Delayed increase in stone tool cutting-edge productivity at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in southern Jordan.

ABSTRACT: Although the lithic cutting-edge productivity has long been recognized as a quantifiable aspect of prehistoric human technological evolution, there remains uncertainty how the productivity changed during the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition. Here we present the cutting-edge productivity of eight lithic assemblages in the eastern Mediterranean region that represent a chrono-cultural sequence including the Late Middle Paleolithic, Initial Upper Paleolithic, the Early Upper Paleolithic, and the Epipaleolithic. The results show that a major increase in the cutting-edge productivity does not coincide with the conventional Middle-Upper Paleolithic boundary characterized by the increase in blades in the Initial Upper Paleolithic, but it occurs later in association with the development of bl

SUBMITTER: Kadowaki S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10850154 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature