Continuity or discontinuity in the Late Glacial Maximum of south-western Europe: the formation of the Solutrean in France

Abstract

Based on the development of very specific lithic tools and the use of flat and covering retouch, the Solutrean has traditionally been envisioned as a unified cultural complex, representing a clear break from the preceding Gravettian technologies. As a consequence, migratory episodes have been proposed to explain the appearance of the particular characteristics of Solutrean lithic points. Here we present an assemblage with Vale Comprido points discovered at Marseillon in south-western France. The lithic industry is consistent with the definition of the Protosolutrean in Portugal, an industry in an intermediate stratigraphic position between the Late Gravettian and the Solutrean. Its description is followed by a discussion on the formation of the Solutrean and on the articulation between the Protosolutrean with Vale Comprido points and the classic Lower Solutrean with pointes à face plane. According to this evidence, the Solutrean would have emerged from industries having strong typological and technological analogies over its entire zone of distribution.

Keywords:

• Gravettian-Solutrean transition
• Protosolutrean
• Lower Solutrean
• Vale Comprido points
• pointes à face plane
• evolution

Acknowledgements

My kind thanks go to Magen O'Farrell who translated the text into English.