Fig 1.
Location of Le Moustier and potential geological sources analysed in this study.
Red triangle: Le Moustier; white circles: Mn-rich outcrops. Background map generated using GEBCO https://www.gebco.net and Natural Earth https://www.naturalearthdata.com datasets.
Table 1.
Contextual information and analyses conducted on the Mn-rich black lumps from Le Moustier.
Table 2.
Information on Mn-rich outcrops analysed in this study.
Fig 2.
Taphonomic analysis of the manganese-rich rocks.
Difference in size (a) and degree of modification (b) of manganese lumps from Le Moustier excavations.
Table 3.
Results of XRD analyses of Mn-rich lumps from Le Moustier.
Table 4.
Results of μ-RS analyses of black lumps from Le Moustier.
Fig 3.
Traces of modifications identified on manganese-rich rocks.
Modification types identified on manganese-rich rocks from Le Moustier. (a) Abrasion, (b) percussion, (c) notching, (d) scraping.
Fig 4.
Types of modification identified on manganese-rich lumps from Le Moustier by layer (a) and density (b). The arrow indicates the point of impact.
Fig 5.
Weight vs. length/width ratio for manganese-rich rocks.
Comparison between lump weight and length/width ratio. Dotted lines identify groups discussed in the text; mod/unc—modified/possibly modified; unmod—unmodified.
Fig 6.
Attributes of the manganese-rich rocks.
Size and weight of modified manganese-rich rocks from Le Moustier by type of modification (a) and number of facets (b). P—Percussion; N—notching; A—abrasion; S—scraping.
Fig 7.
Mn/Si ratio of the manganese-rich rocks.
Mn/Si ratio of modified and unmodified manganese-rich rocks from Le Moustier by size and weight.
Table 5.
Results of XRD analyses of geological samples.
Fig 8.
Principal component analysis of the manganese-rich geological samples.
PCA using a centred logarithm ratio (clr) transformation of the twelve most frequently detected major, minor and trace elements by EDXRF in the geological samples. Colours and symbols indicate the outcrop origin and type of deposit, respectively. The archaeological samples (black dots) play no role in the PCA.
Fig 9.
Principal component analysis of the archaeological manganese-rich rocks.
PCA using a centred logarithm ratio (clr) transformation of the twelve most frequently detected major, minor and trace elements by EDXRF in the archaeological manganese-rich rocks from Le Moustier by layer (a) and modification occurrence (b).