Lithic Industries with Pressure Microblade Components of the North Pacific Region in the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene: from the Diffusion of a Technique in the Asian Far East to the Initial Peopling of the New World

• Main Author: Gómez Coutouly, Yan Axel
• Other Authors: Préhistoire et Technologie (PréTech), Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Catherine Perlès
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: Lithic technology; Beringia; Palaeolithic; Asian far East; Siberia; North America; pressure débitage; microblade cores; Yubetsu method; Paléolithique; Extrême-Orient; Sibérie; Amérique du Nord; Technologie lithique; Béringie; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Pacific; Alaska
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00796780; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00796780/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00796780/file/TheseGomezCoutouly2011.pdf

Débitage of pressure microblades appeared in the archaeological record about 20,000 years ago in Northeast Asia, followed by their diffusion toward Central Asia as well as toward Siberia, Alaska, and British Columbia. This research analyzes the spread of these microblade industries from the Asian Far East to North America, utilizing many archaeological collections from Primorye, Siberia, and northwest North America as the basis of a meticulous typo-technological study. The easy recognition of microblade-bearing sites allows studying the evolution, on a wide geographical and chronological scale, of the technoeconomic system during the initial peopling of the New World, while retaining technologically comparable backgrounds. The singularity of this work lies not only in the chosen subject but also in the chosen methodology, i.e., the application of lithic technology as developed by the French school to the study of Palaeolithic industries with microblade components, as well as to some issues concerning the first peopling of the New World. Many questions will be discussed, including: What is the geographical and chronological origin of the first pressure microblade industries? Can we highlight some factors that stimulated such an invention? How were microblades used? What elements can explain the variability of the débitage-producing methods? Is the progression of microblade industries the result of a technological diffusion or a human migration? Can any preferential migratory routes be identified? Is the associated toolkit highly variable or is it relatively constant? How does the analysis of lithic technology allow the assessment of interactions between groups? The new approach developed here addresses the issues from a different angle and leads to new visions, proposals, and results that are noticeably different from those that have been suggested to date. Les débitages de lamelles obtenues par pression apparaissent il y a environ 20 000 ans en Asie du nord-est et leur diffusion est attestée aussi bien vers ...