The contribution of the Wicker deposit in Bapaume (Pas-de-Calais) to the debate on the emergence of the Middle Paleolithic Age in the north of France

The site of Bapaume-Les Osiers (Pas-de-Calais), excavated by A. Tuffreau during the 1970s, yielded two lithic assemblages attributed to the early phase of the Middle Palaeolithic (OIS 7a/6). A preliminary study revealed a dominant Mousterian component within the industries, associated with some elements suggesting the Acheulean, leading A. Tuffreau to qualify them as Epi-Acheulean. To contribute to the debate on the origins of technological traditions during the Middle Palaeolithic, the two assemblages from Bapaume have been re-examined since they offer the possibility of opening new discussion on Acheulean elements and the Mousterian nature of the industries of the Early Middle Palaeolithic. Our analyses have shown a clear predominance of Mousterian concepts in the production sequences of the two assemblages, linking them to the Middle Palaeolithic and distancing them from the Lower Palaeolithic. Moreover, in keeping with the Late Middle Palaeolithic assemblages, they emphasize a wide variability in production techniques and objectives during the first phase of the Middle Palaeolithic, since nearly all the methods of the Levallois concept are present and are associated with blade and discoidal production techniques.