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2022-06-25 08:11:48   •   ID: 2337

Life History of a Scraper from Troyes La Champagne

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
This is a large simple unifacial Middle Paleolithic scraper-(10,5x6,2x2 cm) made by a non Levallois technique from a local blue / black Jurassic Flint, now deeply patinated.

The artifact is characterized by an elongated thick flake, in which the maximum thickness has been reduced unilaterally by a “Retouche écailleuse scalariforme“.

This „Quina Retouche“ is best seen from the dorsal side, exhibiting a reworked, convex cutting edge (Figure 1 and 2).

Looking at the ventral side in Figure 3 we notice, that the bulb of percussion has been carefully removed and that basal parts of the flake carry scalariform retouches while the simple discontinuous contralateral retouches are likely to be post-depositional as indicated by their double patination.

In addition, several (Janus)-flakes from the ventral side have been removed before the tool has been abandoned. Now the piece of worked as a core.

About different techniques of these „flaked - flakes“ -see here: 1286 .

The distal part of the artifact shows a truncation. This „Kostenki“-end is the result of initial preparation steps before the detachment of Janus flakes.

All the characteristics point to an artifact with a complex life-history, those function may have been manifold and changing over time.

Genuine Quina scrapers were usually made on cortical transversal flakes and often lacked striking platform preparation- more information about the issue is to be found here: 2290

In contrast, I suggest that the tool shown here, was rather made by a Discoidal and not by a Quina chaîne opératoire.

The artifact was found by a local collector decennia ago at Troyes La Champagne, capital of the department of Aube, in France.

So far, only isolated Paleolithic implements have become known from the urban area of Troyes.

Techno-Typologically the piece presented here is mainly embedded within the local Middle Paleolithic of the Aube Region- See: 2183 during MIS 4/3 and reminiscent of the Middle Paleolithic in the Upper Rhone Valley with its rich findings 400 km in the south (Slimak 2008).

Suggested Reading:

Slimak L. D. 2008 – Artisanats et territoires des chasseurs moustériens de Champ Grand. Aix-en-Provence

Surf the Blog: here: 1455 ; here: 1649 and here: 1554

Provenance: Collection P. Vabre



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