Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age. It was named after the type site of Le Moustier, a rock shelter in the Dordogne region of France. Similar flintwork has been found all over unglaciated Europe and also the Near East and North Africa. Handaxes, racloirs and points constitute the industry; sometimes a Levallois technique or another prepared-core technique was employed in making the flint flakes. Flint tools were made by stone age peoples worldwide. ... Binomial name †Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 Neanderthal range Synonyms Palaeoanthropus neanderthalensis The Neanderthal (IPA pronunciation: ), (Homo neanderthalensis) or Neandertal was a species of the Homo genus that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia. ... 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. ... Stone Age fishing hook. ... In archaeology a type site (also known as a type-site or typesite) is a site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture. ... Le Moustier is a fossilized skull of the species Homo neanderthalensis. ... Dordogne is a département in central France named after the Dordogne River. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists, geographers and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Turkey, Mesopotamia (Iraq and eastern Syria). ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... A racloir is a name given by archaeologists to a certain type of flint tool made by prehistoric peoples. ... The Levallois technique is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of flint knapping developed by humans during the Palaeolithic period. ... Centripetal Core Reduction Centripetal or radial core reduction strategies are found in most Middle Palaeolithic assemblages known from Africa and Eurasia (e. ...

Mousterian tools were made by Neanderthals and date from between 300,000 BP and 30,000 BP. In Northern Africa and the Near East they were also produced by Anatomically Modern humans. In the Levant for example, assemblages produced by Neanderthals are indistinguishable from those produced by modern humans. Mousterian technology is important because it took over the job of teeth in the front, and also because there was a reduction of robustness of some of the facial features. The use of Mousterian technology minimized pressure on the teeth and as a result the front teeth were no longer needed for environmental manipulation. Before Present (BP) years are the units of time (counted backwards to the past) used to report raw radiocarbon ages and dates referenced to the BP scale origin in the year AD 1950 (identical to 1950 CE). ... The Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists, geographers and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing the Levant (modern Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Turkey, Mesopotamia (Iraq and eastern Syria). ... The Levant The Levant is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ...

• Several Mousterian variants are known:
  • Typical Mousterian
  • Ferrassie Mousterian
  • Quina Mousterian
  • Denticulate Mousterian
  • Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA)

Discussion Quina Mousterian lithic assemblages in Southern France mostly date to the Early Weichselian (70,000-60,000BP), while Quina Mousterian lithic assemblages in Belgium mostly date to the first half of the Middle Weichselian (60,000-45,000). ...

See also

• Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures

The table gives a rough picture of the relationships between the various principal cultures of Prehistory outside the Americas, Antarctica, Australia and Oceania. ...

External links

• geocities.com - The Neanderthal Sites at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium
• Neanderthals’ Last Stand Is Traced - New York Times article (Published: September 13, 2006)