“…Blades characterize Upper Paleolithic and Later Stone Age assemblages after 50 thousand years ago (ka), but are also a common component in many Middle Palaeolithic and Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages w300e50 ka (e.g. Bar-Yosef and Kuhn, 1999;Delagnes and Meignen, 2006;Mellars, 1973;White, 1982; for the MSA see Morgan and Renne, 2008;Thompson et al, 2010;Wurz, 2000Wurz, , 2002Soriano et al, 2007;Van Peer, 1992;Villa et al, 2010). Strong evidence for blade production securely dated to the earlier part of the Middle Pleistocene (>350 ka) is currently emerging in the Levant, East Africa, and South Africa.…”