Spread and Technology of Neanderthals in Periglacial Environment – STONE

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The STONE project aims to determine the technological connections between the key archaeological sites of Poland, Ukraine, and eastern Romania in order to understand the diffusion of Neanderthals in the periglacial areas during the Late Middle Palaeolithic. Recent genetic analysis reveals a population turnover from Western Europe to the Altai region, after 90 ky BP suggesting that the Neanderthals mobility patterns were larger than previously envisaged. In this perspective, the Prut and Dniester Rivers could have acted as main corridors of dispersal of Neanderthals from Central Europe to the eastern southern territories during the cold climatic oscillations. This hypothesis could explain the technological stability from eastern France to the Caucasus since the MIS 5d, opening new scenarios on the adaptability of Neanderthals to the low-biomass environment of the Mammoth steppe biome.The project STONE aims to apply cutting-edge methods in lithic studies providing:a) Accurate reconstruction of the technological strategies performed in the key archaeological sites in Poland, Ukraine, and eastern Romania.b) Understanding of the variability in the types of settlements in the Micoquian and Levallois- Mousterian facies. c) Reassessment of the chronology of the archaeological levels bearing the Micoquian/Levallois-Mousterian toolkit in order to contextualize the Neanderthals occupations with the climatic fluctuations.d) Evaluation of the relationship between the environments and the cultural diversification in the Eurasian Middle Palaeolithic.Thus far, the Keilmessergruppen and the Eastern Micoquian have been considered as two distinct facies of the late Middle Palaeolithic in Europe. However, it has never been discussed what the technological variability between these regions is and the role of Poland as a gate of connections between the Central and the Eastern regions, where a fusion of local and foreigner technical behaviours could have occurred. The expected results of the STONE project are the understanding of the technical behaviours and the settlement dynamics of the “Micoquian”/Levallois-Mousterian facies in Central and Eastern Europe revealing the behavioural plasticity of Neanderthals living in periglacial environments. This information will be pivotal for understanding the Neanderthals demographic expansion during the Late Middle Palaeolithic and challenging the rooted paradigm that only Homo sapiens was able to disperse over large territories. The project results will open new scientific debates on Neanderthals population structures and fill the gap on the comprehension of the technological strategies used in the area between the Carpathians and the northern Caucasus.