The Missing Mousterian

Data from the Middle Paleolithic site of Pech de lAz IV (France) indicate the deliberate production of small flakes that appear to have been used in an unretouched state. Such materials have not typically been recognized as being intended end products, though various techniques for their manufacture are present in many Middle Paleolithic industries. This raises not only the question of their distribution and possible use during that time but also the larger issue of how Paleolithic archaeologists recognize lithic classes that are both analytically and behaviorally meaningful.