Aurignacian economy and social organisation under extreme conditions: systematic lithic refitting and spatial analysis at the open-air site of Breitenbach (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany)

• Applicant: Dr. Laura Centi
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 516948088

The Aurignacian period is characterised by an increased structuring of social practices, mirrored by an increased differentiation of space within settlements, possibly reflecting segregation of activities by kin, gender, age, skills or social status. Although the understanding of intra-site spatial organisation is crucial for our understanding the interactions among individuals and of Aurignacian social organisation and, research into this direction is often hampered by the low temporal resolution of the archaeological record. In addition, the reconstruction of Aurignacian behaviour mostly focused on archaeologically rich areas, such as the Aquitaine Basin, and the Swabian Jura and on cave sites, the most common contexts where Aurignacian occupations have been so far retrieved. The proposed project will provide a new angle on Aurignacian societies based on a large-scale, exceptionally preserved open-air site – Breitenbach – located in the cold tundra environment that characterised northern Germany during the middle of the Last Glacial Period. The proposed project targets at understanding the social and spatial organisation of the site based on the temporality of events that can be reconstructed from lithic artefact refittings and their three dimensional plotting. Lithic artefact refits form the most basic methodological fundament with which the finest possible level of temporal resolution can be achieved in an archaeological context. Furthermore, refits contribute to understanding aspects such as raw material economy and technical variability. Together with the plotting of other find categories these methodological tools enable a dynamic and high resolution reconstruction of site use, changing through time. Comparisons with other sites will allow the development of a refined model of a large site’s functional differentiation relative to occupation time. Given this, the project will substantially contribute to complement our present-day knowledge of this crucial period in human history that is so far derived mostly from studies on caves and rock shelters. The site’s geographic setting will in addition and for the first time contribute to the understanding of Aurignacian social organisation in a region remote from the Aurignacian “hubs” that was characterised by extreme environmental conditions. In addition, the proposed project has the methodological goal of developing a new standard protocol for documenting, analysing, and comparing refitted sequences of lithic artefacts, in order to enhance inter-comparability of lithic assemblages and – therewith – significantly add to the advancement of the refitting discipline.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants