http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=3901 Entrées d’index fr 0 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6095 The selection of raw material used for the production and utilisation of tools constitutes an important relationship of early man to his environment. His knowledge of the nature of the raw materials, of their physical reactions plays a big part at the preparation or the usage of implements. The Lower Palaeolithic man of Bilzingsleben demonstrates this relationship in various ways. There is, e.g. a deliberate selection of raw material which was conducted for artefact-specific reasons. Dependent on their corresponding future function, different raw materials had been selected according to their specific qualities : 1. Tough, solid large pebbles (quartzite, limestone, travertine, kristalline) appropriate for the execution of rough work. 2. Hard, brittle silex stones (flint, more rarely quartz, chert), appropriate for the production of small special tools, such as cutting, scratching, scraping, boring implements. 3. Antlers used as percussion instruments. 4. Bones (more rarely ivory) used for the production of big special tools. 5. With the tools produced from these materials wood and other organic matters were worked. Because of the special aspect of the bones in the Bilzingsleben inventory I am going to treat bones here. The thick compacta of the elephant extremity bones served as raw material for the production of special tools: the working features and use wear indicate that and how the Bilzingsleben man used bones as raw material. He did not only smash the bones in order to obtain handy compacta pieces, but also cut them up deliberately: the joints were cut off, the bones split with a wedge and a hammerstone. Then the bone piece was trimmed in the way stone tools were prepared, i.e. with the help of a hammerstone. Even retouched edges were produced. The result was a differentiated usage of the bones as scrapers, back-knives, wedges, chopper-like tools, dagger-like tools, bodkins, working support. It is evident that the raw material was especially selected. The thick compacta of the extremity bones of adult animals was prefered : tibia, femur and humerus. The other extremity bones are rare. Pelvis and scapula are more frequent among the remaining skeleton. They were used as working support. It seems that they are bones from death sites and they were macerated because it was more convenient and practical for usage when they were in a state without fat and without periosteum, sinew and other connective tissue. Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:51:12 +0100 Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:51:21 +0100 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6095 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6001 There are only a very few sites or archaeological horizons which are appropriate for the reconstruction of former environments and the recognition of man's relationship to these conditions. First, it is very important to dispose of some deposits rich in fossiles and, if possible, to have many geological and geomorphological phenomenons as well as an archaeological culture preserved in its primary situation. A necessary precondition for this research are some archaeological horizons of travertine and some limnic-telmatic deposits containing various plant and animal fossil groups, in particular macro plant remains, molluscs, ostracods, micro and macro vertebrates, and special indications for the existence of former biotopes. In a larger range, they enable the reconstruction of environments beyond the biotope in wandering ranges and hunting districts. The preserved cultural evidence allows the inference of behavioural and reactive patterns towards this environment. This is demonstated by the travertine site of Bilzingsleben, Lower Palaeolithic, Middle Pleistocene/Holstein complex. Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:07:39 +0100 Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:07:47 +0100 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=6001 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=3899 Today only Treugol'naya Cave presents reliably dated evidence of human settlement on the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains from its initial stage at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene through the end of this period, as well as being one of the oldest sites in Europe. The cave is a small karstic cavity situated 1500 m above sea level in the Upper Kuban’ Basin, and filled with up to 4.5 m of loam and rubble. Layers containing stone artifacts are dated (ESR, pale-magnetism, pollen, and fauna) to the early through late phases of the Middle Pleistocene. The artifact assemblages are assigned to the Lower Paleolithic flake and pebble tool industries completely lacking in hand axes. Wed, 28 May 2025 10:15:29 +0200 Fri, 25 Jul 2025 11:51:23 +0200 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=3899 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=4107 Les sites du Pléistocène moyen de Soucy dans l'Yonne sont inscrits dans une séquence alluviale rapportée au stade isotopique 9 (Holsteinien). Sur les 9 niveaux archéologiques mis au jour, 7 ont livré des pièces bifaciales et des portions de chaîne opératoire de production de pièces bifaciales. En fonction de la configuration des restes attribuables à la chaîne opératoire de production de pièces bifaciales dans chaque niveau il est possible de discriminer trois catégories de sites: les sites de production, les sites de consommation et les sites de production et de consommation de pièces bifaciales. Les observations réalisées sur les différents ensembles lithiques de Soucy montrent que la chaîne opératoire de production de pièces bifaciales est fractionnée dans le temps et dans l'espace, alors que la chaîne opératoire de débitage est représentée dans son intégralité dans tous les gisements. Observations on the bifacial tools and on 'chaînes opératoires' in the Middle Pleistocene sites of Soucy (Yonne) : The Middle Pleistocene sites of Soucy, in Yonne, are positioned within an alluvial sequence related to the isotopic stage 9 (Holsteinian). Seven of the nine archaeological levels have yielded bifacial pieces and portions of the "chaînes opératoires"for producing bifacial pieces. Given the type of the remains in each level and their ascription to the "chaînes opératoires" for producing bifacial pieces, it is possible to distinguish three categories of sites: sites with production; sites with consumption; sites with production and consumption of bifacial pieces. Observations conducted on the several lithic assemblages from Soucy reveal that the "chaînes opératoires" for producing bifacial pieces are separated in lime and space whereas the "chaînes opératoires"for "debitage" are represented in their entirety in every site. Fri, 06 Jun 2025 10:38:54 +0200 Fri, 06 Jun 2025 10:39:07 +0200 http://popups.lib.uliege.be/3041-5527/index.php?id=4107