Le Paléolithique moyen à l’est de la Mer Noire

Abstract

The site of Sürmercik in Western Anatolia recently excavated by our colleagues in Ankara (Taskiran et al., 2021) presents quite remarkable cultural affinities and very different from the rest of Anatolia (Otte et al., 1998), as if we were entering a new province. This gigantic sequence shows the durability of this habitat and these local practices. However, these techniques are mainly reminiscent of the traditions recognized in Greece (Darlas, 1994), Bulgaria (Sirakova, 1990) and Crimea, as far as the Sea of Azov. The whole western Black Sea corresponds to a particular tradition, far from the classical traditions of the European Mousterian. In the Crimea, recent excavations by the Germans at Zaskalnaya have yielded bone remains apparently linked to Neanderthal populations (Kolosov, 1986; Pigott et al., 2024). It is therefore a question of assembling this immense region as a cultural entity in its own right, spread from the Sea of Azov to Central Anatolia. Probably at a much lower level than today.