Middle Stone Age technology in Algeria: A techno-economic approach case study of the Oued Bousmane site (Djebel Dyr).

The rock shelter of Oued Bousmane, located in the eastern Algerian highlands, presents a stratigraphic sequence of the Middle Stone Age. The site, which was discovered in 2006, produced a significant number of lithic artefacts that are primarily made of local flint. The aim of the paper is to present the results of a techno-economic study of the Mode 3 lithic industry. The analysis focused on the procurement of raw materials, the technology, and the cultural attribution of the assemblages. The analysis revealed a preferential management of raw material and several reduction methods including Levallois, discoid, and laminar. The typological composition clearly distinguished it from the classical Aterian as defined at Oued Djebbana. This finding reinforced the idea of inter-site variability in the Middle Stone Age industries of Eastern Algeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]