Tool use and hafting in the Middle Palaeolithic of North Africa: preliminary results of an on-going use-wear analysis on the Aterian assemblage of Ifri n’Ammar (Morocco)

First results will be presented of the on-going use-wear analysis of tanged tools from the Aterian assemblage of Ifri n’ Ammar. The rock shelter has a particularly rich and well-preserved stratigraphy in which a variety of tanged tools occur, offering the possibility to test existing hypotheses regarding the potential link of tangs with hafting. Based on an experimental research, the relevance of the “Aterian tang” for hafting (or use) was explored and the microscopic wear patterns were examined. These data were confronted with the archaeological examples and with the experimental reference collection available at TraceoLab at the University of Liège. Functional data are highly relevant to improve our understanding of Aterian assemblages, in particular when these data are integrated in existing typological and technological studies. It may help to understand whether the innovative elements of this industry, such as the tangs, were triggered by functional, cultural, or environmental factors