Zum Stand der Paläolithforschung in der Schweiz

Abstract. Research on the Palaeolithic started in Switzerland during the 19th Century in the overall framework of cave studies. Two different industries were soon recognized: middlepalaeolithic flake tools usually together with the bones of cave bear, and a late palaeolithic blade industry associated with bone and antler tools, sculptures and line drawings. Recent research yielded complementary information on openair sites. A characteristic Mousterian tool-kit comes from a surface deposit at Pleigne JU, Löwenburg. New chronostratigraphic studies in the alpine Wildkirchli cave resulted in a relatively late date for its middle-palaeolithic layers. The late palaeolithic open-air and cave Sites, which belong to an evolved Magdalenian tradition, seem to concentrate around the Bölling oscillation. Information on the final Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic is still too fragmentary for conclusions.