Données récentes sur les premiers peuplements en Europe LOWER PALAEOLITHIC MICROLITHIC TECHNOLOGY AND WOODEN TOOLS BURDUKIEWICZ Jan Michal Abstract Until recently, archaeologists believed that the technology occurred almost exclusively during the Mesolithic and Late Palaeolithic, in the form of small stone inserts held by wooden or bone hafts, producing what is known as composite tools. Eventually they came to realise, however, that miniature lithic tools, often no larger than a fingernail and hard to hold using fingers, started to be produced much earlier, by hominid groups. In Europe microlithic sites appeared first time on the Apennine Peninsula ca 700 ka BP. Later microlithic technology gradually spread across Central Europe. A considerable number of similar assemblages was recorded in Eurasia, ranging from Central Europe to China, spanning the period from ca 1 Ma to 300 ka BP. In the present study complete lithic assemblages (including cores, flakes, tools and waste) are examined in detail by using the method of dynamic technological analysis (DTA). Available archaeological evidence was analysed systematically with help of a computer database comprising a large number of qualitative and quantitative attributes along with measurements of artefact size. As a next step, the material assembled was examined statistically to determine the extent of artefact standardisation, not easily established with intuitive methods. Given their substantial spatial, temporal and ecological variability the most reasonable explanation is that microlithic assemblages emerged independent of each other as a result of adaptation to specific environmental conditions. The primary stimulus for their development must have been abundance of organic material, wood in particular, which came to be used as the main raw material for production of composite tools. Résumé Jusqu’à récemment, les archéologues pensaient que seuls le Mésolithique et le Paléolithique livraient la preuve de l’usage de petits éclats emmanchés dans des supports de bois ou d’os. Pourtant de très petits outils difficiles à tenir en main ont été produits dans des périodes très anciennes par les hominidés. En Europe, les assemblages microlithiques apparaissent dès 700 ka BP, dans les Apennins. Ensuite, cette pratique se diffuse graduellement en Europe Centrale. Un grand nombre de ce type d’industrie est à ce jour connu en Eurasie, s’étandant de l’Europe Centrale à la Chine et couvrant une période entre 1Ma et 300 ka BP. Dans cette étude, des assemblages dans leur intégralité sont analysés technologiquement par la méthode DTA, et traités par une base de données informatique comprenant des critères quantitatifs et qualitatifs. Ce procédé permet de mesurer le degré de standardisation, difficile à estimer par les méthodes intuitives. S’appuyant sur les données spatiales, temporelles et écologiques, il apparaît que les assemblages microlithiques émergent indépendamment des autres comme une réponse à une adaptation à des conditions environnementales spécifiques. Ce développement s’appuierait sur la richesse en matières organiques, le bois en particulier, employées comme matière première principale pour la fabrication d’outils composites. Introduction Microlithic technology emerged in Eurasia the most possibly 1 Ma BP. Until recently, archaeologists believed that the technology occurred almost exclusively during the Mesolithic and Late Palaeolithic, in the form of small stone inserts held by wooden or bone hafts, producing what is known as composite tools. Eventually they came to realise, however, that miniature lithic tools, often no larger than a fingernail and hard to hold using fingers, started to be produced much earlier, by hominid groups. The oldest sites have been discovered in Western Asia. Ruhama site from Negev Desert is finally dated ca 1 Ma BP (Burdukiewicz, Ronen 2003; Zaidner et al. 2003). Furthermore, such sites are known from eastern edge of Asiatic continent, from Xiaochangliang, Donggutuo in north- eastern China (Schick et al. 1991; Keates 2000). In Europe microlithic sites Isernia La Pineta, Venosa-Loretto, Qarto delle Cinfonare and Visogliano appeared first time on the Apennine Peninsula ca 700 ka BP. Later microlithic technology gradually spread across Central Europe, the area bounded by the river Rhine in the west, the Vistula in the east. A large number of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic microlithic sites is recorded in the region, among them, Vértesszőlős in northern Hungary, Mauer in Baden- Württemberg, Bilzingsleben in Thuringia, Trzebnica, Rusko and Wroclaw, Skarbowców Street, in Lower Silesia, and Schöningen in Lower Saxony. They span the period between ca 600 and 300 ka BP. They were called ‘Buda Industry’ (Vértes 1965, ‘Tayacian’ (Palma di Cesnola 1996), ‘industries dites archaïques’ (Leopold 1997) or simply microlithic tradition (Valoch 1989; Burdukiewicz 1993). In the present study complete lithic assemblages (including cores, flakes, tools and waste) are examined in detail by using the method of dynamic technological analysis (DTA). Available archaeological evidence was analysed systematically with help of a computer database comprising a large number of qualitative and quantitative attributes along with measurements of artefact size. As a next step, the material assembled was examined statistically to determine the extent of artefact standardisation, not easily established with intuitive methods. Chronology The earliest microlithic sites come from Mauer in southern Germany and Vértesszőlős in Hungary during OIS 15–13. The lower horizon (LH) at Trzebnica 2, dated litho- stratigraphically to Elsterian glaciation, i.e. OIS 12, produced the remains of fauna typical for a steppe-woodland environment associated with a mild climate. They are correlated to deposits from the late Cromerian Complex – OIS 13.