The word “Acheulean” was introduced in the literature in the 19th century by Gabriel de Mortillet1 , and it was initially used to define European’ lithic assemblages characterized by the presence of typical instruments shaped on two faces. The term biface/handaxe is introduced for the first time by Vayson de Pradenne in 19202 : “The character of shaping of two sides is very obvious and important at least from the morphological point of view. All instruments that share this characteristic deserve a specific name. The one of "biface" it seems to be convenient because it is short, easy and indicate exactly what it wants and mean and nothing more”. Formerly, G. de Mortillet1 had already split the bifaces in two categories according to their chronological attribution: “Two kinds of “coups de poing”: those large and heavy, more or less thick, vigorous, shaped with by powerful hammering, characterizing the Acheulean; those small, flat, more or less light, shaped carefully, elegant, often much smoother, an almond-shaped”. The first to propose a systematic classification of the bifaces was F. Bordes in his work on the typology of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic3.
THE BIFACIAL PHENOMENON ACROSS TIME, SPACE AND VARIABILITY
ARZARELLO, Marta
2016
Abstract
The word “Acheulean” was introduced in the literature in the 19th century by Gabriel de Mortillet1 , and it was initially used to define European’ lithic assemblages characterized by the presence of typical instruments shaped on two faces. The term biface/handaxe is introduced for the first time by Vayson de Pradenne in 19202 : “The character of shaping of two sides is very obvious and important at least from the morphological point of view. All instruments that share this characteristic deserve a specific name. The one of "biface" it seems to be convenient because it is short, easy and indicate exactly what it wants and mean and nothing more”. Formerly, G. de Mortillet1 had already split the bifaces in two categories according to their chronological attribution: “Two kinds of “coups de poing”: those large and heavy, more or less thick, vigorous, shaped with by powerful hammering, characterizing the Acheulean; those small, flat, more or less light, shaped carefully, elegant, often much smoother, an almond-shaped”. The first to propose a systematic classification of the bifaces was F. Bordes in his work on the typology of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic3.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
