Hard animal material transpormation duringthe upper palaeolithic in Western Europe: analysis and chronocultural trends

A single aim underlies the transformation of osseous material: the productionof an object. But this produced object is only of interest because it enables a givenactivity to be carried out, in accordance with specific social, economic and culturalneeds. The technical and conceptual components of the work of osseous materials denotethese close links and thus, have a certain chronocultural value. In order to decipher thesecomponents, it is essential to be able to identify them and to prioritize them on a coherentframework. This paper presents it briefly (with definitions of technique, process, method,scheme) before giving a rapid overview of the predominant transformation schemesduring the Upper Palaeolithic in Western Europe summarizes our current knowledge ofthe subject.