The Development of Stemmed Tools in the Paleolithic of Northwestern Europe

Securely dated at 28,000 BP, the Maisierian is considered to be the first Paleolithic industry in Europe to have systematically produced stemmed artifacts. The level of stem manufacture at the type site of Maisières-Canal in Belgium is, however, quite advanced, which would seem to speak for the existence of earlier stages. Although the extensive use of flat retouch in the Maisierian suggests a cultural lineage which can be traced back to the Middle Paleolithic, there is a gap in the sequence as far as stem manufacture is concerned. According to the "flat retouch" hypothesis, the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ) represents the transitional industry linking the fully Upper Paleolithic Maisierian to the Middle Paleolithic. The LRJ is, however, devoid of stemmed tools. Thus it would seem that the prolific production of stemmed tools at Maisières-Canal had its antecedents elsewhere. The Heidesheim-Höllenberg site in the Mainz Basin of Germany may provide some clues on the matter, as it has yielded a variety of stemmed and shouldered artifacts which are probably of Late Middle Paleolithic age. In the course of this paper, other Middle Paleolithic as well as transitional and Early Upper Paleolithic assemblages from northwestern Europe which contain such artifacts will be examined