Stil, mangel oder reduzierung? Die analyse des mikro-mousterien von bioče

This paper presents the Micro-Mousterian assemblage uncovered during the 2013 excavation at Bioče rock-shelter (Montenegro). Excavations at this site resumed after a long break. In the Eastern Adriatic region this type of assemblage marks the last stage of the Middle Palaeolithic, traditionally regarded as having occurred between 60 and 28 ka BP (OIS 3). A common feature is a toolkit based on small-sized pieces. This article is built on considerations of a toolkit that belongs to the most representative collection of layer 1.4. We argue that the reason for the abundance of small tools lies in the long-term use of the site by its inhabitants, as well as in the re-use of tools. The analysis of the artefact collection shows that the decrease in tool size in major groups is determined by the number of working edge rejuvenation episodes. In parallel with the size decrease due to artefact reduction, there is a change of tool forms from simple to more complex. These results force us to be careful when searching for analogues to the Bioče assemblage in the region, and show that it is problematic to merge the Final Middle Paleolithic assemblages of the region under a single label “Micro-Mousterian”.