Palaeolithic Trihedral Technology
The assemblage found near Midsomer Norton, described in the post on the “Early settlers of the Somer Valley” contains a large number of heavily patinated triangular points made on a thick flake with a trihedral in cross-section at the tip. Because they are so common on this site I decided to highlight them in a separate post and compare them with similar points from other Lower/Early Middle Palaeolithic sites.
Shown here are the largest and the smallest trihedral points from the Midsomer Norton assemblage.
Two trihedral points from Midsomer Norton, lacking retouch along the edges (longest point is 7.5cm).
‘Tayac’ points
Several Midsomer Norton points are modified with a series of denticulations (notches) extending along two lateral edges converging into a point. The denticulation can be alternate or paired. When first described by François Bordes, he referred to them as pointes de Tayac, named after Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac in the Vézère valley in the Dordogne.
Tayac point from the Vézère Valley (La Madeleine)
Although they are called points it is very unlikely that these implements were used as projectile points. It is more likely that they were sharp multi-purpose tools that could used as drills for wood working or as piercers for making holes in hides or for cutting, using a saw-like motion.
Tayac points come in different shapes and sizes and with varied denticulation and they are quite widespread, occurring in several sites in Europe as well as in Asia. The Midsomer Norton points are all made of low quality flint and chert, material that was available locally, and the use of local raw materials is very common for implements of this type of industry. Tayac points made from limestone, quartzite and quartz have been found at sites all over Europe.
Small Midsomer Norton Tayac point
Tayac points from the Arago cave near Tautavel in the French Pyrenees where the 450,000 year old fossil remains of two Homo heidelbergensis skeletons were found. The Tayac point on the left is made from rock crystal (L=3cm, source Wikipedia)
Tayac points from the La Baume-Bonne cave in the Verdon valley near Quinson (France). Longest point is ~3cm. Musée de Préhistoire des gorges du Verdon
A very unusual example from the Midsomer Norton assemblage is a Tayac-like trihedral point with converging denticulations along all three lateral edges. This additional line of denticulation along the symmetry axis is unique in Tayac points as far as I am aware and must have made it a very efficient piercer.
Unusual trihedal point from Midsomer Norton with denticulation along all three edges.
Some of the Midsomer Norton denticulated points, although still trihedral in cross section, are significantly broader and flattened compared with those described above. Others are more Mousterian in character.
Denticulated point from Midsomer Norton
The Midsomer Norton “Tayacian” artifacts appear to be a smaller and more sophisticated than the implements from the Clactonian flake industry, named after Clacton-On-Sea in Essex. However, similar to the Clactonian, the Midsomer Norton assemblage lacks handaxes, apart from one example, and no levallois flakes have been found. It contains a large number of scrapers, including those with Quina retouch and choppers.
‘Quinson’ points
These trihedral points, typical for the Baume Bonne site near Quinson in the Verdon valley (South-East France), are characterised by a triangular section with one of the three surfaces covered by retouch, and the others left plain. This unifacial (bilateral) retouch can be either abrupt or stepped.
Shown here is an example from the Quinson area, where 145 of these points were recovered (see here). Musée de Préhistoire des gorges du Verdon.
Only one example from Midsomer Norton fits the Quinson point description, showing stepped (Quina) retouch covering one of the surfaces with two plain surfaces. I am not aware of any other examples of this kind from the British isles.
Trihedral 'Quinson' point from Midsomer Norton with unifacial and mostly unilateral scalar (Quina) retouch.
Similar to the Tayac points, Quinson points occur in several sites in Europe as well as in Asia, belonging to assemblages related to the Lower Palaeolithic or Early Middle Palaeolithic. Some of the most significant examples come from La Micoque, Terra Amata , Arago at Tautavel in France, Visogliano and Venosa-Loreto in Italy, Bilzingleben II in Germany, Kudaro I in Georgia, Evron and Tabun E in Israel, and even Zhoukoudian in China (source Aggsbach).
