nitial” Ciemna/Pradnik b as a stra decennia ago, at Neuburg at the Donau (Bavaria) in Central European Micoquian technocomplex. It was made from Kr aterial from other Middle Paleolithic site nearby (Speckberg, (Landkreis Kelheim). Keilmesser are typical tools of the Micoquian. Ciemna/Pradnik backed bifacial knifes, named after a site in Southern Poland, which was recently dated to MIS3 (excavations in the well-stratified Main Chamber (sector CK). They are characterized by one straight cutting edge opposite a thicker blunted edge, a rectangular or convex tip, -with or -without the signs of re-sharpening by removal of lateral tranchets. This reshaping technique is known as Pradnik technique. At Ciemna this technique was used for renuvation not only of Keilmesser but also for the resharping of other tools (for example scraper). The Pradnik technique of resharpening is known also from elsewhere in Central and West Europe, for example at Okiennik and Abri de Wylotne in Poland, Stratum IIIB at Buhlen (Hessen), at the Grottos de la Verpilliére I and II (Bourgogne), Mont de Beuvry (Pas-de- Calais)... Keilmesser (Pradniks in the Polish literature) have been further divided into several morphological sub-types, mainly based on the shape of the tip and extent of the prehensile back (Klausennische, Bockstein, Pradnik/Ciemna, Kénigsaue, Lichtenberg, Buhlen, Tata, Wolgograd, Ak-Kaya...) Studies show that Keilmesser played a specific role throughout the Middle Paleolithic in Central /East Europe. They formed an important part of the Neanderthal toolkit, representing tools that were used for a variety of activities (cutting, sawing), repeatedly resharpened and recycled, used and curated for a long time), and had causal relationship with regionalization of cultural and social variability among Neanderthals. Metrical analyses suggest that the variability of their forms fact reflects a combination of several main determinants, such as the nature and morphology of the raw material, the stage of the tool reduction during its use and modification and the presence and absence of hafting devices. The KMG-groups, recorded over a vast area from France to the lower Volga basin, are much more widespread than the MTA technocomplex, as the latter is confined to Western Europe. In Western Europe, we notice an overlap between KMG / MTA as best evidenced in Belgium or France. This observation points to a strong influence of an elaborated socio-cultural behaviour among late Neanderthals before the advent of AMH in Europe. Asymmetric Bifaces A triangular Handaxe from Neuburg an der Donau KeilmesserThe Middle European Micoquian of the Franconian Jura The Pradnik (KMG) complex in Central Germany revisited 273 Views since 2/2016 3 Views Today