Technological adaptation and the emergence of Levallois in Central Europe: new insight from the Markkleeberg and Zwochau open-air sites in Germany

The introduction of the Levallois method in Europe is considered the technological innovation that marked the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. In North-Central Europe, early evidence of this new concept of flake production is dated at the junction between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and MIS 8, a period that showed a deterioration of climatic conditions, i.e. a change from forested to cold tundra–steppe vegetation and dispersal of the Mammuthus–Coelodonta faunal complex from artic territories. This study aims to contribute new data to the current debate by exploring the lithic assemblages of the Markkleeberg and Zwochau open-air sites in Germany. Technological analysis reveals the introduction of the Levallois method in association with the development of the local unidirectional core technology. This pattern is common in other sites of North-Central Europe. This modification in the technical behaviour of hunter-gatherers is interpreted as a technological adaptation in response to the new faunal complex composed of seasonal migratory animals.