Defining the earliest Aurignacian in the Swabian Alp : the relevance of the technological study of the Geißenklösterle (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) lithic and organic productions
International audienceThe Geißenklösterle cave site (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) has achieved celebrity for having yielded several rich Aurignacian occupation levels, among the earliest in central Europe. Recently, the coherence of J. Hahn's archaeostratigraphic subdivisions has been called into question, and doubts raised about the validity of the earliest Aurignacian assemblage (reconstructed level III). The paper presents the first results of a fresh technological approach to the lithic and organic productions of the seven Aurignacian levels. These results add support to J. Hahn's interpretations and speak in favour of the existence of a genuine Aurignacian predating the split-based points facies