms of subsistence strategies and technical skills. Within these changes, the recognition of lithic innovations such
as Prepared Core Technologies (PCTs) in the Late Acheulean is a major topic. These production concepts are often
linked to the emergence of the Levallois technologies, and thus to the onset of Middle Paleolithic societies.
We will present here data of different technological analyses of PCTs over two area of the Mediterranean Sea. Main
results come from the Southern European record, with Early Middle Palaeolithic sites dated between MIS 10 and 6
(La Micoque, Orgnac 3, Pech-de-l’Azé II among others - Mathias, 2018; Mathias et al., 2020). In these sites, where
flake production systems dominate, different reduction processes were applied, while variability might be induced
by both raw material properties and hominin technical choices. The results from the European context will be
compared with the preliminary analysis of PCTs from area D of Jaljulia (Late Acheulean, Central Israel). It will be
suggested that Prepared Core Technologies cover in reality several flaking systems that occur and spread in
different ways/chronologies in the Levant and in Europe. Further analysis is needed to clarify what is included
under the PCTs terminology but also to approach their significance in the appearance of new technical behaviors.