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Middle Paleolithic

Mousterian

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Encyclopedia of Prehistory

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Abstract

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: 200,000–40,000 B.P. is the period used for the encyclopedia. However, recent work has radically altered notions about the chronology of the Middle Paleolithic. Traditionally, the Mousterian was thought to date from only the early part of the last glacial, or about 80,000 B.P., with some occurrences of earlier last Interglacial industries termed “Premousterian.” The revised chronology, based on correlations of marine and terrestrial sequences, now suggests that the date of the onset of the last glacial period, or Würm (oxygen-isotope Stage 5d), is 115,000 B.P., which has extended the duration of the Würmian industries by as much as 50 percent. Moreover, assemblages absolutely characteristic of the Middle Paleolithic are now known to date to oxygen-isotope Stage 8, or about 250,000 B.P.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Harold Dibble

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  1. Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA

    Peter N. Peregrine

  2. Human Relations Area Files/Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Melvin Ember

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Dibble, H. (2001). Middle Paleolithic. In: Peregrine, P.N., Ember, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1193-9_13

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