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Establishing and interpreting patterns of lithic assemblage variability is of great interest to archaeologists as they shed light on cultural adaptations in the deep past. Nowhere has this topic provoked more interest and debate than in the Middle Palaeolithic of southwestern France. The region's rich archaeological record has produced numerous sites, many of which have been recently excavated and thus provide a reliable dataset for better structuring Mousterian lithic variability. Researchers working with these types of datasets frequently employ the chaine operatoire concept to approach lithic assemblage variability; however, the validity of such analyses has recently been questioned. Here we present results of a combined quantitative and qualitative technological analysis of a large sample of assemblages from numerous well-contextualised sites in the northeastern Aquitaine Basin. We selected clearly identifiable diagnostic elements typical of different flake production systems that can be quantified by different analysts in a replicable fashion. Our results show strong differences in assemblage composition in terms of dominant production systems as well as a smaller number of mixed assemblages that combine two or more flake production methods. When considered together, these results provide not only a means for defining lithic technocomplexes and subsequently comparing assemblages but also for investigating elements of Neanderthal material culture variability.

Recent excavations at the cave site of Roc de Marsal (in the Dordogne region of SW France) have yielded several Mousterian assemblages rich in well-preserved faunal remains. The Layer 4 faunal assemblage, associated with a rich Quina Mousterian occupation, provides an opportunity to investigate Neandertal prey selection, transport decisions and reindeer carcass processing strategies. One of the most striking characteristics of the Roc de Marsal Layer 4 faunal assemblage is an apparent lack of spongy parts that cannot be explained by taphonomic processes or carnivore activities. Limb elements were selectively transported to the site, where they underwent considerable further processing, resulting in a notably high degree of fragmentation of almost all elements. Comparison of reindeer carcass processing strategies employed by Neandertals during the Quina Mousterian with those identified for the later periods of the Upper Palaeolithic gives rise to some unexpected interpretations of Neandertal consumption behaviours. We show that this kind of intensive fragmentation is associated with bone grease rendering in ethnographic and Upper Palaeolithic contexts, in most such cases with the aid of fire. However, evidence of fire is remarkably scarce in Roc de Marsal Layer 4. Layer 4 could reflect a systematic Neandertal practice of sucking and chewing on the spongy portions of bones in order to extract as much of the highly nutritious bone grease as possible. Additionally, Roc de Marsal Layer 4 shows examples of use of animal resources for non-alimentary purposes by Neandertals. The abundance of cutmarks on the anterior surfaces of reindeer metapodials seems to indicate the acquisition of tendons, and bones were frequently used as retouchers.

Pyrotechnology must be seen as one of the most important technological developments in human prehistory. Once developed it eventually came to serve a wide range of applications, but when this actually occurred is not well understood. Fire is well known at a number of Middle Palaeolithic sites in Western Europe, and the Neandertals of this region clearly made use of it at some times and at some sites. Recent excavations at two generally contemporaneous Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Dordogne region of France, Pech de l’Aze IV and Roc de Marsal, have provided significant data on Neandertal use of fire. Both sites have revealed a number of extremely well preserved and delineated fire features at the base of their sequences. The goals of this paper are to describe and contrast the combustion features from these two sites using both field observations and laboratory data that employ micromorphological and FTIR techniques. Pyrotechnological differences can be seen, representing differences in Neandertal fire use and, potentially, site use.

At the Abbeville/Saint Riquier colloquium, two regional syntheses for southwestern France were proposed. One discussed the northern Aquitaine Basin ( Delpech et al., 1995 ), the other the southern basin of the Garonne and the Pyrenean Piedmont ( Jaubert and Servelle, 1996 ). Since then, research has focused on the classic sequences of Barbas I, La Micoque and Coudoulous I, or on little published sites, such as Lanne-Darre on the Lannemezan plateau ( Colonge, 2005a ; Colonge and Texier, 2005 ). Numerous rescue operations, many still in progress and thus only partially published, have also been conducted in recent years, mainly in geographic zones with diverse pedosedimentary contexts: the Isle Valley (Champ des Debats ( Brenet and Folgado, 1998 ), the Midi Toulousain and the middle Adour Basin (Colonge, Lelouvier, Bertran and collaborators). Several university theses have also fully or partially addressed this region ( Turq, 1992 , Millet, 2001 , Mourre, 2003 ; Jarry and Brenet, in progress). These works concerning the first occupations in this region, up until OIS 9 when Middle Paleolithic industries become fully developed, allow revision of the ancient assemblages and presentation of a general synthesis of these industries.