Les industries à outils bifaciaux du Paléolithique moyen en Normandie armoricaine

The Middle Palaeolithic with bifacial tools in armorican Normandy: the example of the site of Saint-Brice-sous-Rânes (Orne – France) The La Bruyère site of Saint-Brice-sous-Rânes belongs to an important complex of working-areas for the production of bifaces covering on more than 200 hectares, with several cultural traditions. The opening in 1999 of 50 square meters has produced abundant material where several technologies concerning one or several faces have been defined (Levallois, Discoïd, Kombewa), parallel with the making of bifaces on flakes. The number of retouched artifacts is relative/y large, with main/y scrapers, notches, 'unifaces' and bifacial tools ( bifaces and scrapers with bifacial retouch). The analysis of the chaîne opératoire of cut of and making demonstrates production of tools, scrapers and bifaces and their use on site or close by the site. This lithic assemblage presently attributed to the Early Weichselian in interpreted as a Mousterian industry with bifaces. This facies is very frequent in the Breton Armorican Massif.