EP Gallery: Middle Acheulian -- Olorgesailie, Olduvai Gorge, Near East, Abbevillian (c. 1.0 MYA to 500,000 BP) / t)abbevloire1

Abbevillian. "Two trihedral picks (sic) from the Abbevillian remains in a Rissian terrace of the Sablé (Sarthe, France) [Gruet 1976:fig.1].

Comment: In contrast to the Near Eastern biface assemblages typified by lanceolate handaxes and picks and the African assemblages typified by cordiform handaxes and cleavers, the Abbevillian tradition of Europe appears to be typified by an extraordinarily high thickness ratio and the combination in one biface of three shape elements: core-like in plan view; globular or pear-like in side view; and pick-like in cross-section.

Illustration after J. Rioufreyt © Gruet, M. (1976). Les civilisations du Paléolithique inférieur dans les pays de la Loire. In H. de Lumley (ed.) La Préhistoire Française I.2: Les civilisations paléolithiques et mésolithiques de la France. Paris: Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique: fig.1.