The Cultural and Chronostratigraphic Context of a New Leaf Point from Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley of Southwestern Germany

A new leaf point, a rare and distinctive tool, was discovered in situ at Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura, Germany, challenging traditional views on its cultural significance. This find, dating back approximately 42,000 years, predates the Aurignacian deposits by millennia and suggests that leaf points were part of Neanderthal technological repertoires during the Late Pleistocene, rather than solely a marker for the end of the Middle Paleolithic. The study employed stratigraphic analysis and radiocarbon dating to contextualize the artifact within archaeological horizon X, providing insights into the cultural and chronological landscape of the region.

Conard, N. J., Janas, A., Marcazzan, D., Miller, C. E., Richard, M., Schürch, B., & Tribbolo, C. (2022). The Cultural and Chronostratigraphic Context of a New Leaf Point from Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley of Southwestern Germany. Mitteilungen Der Gesellschaft Für Urgeschichte, 30(2021), 41–66. https://doi.org/10.51315/mgfu.2021.30003