Scraper and Notch Reduction in Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Assemblages from Central Europe

Abstract

In this study, a reduction continuum model is tested for scrapers and notches using fourteen assemblages from four late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic sites from Central Europe. The sites examined are Ko˚lna, Vedrovice V, Stránská Skála and Bohunice, located in the southeastern Czech Republic within 40 km of the city of Brno. The results of a quantitative analysis using standard measures of flake reduction and shape suggest that extent of reduction is an important factor creating morphological and typological variability in the Moravian Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic.