Tardenoisian Culture

a late Mesolithic archaeological culture dating from the seventh to fourth millennia B.C. and named after sites found in the environs of La Fère-en-Tardenois in northern France (department of Aisne). The Tardenoisian culture was discovered by G. de Mortillet in 1896. It was also prevalent in Belgium, England, and the Federal Republic of Germany. Cultures similar to the Tardenoisian culture existed during the late Mesolithic in Central Europe and the European USSR as well.

Three stages have been distinguished in the Tardenoisian culture of France. The most recent, dating from the early Neolithic, is marked by the appearance of primitive pottery and of domestic animals. The sites of the Tardenoisian culture were located chiefly on sandy hills and belonged to migrant groups of primitive hunters, fishermen, and gatherers armed with bows and arrows. A burial ground of the Tardenoisian culture containing abundant finds has been excavated on the island of Téviec. Typical finds include microliths—tiny flint implements 1–2 cm in cross section, in such geometric shapes as trapezoids, triangles, lunates, and circles. They were used as arrowheads or were set into elongated openings of wooden or bone handles and secured with resin.