European Upper Paleolithic Stone Tool Typology: An annotated translation of the de Sonneville-Bordes and Perrot typology

The “Origin of Modern Humans”, the “Great Leap Forward”, the “Human Revolution' –are but a few of the terms used to describe the Upper Paleolithic Period in Europe (45,000-11,000 BP). There, and in and contiguous parts of western Asia, the Upper Paleolithic Period preserves the first consistent evidence for several distinctively human behaviors (i.e., behaviors that appear to have evolved uniquely among Homo sapiens). These behaviors include systematic production of personal ornaments, the use of projectile weaponry, both abstract and figurative art, long-distance exchange and alliance networks, and complex pyrotechnology (e.g. fired ceramic figurines). Stone tools are the most durable evidence of this important period in European prehistory. This paper is an effort to broaden international participation in Upper Paleolithic research by making the principal typology for Upper Paleolithic stone tools available in English.