A sealed flint knapping site from the younger dryas in the scheldt valley (belgium): Bridging the gap in human occupation at the pleistocene-holocene transition in w europe

Abstract

Based on the evidence of a recently excavated, sealed site, situated at Ruien "Rosalinde" in the Belgian Scheldt valley, the response of hunter-gatherers to changing climate at the transition from the temperate Allerød to the cold Younger Dryas is discussed. Radiocarbon dated to the end of the Allerød or the very beginning of the Younger Dryas, the site of Ruien provides the earliest evidence of a refined lithic technology characterized by the use of a soft stone hammer and the production of straight and regular blade(let)s from intensively prepared cores with two opposite platforms and sharp striking angles. In the course of the Younger Dryas and Early Pre-boreal this knapping method will become standard all over Europe, from the Tanged Point Technocomplex in the North to the (Epi)Laborian in the South. It contrasts sharply with the knapping style of previous lithic traditions, such as the late Federmesser/Azilian and Bromme Technocomplexes, which was much less elaborated and mainly oriented towards the knapping of short irregular blades with a hard stone hammer. This apparently abrupt technological change was also accompanied by increased raw material procurement networks, extending over up to 250km, and a marked microlithisation of the hunting equipment. Finally, the site of Ruien is also important as it demonstrates the limited archaeological visibility of Younger Dryas sites, explaining the scarcity of such sites within western Europe.