Getting a handle on tangs: defining the Dakhleh Unit of the Aterian Technocomplex : a study in surface archaeology from Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

"The Aterian is a later Middle Stone Age (MSA) Technocomplex of northern Africa. Associated human skeletal remains are classified as anatomically modern and chronometric determinations indicate the Aterian may encompass 90,000 to 20,000 B.P. Many sites are found in surface context. Levallois technology is the predominant method for reduction of stone, and other methods are also known. The Aterian is problematic for models of the origin of behaviourally modern humans because of the late dates and the use of technology elsewhere associated with behavioural "archaism". In this work, I define the Dakhleh Unit (DU) of the Aterian, based on material from Dakhleh Oasis and I compare the DU to Aterian material recovered from other Western Desert locations. DU artifacts were recovered from fifty localities in the Dakhleh Oasis..."