Taphonomy at Hermies, France: A Mousterian Knapping Site in a Loessic Context

Abstract

The recent excavation of Hermies, a Mousterian (Middle Palaeolithic) flintknapping site in northern France, sheds light on natural alteration of a lithic assemblage in a loessic sediment. An extensive, well preserved stratigraphic zone grades into a more disturbed area. During excavation we recorded taphonomic indicators such as the dip and strike of in situ pieces, the scattering of artifacts and refitting of broken specimens, and microscopic alteration, principally natural, of flakes. While the composition of the lithic assemblage is less sensitive to erosion than we would expect, the vertical and horizontal dispersion of finds at Hermies is related to natural processes active in the lower and wetter parts of the site. Of particular note is that the dispersion can be associated with polish produced by the natural growth of roots rather than by human use. Some “tools”conventionally identified as denticulaters and notches display no use-wear, and we suggest they were created accidentally by processes such as shock, trampling, and crushing within dense clusters of debitage. This correlation of debitage clusters with increased presence of notches and denticulates is reported from many open-air Mousterian sites; since these two tool forms define the Denticulate Mousterian facies, some reevaluation of those facies is necessary.