Scraper Blank Morphology and Artifact Use-Life in the Acheulo-Yabrudian of Tabun Cave, Israel

Tabun Cave is a major point of reference for Paleolithic research because of both its long sequence of cultural deposits and its rich and variable artifact assemblages. Roughly one third of the Tabun sequence contains Lower–Middle Paleolithic assemblages referred to as Yabrudian, Acheulean, and Amudian. Together, these facies comprise the Acheulo-Yabrudian (AY) complex. Previous work on these assemblages focused on distinctions between these facies based on relative frequencies of diagnostic tool types—scrapers, blades, and bifaces—present within each. This study instead examines metrics and attribute data for one artifact class shared by all three facies, scrapers, to compare variation in artifact production and life histories. Because they are well represented, scrapers are an excellent measure of continuity and/or discontinuity in technological behavior throughout the AY, providing insight into the relationships between the individual facies. Results reveal broadly consistent scraper manufacture across all facies. Small-scale differences in blanks, cortex, and dorsal scar patterns occur among beds but with no apparent directional trends. While the general structure of scraper production and design remained relatively unchanged, the chaine operatoire was gradually altered. These clearer temporal trends are seen in artifact life histories, first with a shift from single to multiple retouched edges, later incorporating more intensive resharpening of individual edges, accompanied by increase in blank size. Between 302 and 256 Ka, Acheulo-Yabrudian hominins showed high levels of continuity in methods of blank production yet flexibility in how long artifacts were in use and how that utility was extended.