The Mousterian Industry

The Mousterian industry is usually associated with Neanderthal Man, yet it is an oversimplification to state that the Mousterian is the industry of Neanderthal Man. His remains have been found with other industries in Europe, Africa and the Near East, although these do share certain features in common. The Mousterian is named after the type site at Le Moustier, Dordogne, France, where in the lower shelter were several levels, with the burial of a young man near the bottom, and an infant grave at a higher level one. The industry with the lower skeleton is regarded as typical Mousterian, in spite of some hand-axes occurring with it. Also untypical was the fact that the young man who had been buried, although estimated to be about 16 years old, and thus almost fully developed, did not have the well-developed brow ridges typical of Neanderthal Man! At other sites in France there are Mousterian industries of different types: some have numerous side scrapers, Levallois technique is used or not used, hand-axes are absent, rare or common, and the proportions of one tool form to another may vary. French archaeologists see these variations as particular traditions of the same basic industry. They recognize four main ones and regard them as partly contemporary with each other, whereas some other archaeologists interpret the four types as a typological sequence. Yet others see these variants of the Mousterian as nothing but differences due to their makers having been engaged on different activities.

The Mousterian is so well represented in France, together with remains of Neanderthal man, that, important as they are, there is a tendency for other parts of the world to be overshadowed. It is unlikely that France was the main centre of advance at this time, although it may have been one of them during the latter part of the period. The same is true of the remainder of Europe. In Northern France and Britain, allied industries have been found in gravels and other sediments dating to the time of the Last Glaciation, or slightly earlier.

Questionnaire:

• Explain about the Mousterian industry.