The Emergence of Middle Palaeolithic in Western Europe

International audienceThe transition from Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic is one of the most debated questions in early Prehistory since the mid-20th century. Thesedebates are mostly due to how early prehistorians constructed their chronological model based on index-fossil, model with “artifical boundaries designed to provide structure to a complex record and, rather than being conceived of as permanent or real, should be frequently examined and revised(Roebroeks & Corbey 2001; Monnier, 2006). In this paper we do not focus our efforts on insolvent issues of systematics and nomenclature. We suggest documenting a time frame known for rapid behavioural and technological changes, from MIS 9 to 6. On a large scale, the Western Europe, several researchers working on principle sites of this period propose to make an assesment of the current research on the emergence of the so-called Middle Palaelolithic. From a rich corpus of archaeological sites, will be discussed in particular the taphonomy, the preservation, the chronology and the environnement of human occupations during MIS 9 to 6 in Western Europe. The question of technological changes in lithic assemblages will also be investigated. After this overview of the current research on the emergence of Middle Palaeolithic, we try to define future research directions to progress on this key-period of Human evolution