Harold L. Dibble

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Harold Lewis Dibble (July 26, 1951 – June 10, 2018) was an American anthropologist and Paleolithic archaeologist who specialized in stone tool analysis. He taught Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and served as Curator-in-Charge of the European Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, leading field research on lithic reduction in France, Egypt, and Morocco.[1][2]

Harold Lewis Dibble
Born(1951-07-26)July 26, 1951
California, United States
DiedJune 10, 2018(2018-06-10) (aged 66)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Arizona (B.A., Ph.D.)
OccupationArchaeologist
EmployerUniversity of Pennsylvania
Known forResearch on lithic reduction and Neanderthal archaeology
TitleProfessor of Anthropology

Education

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Dibble received his B.A. in 1971 and Ph.D. in 1981, both from the University of Arizona. He completed his dissertation under the direction of Arthur J. Jelinek,[3] an American archaeologist trained in North American prehistoric archaeology by Leslie A. White who worked on the Paleolithic of Western Eurasia and the Mimbres culture in New Mexico.[4] During the late 1970s Dibble excavated with the French prehistorian François Bordes at Pech de l'Azé IV in Carsac-Aillac, France, developing a long-standing mentoring relationship.[5][6]

Archaeological work

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Most of Dibble's archaeological research examined Neanderthals and early modern humans in Western Eurasia, with an emphasis on the stone tools central to their material culture. He wrote his dissertation on the stone tool technology of Tabun Cave in Israel. He then concentrated on assemblages in France and the Zagros industries before launching projects in Egypt in 2001 and Morocco in 2006. He published skeptical assessments of Middle Paleolithic symbolism and promoted quantitative approaches to archaeology. He pioneered the use of GIS and total stations in excavations[7][8][9] and pursued experimental replication to clarify stone tool manufacture.[10][11] As a graduate student, Dibble produced the stone tools used in the film The Clan of the Cave Bear.[12]

Scraper reduction

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Dibble's most-cited[13] contribution to archaeological thought is known as scraper reduction, which drew on ideas first developed by Jelinek and George Carr Frison. He argued that Middle Paleolithic scrapers change form in predictable ways as they are retouched and that the numerous scraper types in the Bordian typology mark successive stages from fresh blanks to exhausted transverse scrapers. He linked the intensity of reduction, measured through the proportion of heavily resharpened tools, to the availability of raw material.

He often compared the process to sharpening a pencil. The pencil begins long with a full eraser and becomes short with a worn eraser, which is how it would appear if recovered from discarded refuse. Ample supplies encourage earlier discard, whereas scarcity leads to repeated sharpening and much smaller remnants. Dibble used that analogy to explain the forms archaeologists recover from Middle Paleolithic sites.

When he introduced the argument it challenged prevailing assumptions that typological categories represented discrete desired forms.[14] The model reframed the earlier Bordes-Binford Debate, in which Bordes attributed Mousterian facies to distinct cultures and Lewis R. Binford emphasized function. By describing excavated tools as artifacts at varied points in long use lives, Dibble encouraged archaeologists to reconsider that debate.[15][14]

Fieldwork

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Dibble directed or co-directed three major projects. He led excavations at the cave of Roc de Marsal [fr; es],[16] Campagne, Dordogne, France from 2004 to 2010. He co-directed excavations at the Grotte des Contrabandiers (Smugglers' Cave)[17] in Témara, Morocco in 2006. He also oversaw the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites[18] in the high desert surrounding Abydos, Egypt from 2000 to 2007. In 2011 he began directing excavations at La Ferassie in the Dordogne region, where six Neandertal skeletons were found in 1913 and one in 1972.

He directed or co-directed projects in France continuously from 1987 onward, beginning at Combe-Capelle Bas[19] in the Couze [fr] Valley, Dordogne, from 1987 to 1990. He and his former Ph.D. student Shannon J.P. McPherron then worked at Cagny-l'Epinette[20] in the Somme from 1991 to 1994 and at Fontéchevade[21] in Charente-Maritime from 1994 to 1998. Before returning to Roc de Marsal, Dibble and McPherron reexcavated Pech de l'Azé IV,[22] where Dibble had worked with Bordes in the 1970s, between 1999 and 2002.

A major focus of Dibble's research program was to reexcavate known sites using modern methodology. He paired that fieldwork with reanalysis of earlier lithic collections so that the old and new assemblages could be compared. The comparison highlighted what previous excavators had kept or discarded, adding new interpretive value to legacy collections.[23]

Computer applications in archaeology

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Dibble and McPherron developed several freeware computer applications for Windows to support archaeological fieldwork. Their suite included NewPlot, an archaeology-specific GIS program, EDM-CE and EDM Windows for total station data collection on Windows Mobile and Windows 95/98, and E4 for artifact analysis. Their system was adopted by excavators across North America, Europe, and Africa,[24][25][26] and they published extensively on these methods.

Personal life and death

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Dibble and his wife Lee had two sons, Chip and Flint.[27] He died on June 10, 2018, of complications of cancer.[27] Flint Dibble is also an archaeologist, specialising in the zooarchaeology of Ancient Greece.[28]

Selected publications

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Books

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  • Debenath, A. and Dibble, H.L. 1994. Handbook of Paleolithic Typology: Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Europe. Philadelphia: University Museum Press. ISBN 0-924171-23-5
  • Dibble, H., S. McPherron, and B. Roth. 1999. Virtual Dig: A Simulated Archaeological Excavation of a Middle Paleolithic Site in France. Mayfield Press, Mountain View, Calif.
  • McPherron, S. and H.L. Dibble. 2002. Using Computers in Archaeology: A Practical Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing. ISBN 0-7674-1735-6
  • Dibble, H.L., D. Williamson, and B.M. Evans. 2003. The Human Evolution Cookbook. Philadelphia: University Museum Press. ISBN 1-931707-49-9
  • Chase, P., A. Debénath, H. Dibble, and S. McPherron. 2009. The Cave of Fontéchevade: Recent Excavations and Their Paleoanthropological Implications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Dibble, H. L., Shannon J. P. McPherron, Paul Goldberg, Dennis M. Sandgathe. 2018. The Middle Paleolithic Site of Pech de l'Azé IV. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-57524-7

Articles

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  • Dibble, Harold L.; Bernard, Mary C. (1980). "A Comparative Study of Basic Edge Angle Measurement Techniques". American Antiquity. 45 (4): 857–865. doi:10.2307/280156. JSTOR 280156. S2CID 62533484.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Chase, Philip G. (1981). "A New Method for Describing and Analyzing Artifact Shape". American Antiquity. 46 (1): 178–187. doi:10.2307/279998. JSTOR 279998. S2CID 62626548.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Whittaker, John C. (1981). "New experimental evidence on the relation between percussion flaking and flake variation". Journal of Archaeological Science. 8 (3): 283–296. Bibcode:1981JArSc...8..283D. doi:10.1016/0305-4403(81)90004-2.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1983. "Variability and Change in the Middle Paleolithic of Western Europe and the Near East," in The Mousterian Legacy: Human Biocultural Change in the Upper Pleistocene, BAR International Series 164. Edited by E. Trinkaus, pp. 53–71. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.
  • Dibble, Harold L. (1984). "News and Short Contributions". Journal of Field Archaeology. 11 (4): 431–436. doi:10.2307/529322. JSTOR 529322.
  • Dibble, Harold Lewis (1984). "The Mousterian Industry from Bisitun Cave (Iran)". Paléorient. 10 (2): 23–34. doi:10.3406/paleo.1984.937.
  • Dibble, Harold L. (1 August 1985). "Raw-Material Variation in Levallois Flake Manufacture". Current Anthropology. 26 (3): 391–393. doi:10.1086/203286. JSTOR 2742740. S2CID 144339955.
  • Chase, Philip G.; Dibble, Harold L. (1987). "Middle paleolithic symbolism: A review of current evidence and interpretations". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 6 (3): 263–296. doi:10.1016/0278-4165(87)90003-1.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1987. Measurement of Artifact Provenience with an Electronic Theodolite. Journal of Field Archaeology 14(2):249-254.
  • Dibble, Harold L. (1987). "The Interpretation of Middle Paleolithic Scraper Morphology". American Antiquity. 52 (1): 109–117. doi:10.2307/281062. JSTOR 281062. S2CID 160889953.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1988. Typological Aspects of Reduction and Intensity of Utilization of Lithic Resources in the French Mousterian. In Upper Pleistocene Prehistory of Western Eurasia, edited by H. L. Dibble and A. Montet-White, pp. 181–187. University Museum Monograph 54. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1988. The Interpretation of Middle Paleolithic Scraper Reduction Patterns. In La Technique, edited by L. R. Binford and J.-P. Rigaud, pp. 49–58. L'Homme de Néandertal. vol. 4, M. Otte, general editor. Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège No. 31, Liège.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (1988). "On the Computerization of Archaeological Projects". Journal of Field Archaeology. 15 (4): 431–440. doi:10.2307/530045. JSTOR 530045.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Holloway, R. L.; Marshack, Alexander; Rosenfeld, Andree; Trompf, Garry W.; Noble, William; Davidson, Iain (1989). "On Depiction and Language". Current Anthropology. 30 (3): 330–342. doi:10.1086/203748. S2CID 143239388.
  • Rolland, Nicolas; Dibble, Harold L. (1990). "A New Synthesis of Middle Paleolithic Variability". American Antiquity. 55 (3): 480–499. doi:10.2307/281279. JSTOR 281279. S2CID 161990108.
  • Dibble, Harold L (1991). "Mousterian Assemblage Variability on an Interregional Scale". Journal of Anthropological Research. 47 (2): 239–257. doi:10.1086/jar.47.2.3630327. JSTOR 3630327. S2CID 163922797.
  • Chase, Phillip G.; Dibble, Harold L. (1992). "Scientific Archaeology and the Origins of Symbolism: A reply to Bednarik". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 2: 43–51. doi:10.1017/S0959774300000469. S2CID 163028758.
  • Dibble, H. L. and N. Rolland. 1992. On Assemblage Variability in the Middle Paleolithic of Western Europe: History, Perspectives, and a New Synthesis. In The Middle Paleolithic: Adaptation, Behavior, and Variability, edited by H. L. Dibble and P. Mellars, pp. 2–28. University Museum Monograph 78. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Bar-Yosef, Ofer (2005). "Definition and interpretation of Levallois technology". Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 2 (3): 77. doi:10.1002/evan.1360020302. S2CID 129126768.
  • Chase, Philip G.; Armand, Dominique; Debénath, André; Dibble, Harold; Jelinek, Arthur J. (1994). "Taphonomy and Zooarchaeology of a Mousterian Faunal Assemblage from la Quina, Charente, France". Journal of Field Archaeology. 21 (3): 289–305. doi:10.2307/530332. JSTOR 530332.
  • Bar-Yosef, O. and H. L. Dibble. 1995. Preface. In The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Technology, edited by H. L. Dibble and O. Bar-Yosef, pp. ix-xiii. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 23. Prehistory Press, Madison, WI.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1995. An Assessment of the Integrity of the Archaeological Assemblages. In The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France), edited by H. L. Dibble and M. Lenoir, pp. 245–258. University Museum Monograph 91. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1995. Biache-Saint-Vaast, Level IIA: A Comparison of Analytical Approaches. In The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Technology, edited by H. L. Dibble and O. Bar-Yosef, pp. 93–116. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 23. Prehistory Press, Madison, WI.
  • Dibble, H. L. 1995. Raw Material Availability, Intensity of Utilization, and Middle Paleolithic Assemblage Variability. In The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France), edited by H. L. Dibble and M. Lenoir, pp. 289–315. University Museum Monograph 91. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Dibble, Harold L. (1995). "Middle paleolithic scraper reduction: Background, clarification, and review of the evidence to date". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 2 (4): 299–368. doi:10.1007/bf02229003. S2CID 143516307.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Pelcin, Andrew (1995). "The Effect of Hammer Mass and Velocity on Flake Mass". Journal of Archaeological Science. 22 (3): 429–439. Bibcode:1995JArSc..22..429D. doi:10.1006/jasc.1995.0042.
  • Dibble, Harold L. (1997). "Platform Variability and Flake Morphology: A Comparison of Experimental and Archaeological Data and Implications for Interpreting Prehistoric Lithic Technological Strategies". Lithic Technology. 22 (2): 150–170. doi:10.1080/01977261.1997.11754540.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Chase, Philip G.; McPherron, Shannon P.; Tuffreau, Alain (1997). "Testing the Reality of a "Living Floor" with Archaeological Data". American Antiquity. 62 (4): 629–651. doi:10.2307/281882. JSTOR 281882. S2CID 161522212.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (1997). "The Making of Combe-Capelle on CD-ROM". Journal of Field Archaeology. 24 (1): 59–66. doi:10.2307/530561. JSTOR 530561.
  • Dibble, Harold L. (1998). "Comment on "Quantifying Lithic Curation: An Experimental Test of Dibble and Pelcin's Original Flake-Tool Mass Predictor", by Zachary J. Davis and John J. Shea". Journal of Archaeological Science. 25 (7): 611–613. Bibcode:1998JArSc..25..611D. doi:10.1006/jasc.1997.0254.
  • Roth, Barbara J.; Dibble, Harold L. (1998). "Production and Transport of Blanks and Tools at the French Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas". American Antiquity. 63 (1): 47–62. doi:10.2307/2694775. JSTOR 2694775. S2CID 163348661.
  • McPherron, S. P. and H. L. Dibble. 1999. Stone Tool Analysis Using Digitized Images: Examples From the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Lithic Technology 24(1):38-52.
  • McPherron, S. P. and H. L. Dibble. 2000. The Lithic Assemblages of Pech de l'Aze IV (Dordogne, France). Préhistoire Européenne 15:9-43.
  • Valladas, Hélène; Mercier, Norbert; Joron, Jean Louis; McPherron, Shannon P.; Dibble, Harold L.; Lenoir, Michel (2003). "TL dates for the Middle Paleolithic site of Combe-Capelle Bas, France". Journal of Archaeological Science. 30 (11): 1443–1450. Bibcode:2003JArSc..30.1443V. doi:10.1016/s0305-4403(03)00039-6.
  • Dibble, H.L., S.J.P. McPherron, P.G. Chase, W.R. Farrand, and A. Debénath. 2006. Taphonomy and the concept of Paleolithic cultures: The case of the Tayacian from Fontéchevade. PaleoAnthropology:1-21.
  • Dibble, H.L.; McPherron, S.J.P. (2006). "The missing Mousterian". Current Anthropology. 47 (5): 777–803. doi:10.1086/506282. S2CID 145362900.
  • Dibble, H.L., P. Goldberg, S.J.P. McPherron, A. Turq, and D. Sandgathe. 2006. "Humans, climate and fire at the Mousterian site of Roc de Marsal, France," in Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. Philadelphia, PA: Geological Society of America.
  • Olszewski, D.I.; Dibble, H.L.; Schurmans, U.A.; McPherron, S.J.P.; Smith, J.R. (2005). "High desert Paleolithic survey at Abydos, Egypt". Journal of Field Archaeology. 30 (3): 283–303. doi:10.1179/009346905791072233. S2CID 140144509.
  • McPherron, S.J.P.; Dibble, H.L.; Goldberg, P. (2005). "Z". Geoarchaeology. 20 (3): 243–262. doi:10.1002/gea.20048. S2CID 241646842.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Schurmans, Utsav A.; Iovita, Radu P.; McLaughlin, Michael V. (2005). "The Measurement and Interpretation of Cortex in Lithic Assemblages". American Antiquity. 70 (3): 545–560. doi:10.2307/40035313. JSTOR 40035313. S2CID 163507627.
  • Dibble, Harold L.; Raczek, Teresa P.; McPherron, Shannon P. (2005). "Excavator Bias at the Site of Pech de l'Azé IV, France". Journal of Field Archaeology. 30 (3): 317–328. doi:10.1179/009346905791072242. S2CID 129452737.
  • McPherron, S.J.P.; Dibble, H.L. (2002). "Using computers in adverse field conditions: Tales from the Egyptian desert" (PDF). The SAA Archaeological Record. 3: 28–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  • Dibble, H.L. 1991. "Local Raw Material Exploitation and its Effects on Lower and Middle Paleolithic Assemblage Variability", in Raw Material Economies among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, University of Kansas Publications in Anthropology. Edited by A. Montet-White and S. Holen, pp. 33–47. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas.

References

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  1. ^ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  2. ^ "Logan Funeral Home obituary". LoganFuneralHomes.com. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  3. ^ "UA Department of Anthropology - Faculty, Staff, and Students". Archived from the original on 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  4. ^ "UA Department of Anthropology - Tradition of Excellence". Archived from the original on 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  5. ^ Bahrami, Beebe (1 March 2017). "Café Neandertal: Excavating Our Past in One of Europe's Most Ancient Places". EuropeNow Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Harold L. Dibble, Curator, European Archaeology Section". Expedition Magazine, Penn Museum. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  7. ^ Dibble, Harold L. (1987). "Measurement of Artifact Provenience with an Electronic Theodolite". Journal of Field Archaeology. 14 (2): 249–254.
  8. ^ Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (1988). "On the Computerization of Archaeological Projects". Journal of Field Archaeology. 15 (4): 431–440.
  9. ^ McPherron, Shannon J. P.; Dibble, Harold L. (2005). "Artifact Orientations from Total Station Proveniences" (PDF). CAA Proceedings. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  10. ^ Dibble, Harold L.; Whittaker, John C. (1981). "New experimental evidence on the relation between percussion flaking and flake variation". Journal of Archaeological Science. 8 (3): 283–296. doi:10.1016/0305-4403(81)90004-2.
  11. ^ Dibble, Harold L.; Pelcin, Andrew (1995). "The Effect of Hammer Mass and Velocity on Flake Mass". Journal of Archaeological Science. 22 (3): 429–439. doi:10.1006/jasc.1995.0042.
  12. ^ Dibble 🍖 🏺 📖, Flint (2020-05-28). "Fun story: my dad made the stone tools used in Clan of the Cave Bear". @FlintDibble. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  13. ^ "Harold Dibble - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  14. ^ a b Dibble, Harold L. (1995). "Middle Paleolithic Scraper Reduction: Background, Clarification, and Review of the Evidence to Date". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 2 (4): 299–368. doi:10.1007/BF02229003.
  15. ^ Rolland, Nicolas; Dibble, Harold L. (1990). "A New Synthesis of Middle Paleolithic Variability". American Antiquity. 55 (3): 480–499. doi:10.2307/281279. JSTOR 281279.
  16. ^ Roc de Marsal Archived 2018-09-08 at the Wayback Machine on oldstoneage.com.
  17. ^ Smugglers' Cave - La Grotte des Contrebandiers - Morocco[permanent dead link], on oldstoneage.com.
  18. ^ Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites Archived 2019-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, on oldstoneage.com.
  19. ^ The Combe-Capelle Bas Home Page[permanent dead link], on oldstoneage.com.
  20. ^ Cagny-l'Epinette Archived 2019-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, on oldstoneage.com.
  21. ^ [1] Archived 2007-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, on oldstoneage.com.
  22. ^ Pech de l'Azé IV Archived 2007-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, on oldstoneage.com.
  23. ^ Dibble, Harold L.; Raczek, Teresa P.; McPherron, Shannon P. (2005). "Excavator Bias at the Site of Pech de l'Azé IV, France". Journal of Field Archaeology. 30 (3): 317–328. doi:10.1179/009346905791072242. S2CID 129452737.
  24. ^ Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (1988). "On the Computerization of Archaeological Projects". Journal of Field Archaeology. 15 (4): 431–440. doi:10.2307/530045.
  25. ^ Dibble, Harold L.; McPherron, Shannon P. (1997). "The Making of Combe-Capelle on CD-ROM". Journal of Field Archaeology. 24 (1): 59–66. doi:10.2307/530561.
  26. ^ McPherron, S. J. P.; Dibble, H. L. (2002). "Using computers in adverse field conditions: Tales from the Egyptian desert" (PDF). The SAA Archaeological Record. 3: 28–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  27. ^ a b "The Department regrets to announce the recent passing of Harold Dibble, Francis E. Johnston Term Professor of Anthropology, on June 10, 2018". Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  28. ^ History, Dr Flint DibbleTeacher in Archaeology School of; Archaeology. "Dr Flint Dibble - People". Cardiff University. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
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