Taphonomy and the Concept of Paleolithic Cultures: The Case of the Tayacian from Fontéchevade.

Abstract

Though many Paleolithic assemblages bear the name, the Tayacian has never been well defined. In fact, its rather non-descript character is a large part of its definition and, while not technically the type site for the Tayacian, the cave site of Fontéchevade with its thick deposits of Tayacian and detailed publication has served as an important reference for this industry. Here we report on our recent re-excavation of the site and study of the existing collec-tions. Based on this work it is clear that the Tayacian of Fontéchevade is largely a result of taphonomic factors of mainly natural origin that brought together unworked, fractured flints from the cave walls, rolled worked and unworked flints from the overlying plateau, gravels from the overlying plateau that were interpreted as hammer-stones, and infrequent occurrences of stone artifacts that may in fact have been manufactured in place or at least deposited there by hominins. As a result we suggest that the term Tayacian should no longer be used to describe lithic assemblages and that archaeologists need to continue to be careful linking archaeological assemblages to shared pa�erns of behavior that might be interpreted as Paleolithic cultures.