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Mousterian

or Mous·tie·ri·an

[moo-steer-ee-uh n]
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adjective Anthropology.
  1. of or relating to a Middle Paleolithic culture of Neanderthal man dating to the early upper Pleistocene Epoch (c100,000–40,000 b.c.) and consisting of five or more stone-artifact traditions in Europe whose characteristic tools are side scrapers and points.
  2. pertaining to Paleolithic human relics having the workmanship, finish, and character of the flint scrapers found in the sands of Moustier, France.
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Origin of Mousterian

1885–90; < French moust(i)érien; see -ian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mousterian

Historical Examples

  • These are assigned to the later Acheulean and earlier Mousterian epochs.

    Prehistoric Man

    W. L. H. Duckworth

  • This excavation entered a stratum distinguished as Mousterian.

    Prehistoric Man

    W. L. H. Duckworth

  • In all Germany there are only about seven stations of unquestioned Mousterian age.

    Men of the Old Stone Age

    Henry Fairfield Osborn

  • Even before the close of early Mousterian times all this was changed.

    Men of the Old Stone Age

    Henry Fairfield Osborn

  • Period of the middle or 'full Mousterian' industry of the Neanderthal races.

    Men of the Old Stone Age

    Henry Fairfield Osborn

British Dictionary definitions for mousterian

Mousterian

noun
  1. a culture characterized by flint flake tools and associated with Neanderthal man, found throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, dating from before 70 000–32 000 bc
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adjective
  1. of or relating to this culture
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Word Origin

C20: from French Moustérien from archaeological finds of the same period in the cave of Le Moustier, Dordogne, France
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mousterian in Science

Mousterian

[mōō-stîr′ē-ən]
  1. Relating to a Middle Paleolithic tool culture that succeeded the Acheulian, ending around 35,000 years ago and traditionally associated with Neanderthals. While Mousterian tools show improvements in stone-flaking techniques over Acheulian tools, they remain largely unchanged over long periods of time and show little of the rapid innovation and specialization that characterize tool cultures of the Upper Paleolithic associated with modern humans.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.