The Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition of the Levant has attracted much attention, particularly because the early Middle Paleolithic is the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans fossils known to date in Eurasia have been...
moreThe Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition of the Levant has
attracted much attention, particularly because the early Middle
Paleolithic is the period when the earliest anatomically modern
humans fossils known to date in Eurasia have been attested in that
part of Asia . The associated lithic assemblages are a significant
source of information for investigating the cultural landscape of
this important transition. This paper presents a new dataset from
the 2003–2009 excavations at Dederiyeh Cave, northwest of Syria.
A techno-typological analysis of the lithic industry reveals a
common practice of blade blank production, which corroborates
the other known early Middle Paleolithic assemblages of the
Levant. However, its strong emphasis on Levallois core reduction
and sidescraper manufacturing is noteworthy. The significance of
this finding deserves further research from multiple viewpoints,
including the functional and spatio-temporal variability of
hominin activities in this period. It will be also important to
interpret the techno-typological diagnostics of the early Middle
Paleolithic assemblage of Dederiyeh considering its geographic
