2017-07-14 17:25:56 • ID: 1624
Levallois-Point from Lenderscheid
In North Hessen, near Kassel, there are numerous outcrops of fine-grained tertiary quartzite. Lenderscheid is an open-air, surface site located at one of these outcrops, about 17 km to the NE of Röhrsheim. The site was discovered by Adolf Lutropp (1955) during systematic surveys.
The rocks appearing on the surface make agricultural works impossible on the site, this is why it was not destroyed (Luttropp, 1955). At Lenderscheid tertiary quartzite was used during the (non dated) Middle Paleolithic for a large workshop site characterized by the production of cordiform and triangular handaxes and leaf points.
Beside products from preferential Levallois cores (flakes and some blades), many flakes were made from discoidal and opportunistic cores, originating from quartzite, found in abundance at the site.
Scrapers (single, double, dejete) are the most common class of retouched artifacts from unbiased samples. Beside the famous triangular Handaxes and Middle Paleolithic leaf points, other bifacial tools, which are abundant at other sites in Northern Hessen in a "Micoquian" (KMG) context are rare.
The chance of finding still intact strata at Lenderscheid seems to be poor. The hilly site with the outcrop is densely wooded by big trees, those roots must have produced a lot horizontally and vertically shifts of the archaeological material.
Lenderscheid is one of the rare German sites, where a rich Levalloisien was found. The Levallois point, that is displayed here is one of the best examples I know and indistinguishable from specimens found in flint/chert rich regions.
At Lenderscheid the raw material was obviously not the main determant for the conceptual choice of Homo sp.
Resources and images in full resolution:
- Image: lenderscheid-levallois-aggsbach.jpg
- Extern Link: www.flintsource.net…frm_namelist.html