Neanderthal technological variability: a wide-ranging geographical perspective of the final Middle Palaeolithic

Since the stone tool assemblages identified at the site of Le Moustier in France at the end of the 19th century were given their name, Neanderthals have often been identified as ‘Mousterian man’. From the beginning of the 20th century until roughly its final quarter, cultural classifications were based primarily on typological features of lithic assemblages, determined by studying the shape of the artefacts and specific characteristics of retouch. This approach was based on the ‘index fossil’ concept borrowed from the natural sciences, such that each cultural context was clearly identifiable due to the presence of a distinct retouched tool or set of tools.