The Paleolithic Quartz Assemblages of Denizli (South Aegean, Western Anatolia): A Selection of Bipolar Knapping, Techno-Typological and Experimental Approaches

ABSTRACT After the discovery of Homo erectus remains (circa 1.2 Ma) in Denizli, through examination of their surviving material culture, many sites containing lithics which could be attributed to Homo erectus have been located. It have revealed quartz assemblages in the parts of Denizli connected to the Menderes and Gediz Massif. The assemblages detected in Buldan and Güney associate with Mode 1 and Mode 2 techno-complexes. As the first systematic bipolar knapping study in the Paleolithic of Turkey, techno-typological analyses supported by experimental analyses will be a guide for future studies. As a result of these analyses, bipolar knapping, freehand technique, and the alternate use of both could be suggested as strategies for dealing with environmental raw material limitations or as a technical behavioral choice. In this context, the lithic assemblages in question, with their specific characteristics, shed new light on the dispersal of the early hominins out of Africa.