Evolution And History

Middle Paleolithic Culture 195

(16 inches) of working edge that an Acheulean flint

worker could get from a kilogram (2.2-pound) core com-

pares with the nearly 200 centimeters (6 feet) of working

edge the Mousterian could obtain from the same core.

Mousterian tools were used by all people—Neandertals as

well as other members of the genus Homo said to possess

Middle Paleolithic Culture

Adaptations to the environment by Homo from the Mid-

dle Paleolithic, or middle part of the Old Stone Age, were

both biological and cultural, but the capacity for cultural

adaptation was predictably superior to what it had been

in earlier members of the genus Homo. Possessing brains

of modern size, these members of the genus Homo had,

as we would expect, greater cultural capabilities than their

ancestors. Such a brain played a role in technological in-

novations, conceptual thought of considerable sophistica-

tion, and, almost surely, communication through spoken

language. In addition to the Levalloisian technique already

described, the Middle Paleolithic also included the devel-

opment of the Mousterian tool tradition.

Mousterian Tool Tradition

The Mousterian and Mousterian-like tool traditions of

Europe, southwestern Asia, and northern Africa, dating

between about 40,000 and 125,000 years ago, are the best

known of these (Figure 8.1). Comparable traditions are

found in China and Japan, where they likely arose inde-

pendently from local tool-making traditions.

All these traditions represent a technological advance

over preceding industries. For example, the 40 centimeters

© The Natural History Museum, London©^
The

Natural

History

Museum

, London

The original Neandertal cranium discovered in the Neander Valley, Germany, in 1856 (the only one without a

face) is depicted here with earlier fossils and a cranium from contemporary Homo sapiens. The other fossils,

from the left, are a gracile australopithecine; Homo habilis (KNM ER 1470) discovered at Koobi Fora, Kenya;

Homo erectus also from Koobi Fora; and an African archaic Homo sapiens from Kabwe, Zambia. Increasing

cranial capacity over time is evident from this series as is the fact Neandertal brains are in the modern hu-

man range. Even without the Neandertal face, some of the differences in the shape of the skull compared to

H. sapiens are evident. The African archaic H. sapiens is also quite different from the contemporary skeleton.

Borer

Endscraper

Double scraper

Transverse

scraper

Hand axe

Burin

Backed knife

Figure 8.11 Mousterian tool kits include a wide range of tool

types with specific functions along with finer workmanship.

Middle Paleolithic The middle part of the Old Stone Age

characterized by the development of the Mousterian tradition

of tool making and the earlier Levalloisian traditions.

Mousterian tradition The tool industry of the Neandertals

and their contemporaries of Europe, southwestern Asia, and

northern Africa from 40,000 to 125,000 years ago.