Many questions about the Chatelperronian, a technocomplex which is found stratigraphically above the Mousterian and below the Protoaurignacian and Aurignacian in S/W-France have not been resolved till now.
- The Backing of tools in the MTA-B and the Chatelperronian and a similar geographical distribution of both technocomplexes is highly suggestive that the Chatelperronian is derived from the MTA-B, but this is far from being firmly proven. Another open question is the degree of mixing between several Chatelperronian and underlying Mousterian strata at some sites.
- The exact date and the duration of the Chatelperronian are not known. This fact is mainly the result of unreliable C-14 data in strata > 30-35 k.a BP.
- The exact temporal overlap between the Chatelperronian with the Protoaurignacian and Aurignacian is not known.
- The makers of the Chatelperronian are not known, despite Neanderthal remains in the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure, and at La Roche à Pierrot (St. Césaire). They could be intrusive.
- If one accepts that Neanderthals were the makers of the Chatelperronian, the question remains if this technocomplex was created before the advent of Homo sapiens or was stimulated by the arrival of Homo sapiens in S/W-France.
These questions are addressed during renewed archaeological work at Les Cottés (Vienne), first excavated by the underestimated L. Pradel in the 1950s and at the Le Piage site, a key site for the Early Upper Paleolithic in southwestern France (http://www.aggsbach.de/2014/03/chatelperronian/).
The Beune valley in 1905: