The Micoquien is an early
middle paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...
industry, that is found in the
Eemian
The Eemian (also called the last interglacial, Sangamonian, Sangamonian Stage, Ipswichian, Mikulin, Kaydaky, penultimate,NOAA - Penultimate Interglacial Period http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/penultimate-interglacial-period Valdivia or Ri ...
and in an early episode of the
Würm glaciation (about 130,000 to 60,000 BCE). The Micoquien is distinguished technologically by the appearance of distinctly asymmetrical
bifaces. Its discoverer and namer was the archeologist and art trader
Otto Hauser
Otto Hauser (April 12/27, 1874 in Wädenswil – June 14/19, 1932 in Berlin) was a Swiss prehistorian
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins ...
. Hauser then sold a great number of so-called Micoque-wedges that he found in excavations in La Micoque (in
Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil,
Dordogne,
France) to museums and collectors.
The specially formed handaxes from La Micoque exhibited an often rounded base. The problem with the term Micoquien is that later excavations have revealed an older time placement for the La Micoque axes, which are now dated in the
Riss glaciation.
A wider artifact from the Micoquien is the Keilmesser (bifacially worked knife), which has a clearer chronology in
Central Europe. From this some archeologists have proposed substituting the term Keilmesser group for Micoquien.
[Jöris, O. (2004), Zur chronostratigraphischen Stellung der spätmittelpaläolithischen Keilmessergruppen. Der Versuch einer kulturgeographischen Abgrenzung einer mittelpaläolithischen Formengruppe und ihr europäischer Kontext. 84. Ber. Röm.-German. Komm.]
Micoquien artifacts are distributed across all of
Eastern Europe and Central Europe. In
Germany they can be found at
Balver Höhle and
Lonetal.
Notes
References
*Debénath, A.; Rigaud, J.-Ph. (1986), Le gisement de La Micoque.- in: Rigaud, J.-Ph. (dir.): Informa-tions archéologiques: circonscription d'Aquitaine; Gallia Préhist. 29; CNRS; Paris; 236-237.
*Debénath, A.; Rigaud, J.-Ph. (1991), La Micoque.- Gallia Informations Préhistoire et Histoire; 1991-1; CNRS; Paris; 21-25.
*Hauser, O. (1916), La Micoque, die Kultur einer neuen Diluvialrasse. Leipzig.
*Peyrony, D. (1933), La Micoque et ses diverses industries.- XVe Congrès International d'Anthropolo-gie et d'Archéologie Préhistorique (suite), Ve Session de l'Institut International d'Anthropologie; Paris 20-27 Septembre 1931; Librairie E. Nourry; Paris; Extrait; 1-6.
*Peyrony, D. (1938), La Micoque. Les fouilles récentes. Leur signification.- Bulletin de la Société Pré-historique Française 35; Paris; 121; 257-288.
*Rosendahl, G. (1999), La Micoque und das Micoquien in den altsteinzeitlichen Sammlungen des Reiss-Museums Mannheim.- Mannh. Geschichtsblätter N. F. 6; Ubstadt-Weiher; 315-351.
External links
*
Geröllgeräte-Industrien*{{in lang, de}
Rosendahl, G. (2004), Die oberen Schichten von La Micoque.
Industries (archaeology)
Paleolithic Europe
Archaeological cultures of Europe
Middle Paleolithic
Neanderthals