Unveiling the Role of Quartz and Quartzite at the Early Middle Paleolithic Bison Kill and Butchery Site of Coudoulous I (Quercy, France)

The Stone Age marked the extensive use of rocks for tool-making, with flint as the primary material. However, prehistoric communities, ranging from the Early Lower Paleolithic to the Holocene, also utilized other stones like quartz due to their availability and suitability for manufacturing tools. Quartzose raw materials (quartz and quartzite) were widely exploited during prehistory, particularly in contexts where flint or other sources were scarce or unavailable. However, there are recorded findings of quartz tools from sites located in areas where flint sources were effectively accessible and exploited, such as at the Early Middle Paleolithic (EMP) site of Coudoulous I. This site presents a good opportunity to discuss the subsistence strategies and raw material procurement of Neanderthals in southwestern France and to explore methodological considerations related to the analysis of quartz assemblages. We examined 79 quartz and quartzite artifacts from layer 4 of a bone bed dating back to Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6), employing optical and digital microscopy along with a comprehensive reference collection. As a result, it was the most commonly identified activity. The hunting-oriented nature of the site is further supported by the limited evidence of other activities, apart from a few instances of scraping or cutting wood and dry hide, which are likely associated with the creation and maintenance of the tools used for hunting. Additionally, some quartz and quartzite artifacts with convergent edges display wear patterns consistent with their use as spear points. Therefore, the lithic industry at Coudoulous I highlights the significance of quartz and quartzite in EMP subsistence strategies and indicates that quartzose materials should not be undervalued or dismissed as opportunistic behavior.