Analysis of bifacial elements from Grotte de la Verpilli  ere I and II (Germolles, France) Jens Axel Frick * , Harald Floss Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Institute for Pre- and Protohistory and Medieval Archeology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070 Tübingen, Germany article info Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Biface Asymmetrically bifacially-backed knife Keilmesser Middle Paleolithic Tranchet blow abstract Bifacial objects are iconic lithic artifacts of Middle Paleolithic assemblages. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the production sequences of bifacial objects from Grottes de la Verpilli ere I and II (VP I and II) in Germolles, Sa^ one-et-Loire, France. This study shows that despite morphological diversity, a general production sequence exists for all of the bifacial artifacts: phases of backing, bottom-side and top-side configuration and cutting-edge regularization. The study also compares the bifacial assemblages from modern excavations in intact sediments (VP II), mixed sedimentological units (VP I and II), the backdirt of old excavations (VP I) and museum collections from prior excavations and surface collections (VP I), which show notable diversity. An attempt is made to resituate assemblages without clear spatial provenience into the framework established by studies of the material from in situ sediments containing bifacial elements from Verpilli ere II, with reference to the notes of former excavators of Verpilli ere I. Asymmetrically bifacially backed knives from Verpilli ere I derive from the entrance of the rock shelter. Moreover, despite distinctive differences of both sites and their bifacial assemblages, they share simi- larities with regard to both production sequences and components. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Bifacially-worked lithic objects (bifaces) are a common feature of Late Middle Paleolithic (LMP) assemblages in Europe. They have served and continue to serve as fossiles directeurs and important elements of the definitions of several lithic industries, including the Moust erien de tradition acheul eenne (MTA), Mousterian with Bifacial Tools (MBT), Keilmessergruppen (KMG), and Micoquian (MIC). As- semblages with bifacial elements from southern Burgundy (Sa^ one- et-Loire, France) have therefore been variably attributed to lithic industries that are centered in southwestern France (MTA) or central Europe (KMG), or integrated into newly-defined assem- blage clusters (MBT). However, the precise attribution of these as- semblages yielding bifacial lithic elements remains a subject of debate (e.g. Farizy, 1995; Richter, 1997; J€ oris, 2003; Koehler, 2009; Frick, 2010; Ruebens, 2013). Initial studies performed by Desbrosse et al. (1973, 1976) showed that the Keilmesser (bifacially backed knives) with tranchet blow (KMTB) from the Grotte de la Verpilli ere I (VP I) at Germolles display strong similarities to objects from Ciemna and Okiennik (Poland), as well as Buhlen (Germany). Farizy (1995) documented a Micoquian influence on assemblages in Eastern France and defined a group called industries charentiennes  a in- fluences micoquiennes. In the late 1990s, VP I (often referred to simply as “Germolles” prior to the 1990s) was integrated into dis- cussions of the so-called Keilmessergruppen (name from Mania, 1990) and was seen as Keilmesser assemblage with a unifacial Quina industry (Richter, 1997; J€ oris, 2003). New studies on old collections from VP I (Floss, 2003, 2005; Frick, 2010; Dutkiewicz, 2011) showed that this lithic industry attributed to the Middle Paleolithic contains a strong Levallois component and identified additional bifacial elements. Renewed excavation at the site has been undertaken since 2006 under the direction of H. Floss with the aim of establishing corre- lations between the old collections and, remaining intact, stratified sediments at the site. An unexpected outcome of these excavations was the discovery of a new site 50 m south of VP I, which has been named Grotte de la Verpilli ere II (VP II; Frick and Floss, 2015). This newly identified site, a collapsed rock shelter with a cave tunnel, has been under excavation since 2006 and has yielded intact * Corresponding author. E-mail address: jens-axel.frick@ifu.uni-tuebingen.de (J.A. Frick). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.090 1040-6182/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Quaternary International xxx (2015) 1e23 Please cite this article in press as: Frick, J.A., Floss, H., Analysis of bifacial elements from Grotte de la Verpilli ere I and II (Germolles, France), Quaternary International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.090