The variability of the Middle Palaeolithic on the right bank of the Middle Rhone Valley (southeast France): Technical traditions or functional choices?

The variability of technical choices in the Rhone Valley (southeast France) is discussed in relation to the age, environmental conditions, site localisation and site function. New excavations and analyses make it possible to tackle these questions by comparing a wide corpus of sites within limited chronological and geographical frameworks. The technical and typological diversity between MIS 8 and beginning of MIS 3 stem from the existence of different regional and cultural traditions which expressed without link with the seasonal management of a territory. No clear link exists with the age or the climatic context, except for the blade technology which appears at the MIS 5. The hypothesis of technical traditions over time is consistent with what is observed in other European areas. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.