摘要：Though many Paleolithic assemblages bear the name, the Tayacian has never been well defined. In fact, its rather
non-descript character is a large part of its definition and, while not technically the type site for the Tayacian, the
cave site of Fontéchevade with its thick deposits of Tayacian and detailed publication has served as an important
reference for this industry. Here we report on our recent re-excavation of the site and study of the existing collections.
Based on this work it is clear that the Tayacian of Fontéchevade is largely a result of taphonomic factors of
mainly natural origin that brought together unworked, fractured flints from the cave walls, rolled worked and
unworked flints from the overlying plateau, gravels from the overlying plateau that were interpreted as hammerstones,
and infrequent occurrences of stone artifacts that may in fact have been manufactured in place or at least
deposited there by hominins. As a result we suggest that the term Tayacian should no longer be used to describe
lithic assemblages and that archaeologists need to continue to be careful linking archaeological assemblages to
shared pa.erns of behavior that might be interpreted as Paleolithic cultures.
