Chellean, a. Archæol.
(ˈʃɛliːən)
[ad. F. Chelléen (1881, see below), f. the place-name Chelles, in the department of Seine-et-Marne, France: see -an.]
Of or belonging to the earliest palæolithic period of Europe; also called Abbevillian (see quot. 1964). Also absol.
The French adj. chelléen was used in 1880 by M. Ameghino, a pupil of de Mortillet, in Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop. ser. 3 III. 638, but not as a specific subdivision of the palæolithic period.
| [1881 G. & A. de Mortillet Musée Préhist. vi, Le chelléen, la plus ancienne de ces époques, tire son nom de la station de Chelles... Autrefois cette époque était appelée acheuléenne... Mais j'ai renoncé à ce nom parce qu'à Saint-Acheul le gisement n'est pas pur.] 1894 Dawson Geol. & Hist. v. 70 Mortillet's Chellean men. 1921 [see Acheulian a.]. 1927 Peake & Fleure Apes & Men 56 The fashioning of the early Palaeolithic, Chellean, flints betokens a high degree of purposeful skill and artistry. 1932 Antiquity VI. 186 The Chellean can be correlated with the next interglacial stage. 1934 [see Abbevillian a.]. 1964 Encycl. Brit. V. 371 As the implements from Chelles, which gave the name to the industry, are now grouped with the Acheulean, the term Chellean, in the sense of earliest hand-ax culture, has been replaced by Abbevillian. |