The late Aurignacian problematic in the north pontic steppe zone

The chronology of human settlement in the steppe region north of the Black Sea is still poorly established at present. Most of the sites seem to belong to the Upper Pleniglacial. While a form of inertia can be observed for the Gravettian lithic tradition. which persists to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic, a series of industries presenting technotypological characteristics similar to the Aurignacian develops over this same period. The surprisingly young radiometric dates yielded by these assemblages raise the question of the existence of a late phase of the Aurignacian in this region. Recent studies of the Aurignacoid phenomenon in Western, Central and Eastern Europe offer a new evaluation of data from the North Pontic zone. (C) 2004 Elsevier SAS. Tous droits reserves.