Châtelperronian cultural diversity at its western limits: Shell beads and pigments from La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire

Abstract

The period between roughly 55 and 42 ka in Eurasia witnessed considerable biocultural changes, including the demic replacement of local Neanderthal populations by dispersing Homo sapiens groups. Once thought to be a rapid, monolithic process, new data have shown this demographic turnover to be far more complex, including a high degree of variability in stone tool technologies, symbolic expressions, including personal ornaments, and an earlier presence of H. sapiens in Eurasia than previously thought. Here, we present a robust, statistically supported spatial and site formation analysis of shell beads and pigments associated with Châtelperronian stone tools at La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire (France), and discuss their relevance for tracing Paleolithic cultural variability and the emergence of symbolic expressions. Keywords: Châtelperronian, shell beads, pigments, Saint-Césaire, Mousterian