The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Tool Types Are Contemporaneous: An Additional Nosed Endscraper and Other Recent Finds from the Heidesheim-Höllenberg Site near Mainz, Germany

The large surface site of Heidesheim-Höllenberg has yielded a lithic assemblage containing both Middle and Upper Paleolithic tool types. The contemporaneity of these two artifact categories can be proven or at least inferred for a number of reasons. For instance, artifacts combining a Middle and an Upper Paleolithic tool type on the same blank are well represented in the assemblage. One of the most important pieces of evidence is provided by a refit comprising a nosed endscraper and a Mousterian tranchet. New finds, including an additional nosed endscraper, a unifacial discoidal core, and a rabot, not to mention an additional Mousterian tranchet, underscore the dualistic integrity of the assemblage. Undoubtedly the most intriguing new find, however, consists of an endscraper-burin combination tool made on a wide quartz flake. While this tool type is absolutely characteristic of the Upper Paleolithic, the form of the blank reflects a Middle Paleolithic technology. In sum, the evidence to date not only indicates that the lithic assemblage from Heidesheim-Höllenberg is unmixed but also allows for the possibility that it represents a transitional industry.