Middle Paleolithic

Elena Rossoni-Notter, Olivier Notter, Suzanne Simone, Patrick Simon

Balzi  Rossi  (Ventimiglia,  Imperia):  researches  of  the  Museum  of  Prehistoric    Anthropology  of  Monaco  on  the  technical  behaviour  of  the  Acheulean  and    Mousterian collections from Grotta del Principe. New insights and future programs.

The chrono-cultural sequence of Cueva Bajondillo consists of 3 different phases: musterien, Upper Palaeolithic (aurignacian, gravettian and solutrean levels) and Neolithic. This paper deals with two aspects. First, the problem of the tufa of Torremolinos, which had given way to di-ffi culties in the interpretation of the stratigraphic series, is considered. The availability of new data allows us to solve these problems and to suggest a chronology (end of OIS 6 and OIS 5) for the lithoquimic genesis of the area where the Cueva is located. Second, the chronological and paleoenvironmental frame of the last stages of the mouterian technocomplexes and the fi rst Upper Palaeolithic industries in this site are analyzed and placed within the context of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula.

Use-wear and residue analyses have come to play a fundamental role in archaeological enquiries into the cultural biographies of past artefacts. Deployed either separately or in conjunction with one another, they have been turned by three generations of researchers into core scientific methods for understanding the behavioural and social interactions of prehistoric communities. In the last few years, a concerted effort has been made to improve and standardise research procedures in the two disciplines through explicit replication strategies, rigorous analytical and experimental protocols, and blind testing. This has ensured a degree of disciplinary maturity that, when successfully contextualised, can be harnessed to reach some of the highest dangling fruits of the interpretative tree and develop new explanatory models for past human behaviour. The session invites specialists in world prehistory to present their inter-and cross-disciplinary research into primate and human archaeology from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Metal Ages. It aims to explore socially contextualised problems, in which use-wear and residue analysis (on any materials and artefacts) are deployed as part of a wider range of integrated research approaches. The papers will discuss broad questions concerning the human past including the making of the mind in both primate and human evolution, technological changes and technological choices, interaction between and within communities of practice, skill, and acculturation (or lack thereof) following technology transfer. A parallel poster session will host contributions with narrower and more method-oriented foci.

Estudo estatístico de um conjunto de espólio lítico da jazida de Santo Antão do Tojal (Loures, Lisboa), um acampamento temporário de caçadores-recolectores que terá sido utilizado mais intensamente no Paleolítico médio.

Constatando o predomínio de lascas e de utensílios de tipologia mustierense, o autor defende que a associação desses materiais arqueológicos com vestígios faunísticos justifica o futuro desenvolvimento de projecto de investigação mais aprofundado.

Op 17 november 2016 overleed Dick C. Brinkhuizen (1946-2016), één van de ontdekkers van het belangrijke Neanderthaler kampement in de omgeving van Assen. In de loop der jaren heeft Dick op de vindplaats bijna 40 midden-paleolithische artefacten gevonden, waaronder maar liefst vijf vuistbijlen: een absoluut record! In dit artikel, dat we opdragen aan deze fijne collega en vriend bespreken we ‘zijn’ vuistbijlen (zie ook het kader, met Afb. 1). Elke vuistbijl is weer anders en over elk stuk is een verhaal te vertellen.

RESUMEN: Se estudian los productos Levallois -soportes y núcleos-de los niveles II y III del Abrigo de la Quebrada. La atención se centra en establecer sus características, grado de transformación por el retoque y evaluación de las macro-y microhuellas de uso asociadas. Así mismo se establece la importancia de la producción Levallois de pequeño tamaño. Desechadas las explicaciones que recurren a la reducción de soportes por reavivado intenso, la exportación de los productos del lascado de mayor tamaño o la necesidad de aprovechar la materia prima como consecuencia de su escasez, se valoran otras alternativas para explicar el tamaño de la industria, como la voluntariedad de su producción en una estrategia de obtención de soportes aptos para determinadas tareas y la adecuación del sistema de talla en relación con la naturaleza de las ocupaciones.

Том содержит публикацию свода памятников среднего палеолита Донбасса. Рассчитан на специалистов в области первобытной археологии и истории, студентов и преподавателей ВУЗов, краеведов.

Утвержден к печати Ученым советом Института археологии НАН Украины.
Рекомендован к печати Ученым советом Донецкого областного краеведческого музея.

Desde el punto de vista de la tecnología el inicio del Paleolítico medio se caracterizó por la aparición del Modo técnico 3. La aparición de este Modo técnico tuvo lugar en Europa hace alrededor de 300 ka. El paso del Modo 2 al Modo 3 fue un proceso gradual de cambio tecnológico, de manera que la aparición del Modo 3 no implicó la desaparición del Modo 2. Durante el Pleistoceno medio final coexistieron en Europa grupos que practicaban un Modo 3 inicial y grupos que continuaban utilizando una tecnología de Modo 2. El registro arqueológico de los niveles superiores del yacimiento de Gran Dolina puede contribuir a conocer mejor el proceso de transición entre estos dos Modos técnicos. En otros yacimientos europeos, como Orgnac 3 y La Micoque 3, se observa un fenómeno similar. Para algunos investigadores las semejanzas entre el Modo 2 y el Modo 3 a nivel conceptual son más signficativas que las diferencias, y por lo tanto piensan que no es conveniente marcar límites entre estos dos Modos técnicos. En realidad, el Modo 3 no implicó la aparición de grandes innovaciones técnicas, sino que se caracterizó por la mayor utilización de algunos métodos de talla ya identificados en conjuntos del Modo 2. En este sentido, destaca la progresiva generalización de métodos de producción de Bases Positivas con predeterminación de su morfología final. También hay una tendencia hacia una mayor estandarización en el tamaño y la morfología de los artefactos. La novedad tecnológica más significativa a nivel conceptual fue la aparición de los instrumentos compuestos (artefactos enmangados). No obstante, la tecnología lítica de Modo 3 es solamente un aspecto del Paleolítico medio. La tímida aparición de una serie de elementos como el control del fuego, la utilización de un lenguaje articulado, las manifestaciones simbólicas relacionadas con la muerte, señalan un incremento de la complejidad en el comportamiento humano hace entre 400 y 300 ka. En ese momento se gestó el origen el Paleolítico medio. Uno de esos elementos fue el cambio tecnológico que se manifiestó en la transición del Modo 2 al Modo 3. Por lo tanto, este cambio tecnológico es un aspecto que forma parte de un proceso global de creciente complejidad en el comportamiento humano.

This study presents and discusses a methodology to study population contact scenarios among Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. It applies this methodology to the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Middle Danube region by testing three models for the emergence of the transitional technocomplexes: local evolution, diffusion and stimulus diffusion. A detailed attribute analysis suggests that the local evolution model does not adequately explain the patterns in the archaeological record at the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition, while the diffusion model that implies direct contact is best supported by the data presented.

The retouching bone tools are characteristic items from european middle Paleolithic assemblages, so are they related with stone knapping. They are present in many sites from France, central-east Europe, and also the Iberian Peninsula. These tools have a wide chronological spawn, whose examples cover from the oldest european middle Palaeolithic, until the final stages of this period (c. 40.000 BP). The bone tools came from Middle Paleolithic sites, but also are present in recent prehistory ambients. An experimental approach is taken, that includes all the stages of bone processing: obtaining of the bone blanks (from fresh bones and/or old bones), using them, and discarding the tools. We got the archaeological reference of the retouching tools obtained in Axlor site’s modern excavations. This Mousterian site has levels with Quina-type side-scrappers and knapping techniques, and also other levels with really different kinds of stone tools. The site has provided an extensive assemblage of retouching bone tools. This paper describes the main lines of experimental program, and the results of the first phase, the one about  blank obtaining.

The Middle and Upper Palaeolithic artifacts of the Zagros Mountains are relatively better understood than those in other parts of the Iranian Plateau. However, settlement systems, land use and Palaeolithic population dynamics for this region have received less attention. Here we present research on the study of human behavior that contributes to a better understanding of the early human colonization of Eurasia. Specifically, we focus on the Kermanshah region of the west-central Zagros to evaluate hominin dispersal and adaptation by investigating hominin settlement patterns and behavioral responses to the new and diverse environments and topography of this part of the Zagros region. Our survey in Kermanshah documented over 260 new Palaeolithic localities, enabled us to draw Middle and Upper Palaeolithic site distribution patterns and population dynamics which reveal that this part of the Zagros was intensively populated in both the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This research demonstrates that the Zagros in general, and the Kermanshah area in particular, were by no means impassable but include intermountain plains connected to each other by valleys associated with permanent water and raw material sources. Middle Palaeolithic settlements are most abundant in areas with high topo-graphic contrast that contain high mountains, flat plains, and diverse resources. Eventually, the Zagros was one of a handful of important interglacial refugia in southwestern Asia for hominins during the Upper Pleistocene and may have served as a core area from which colonizations and recolonizations of Eurasia occurred during multiple dispersals.

A Bükk-vidék középtáj része. A kistáj kiemelt karsztos fennsík, tszf-i magassága 425-959 m között változik, DNy-ról ÉK felé csökken. A Garadna-völgy két részre osztja (Dövényi Zoltán 2010. 736). Heves megye területére eső barlangok Eger, Felsőtárkány, Szilvásvárad és Nagyvisnyó térségében találhatók (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Régészeti Adatbázis).

Late 2006 a survey project was initiated by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology and the Drents Museum. The project, which is currently directed by the Stone Foundation, was aimed at discovering Middle Palaeolithic surface scatters on the glacial soils of the Drenthe-Frisian till plateau in the northern part of the Netherlands. These surveys are undertaken mostly by amateur-archaeologists in close cooperation with professional archaeologists and occasionally students and other volunteers. During one of these surveys a Middle Palaeolithic artefact scatter was discovered, the first Neanderthal campsite from the region, and one of the most northern Neanderthal-sites in NW-Europe. Hitherto only isolated finds and a few very small scatters were known. Over the years hundreds of Middle Palaeolithic artefacts were discovered during these extensive and systematic surveys, not only from the site mentioned above but from other locations along the same stream valley as well. During the presentation the project as well as the results will be discussed, in addition to problems regarding lithic recognition in relation to post-depositional surface modifications, the registration procedures, geological research, contacts with farmers, the press, popular-scientific output etc.

C’erano elefanti in Italia prima dell'arrivo di Pirro? E 'difficile immaginare che due o trecentomila anni fa la campagna romana era attraversato da branchi di elefanti, ma il territorio di Roma è tra i più ricchi al mondo per l’enorme quantità di siti con resti fossili databili tra il Pliocene e il Pleisocene. I primi ritrovamenti risalgono alla metà del 500 e continuano fino alla urbanizzazione moderna, che ha sepolto sotto il cemento, un grande quantità di siti in cui erano stati scoperti resti fossili
La campagna romana costituiva, nel passato, un ambiente particolarmente favorevole, sia per gli esseri umani e per gli altri mammiferi. Tra i numerosi animali che hanno accompagnato la presenza dell'uomo in queste terre, gli elefanti costituiscono una realtà curiosa, quasi incredibile da immaginare oggi nei territori altamente antropizzati della capitale italiana.
I protagonisti di questo libro sono gli elefanti e le loro relazioni con l'ambiente e gli esseri umani nel corso del tempo. Gli argomenti trattati comprendono, problematiche geologiche climatiche e ambientali e inoltre molti temi di carattere paleontologico, antropologico ed evolutivo.
Per la prima volta sono pubblicati tutti i dati relativi alle centinaia di resti fossili di elefanti rinvenuti nel tempo nel territorio di Roma. Inoltre sono presentati siti e musei in cui è possibile acquisire informazioni più dettagliate.
Infine sono presi in considerazione  i problemi legati al ruolo di questo grande mammifero nell'immaginario collettivo, dalla sua rappresentazione nell'arte preistorica fino alla sua influenza, reale e simbolica, nella storia antica e la sua iconografia in epoca classica.

There were elephants in Italy before the arrival of Pyrrhus? It is difficult to imagine that two or three hundred thousand years ago the Roman Campagna was crossed by herds of elephants, however the Rome territory is among the richest in the world for prehistoric fossil evidences connected with the oldest prehistory. The first findings date back to the mid-500 and continue until the modern urbanization which has buried under concrete, a lot of sites where the fossils were discovered
The Roman Campagna constituted, in the past, a particularly favorable environment, both for humans and for other mammals. Among the numerous animals that have gone together with the man presence in these lands, the elephants are a curious reality, almost incredible to imagine today in the highly anthropized quarters of Italian capital.
The leading actors of this book are elephants and their relationships with the environment and humans over time. The discussed topics include environmental, geological and climatic issues and moreover paleontological, anthropological, and evolutive questions.
For the first time are published all the data related to the hundreds of fossil remains of elephants in the territory of Rome. Furthermore the museum-areas, where you can acquire more detailed information are described.
Finally, problems linked to the role of this large mammal in the collective imagination, from its representation in prehistoric art up to his influence, real and symbolic, in ancient history and its iconography in classical times, are focused.
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Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.

The replacement hypothesis proposes that “modern humans” evolved only in sub-Saharan Africa, through a speciation event rendering them unable to breed with other hominins. They then spread throughout Africa, then to Asia, Australia and finally to Europe, replacing all other humans by exterminating or outcompeting them. In this critical analysis of the replacement hypothesis it is shown that it began as a hoax, later reinforced by false paleoanthropological claims and a series of flawed genetic propositions, yet it became almost universally accepted during the 1990s and has since dominated the discipline. The numerous shortcomings of the hypothesis are appraised from genetic, anthropological, and archaeological perspectives and it is refuted. The resulting hiatus in the history of the human genus is then filled with an outline of a comprehensive alternative theory presented recently, which not only explains the origins of “modern humans” but also numerous so far unexplained aspects of being human.

New excavations at Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, began in 2007 and continued through 2010. This site, originally excavated by Roche in the 1950s, contained deposits with Aterian, Iberomaurusian, and Neolithic materials, although the latter were completely removed during Roche's excavations. This report presents an overview of the recent excavations, the stratigraphic sequence of the site, absolute dates based on OSL, TL, and ESR, and detailed data on the lithic (Iberomaurusian, Aterian, and Mousterian) and faunal assemblages, the latter of which includes large mammals, microvertebrates, and marine shells.

Палеолитические люди изначально были охотниками. Возникнув в Африке более 2,5 млн лет тому назад, они постепенно на протяжении сотен тысячелетий осваивали обширные пространства Евразии, при этом расселялись преимущественно в тех местах и районах, где было достаточное количество животных, на которых они охотились. Но это очень часто были разные природные зоны (горы, предгорья, равнины) со своими особыми климатическими и экологическими условиями, к которым люди должны были максимально приспосабливаться, чтобы выжить. Используя данные им природой биологические и социальные возможности, они, в соответствии с конкретными условиями жизни (например, той или иной спецификой рельефа обитаемой территории, видовым составом промысловых животных, богатством или, напротив, дефицитом подходящего каменного сырья для орудий и т. д.), совершенствовали свою технику и технологии производственной, охотничьей и бытовой деятельности и тем самым создавали адекватные природному окружению самобытные культуры. Некоторые регионы были особенно благоприятными для жизни палеолитических людей и развития их культуры в течение длительного времени и именно в них в первую очередь изучение палеолита представляется особенно интересным и важным. Одним из таких регионов, несомненно, был Северо-Западный Кавказ, находящийся на стыке Кавказских гор и степных районов Русской равнины.

"Where, O death, is your victory?"
Statistical reconstruction of earliest human beliefs related to death. It is not clear if modern man believed in an afterlife before the Out of Africa. This paper will show that a careful statistical analysis of a set of mythological motifs could usefully support the results of archaeology, by showing which were the most probable beliefs of the first Homo Sapiens.

Il est difficile de savoir si les hommes modernes croyaient en une vie après la mort avant la sortie d'Afrique. Il sera ici montré qu'une analyse statistique des mythes peut utilement seconder les résultats de l'archéologie, en montrant qu'elles étaient les croyances les plus probables des premiers Homo Sapiens.

I have been writing about Paleolithic basket weaving technology for 2 years now. In this article, I attempt to show that there was an intermediate period in the development of the technology when an understanding of structure and constructions based on right angle or opposing fibers occurred. This was the crucial breakthrough that eventually would give humans the power to make an almost unlimited number of items both large and small, such as large boats and large houses made out of reeds. It is my contention that it was this key technology that led to the rise of civilization. In previous articles, I have shown that basket weaving technology could have begun in a rudimentary form 2 million years ago with the creation of random weave basketry. About 6 thousand years ago this culminated in the rise of the Sumerian and the Egyptian civilizations. But somewhere in-between the power of right angle and opposing fiber structure was discovered which then opened the door to this versatile technology. The Lower Paleolithic site at Terra Amata in Nice France provides ample evidence that suggests this transition from random weave basket technology to modern regular basket weaving had occurred by 300 ka with hominins such as Homo erectus. In this article, I list that evidence and argue that it suggests an advanced form of basket weaving had already taken place.

This paper begins by exploring the role of fermented and deliberately rotted (putrefied) meat, fish, and fat in the diet of modern hunters and gatherers throughout the arctic and subarctic. These practices partially 'pre-digest' the high protein and fat content typical of northern forager diets without the need for cooking, and hence without the need for fire or scarce fuel. Because of the peculiar properties of many bacteria, including various lactic acid bacteria (LAB) which rapidly colonize decomposing meat and fish, these foods can be preserved free of pathogens for weeks or even months and remain safe to eat. In addition, aerobic bacteria in the early stages of putrefaction deplete the supply of oxygen in the tissues, creating an anaerobic environment that retards the production of potentially toxic byproducts of lipid autoxidation (rancidity). Moreover, LAB produce B-vitamins, and the anaerobic environment favors the preservation of vitamin C, a critical but scarce micronutrient in heavily meat-based northern diets. If such foods are cooked, vitamin C may be depleted or lost entirely, increasing the threat of scurvy. Psychological studies indicate that the widespread revulsion shown by many Euroamericans to the sight and smell of putrefied meat is not a universal hard-wired response, but a culturally learned reaction that does not emerge in young children until the age of about five or later, too late to protect the infant from pathogens during the highly vulnerable immediate-post-weaning period. Ethnohistoric and ethnographic evidence clearly show that putrefied meat and fish were not used solely as starvation foods, but served instead as ubiquitous, desirable, and nutritionally important components of forager diets throughout these northern environments. In the second part of the paper, I extend these arguments to suggest that putrefied meat, fish, and fat are likely to have been equally important to the lifeways and adaptations of Eurasian Paleolithic hominins inhabiting analogous environments. If such food practices were in fact widespread during the mid-to late Pleistocene, they may help account for aspects of the archaeological record that are presently difficult to comprehend, such as the 'on again, off again' evidence for fire use (and hence cooking) during the Eurasian Middle Paleolithic. Putrefaction also may alter the isotopic composition of the diet. As meat and fish decompose, a variety of volatile compounds are produced, including ammonia. Loss of NH 3 , along with lesser amounts of two other nitrogenous gases—cadaverine and putrescine—would very likely leave rotted meat and fish enriched in 15 N by comparison to the isotopic composition of these foods in their fresh state. Such enrichment may have contributed to the elevated values seen in many Neanderthals, values that are widely taken as prima facie evidence of Neanderthal's status as a 'top predator.' Finally, if Paleolithic foragers relied upon putrefaction to prepare and store meat, archaeologists may have to rethink the way they interpret a number of widely used taphonomic signatures, including the number and distribution of cutmarks, the extent of carnivore damage, the incidence of burning on both animal bones and stone tools, and the frequency and scale of hearths, ash lenses, and other features of combustion. " When we fix salmon head we put it in bucket in ground and we take it out and eat it. We leave it in ten days

We present a concise overview of Middle Palaeolithic research in the Netherlands. The area, which is situated along the northwestern edge of the known Neanderthal world, is very divers in terms of geological development. As a result of glacial cycles, hominin occupation can be characterised as intermittent and probably sparse. Well-preserved sites are primarily known from the loess region in the southern part of the province of Limburg and to a certain extent from the Roer Valley Graben. Further to the north artefacts do occur ‘geological in situ’, i.e. in the ice-pushed ridges in the central Netherlands and on the DrentheeFrisian till plateau in the northernmost part of the country, but primary archaeological in situ situations have yet to be discovered. The oldest traces of occupation date to MIS 9 or MIS 7 (Belv
edere quarry and the ‘Rhenen Industry’), the youngest (stray finds) can be attributed to the Blattspitzengruppen and the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (MIS 3). The (Upper) Acheulian, several Mousterian variants and the Keilmessergruppen are also attested. This paper serves as a starting point for future research.

von Hermann Schaaflhausen 1883 auf dem Martinsberg in Andernach noch in das 19. Jh. zurückreichen, konnte eine intensive Forschung zum Paläolithikum eßt fast 100 Jahre später mit der Entdeckung des Fundplatzes Neuwied-Gönnersdorf und der Wiederaufnahme der Grabungen auf dem Martinsberg in eine neue entscheidende Phase der Erforschung des füihen Menschen und seiner Siedlungsstellen an Rhein und Mosel treten Weitere Fundplätze wie Urbar, Ariendorf, Mülheim-Kärlich, Kettig, Niederbieber, Miesenheim, Plaidter Hummerjch und viele andere kamen in kürzester Zeit httlz\ und zeigen außergewöhnlich gut erhaltene Bef'unde. Grund hierfilr ist die geologische Situation der Mittehheinischen Senke. Durch die Naturkatastrophe der Gasexplosion des Laacher See Ausbruches wurde die gesamte Landschaft durch vulkanische Aschen bis zu l2 m Mächtigkeit überdeokt. Daher wurden die vorangegangenen Siedlungsspuren der Kultuntufe der Jäger und Sammler nahezu ,,versiegelt und konserviert". Erst jm Zuge des industriellen Bimsabbaues wurden die noch weitestgehend im ungestörten Zusammenhang angetroffenen Befunde aufgedeckt. Wegen dieser günstigen Voraussetzungen war es für das Amt Koblenz der archäologischen Denkmalpflege nur sinnvoll, in Zusammenarbeit zunächst mit dem Forschungsbereich Altstejnzeit des Institutes für Ur-und Frühgeschichte der Universität Köln einen Schwerpunkt in der Paläolithikumsforschung in der Region Mittehhein zu bilden und mit namhaften Mitteln der Archäologischen Denkmalpflege Koblenz, später ergänzt durch Gelder der Stiftungen von Fritz Thyssen, Gerda Henkel und Volkswagen, sowie durch Spenden von Privatpersonen und sonstigen Vereinigungen und lnstitutionen, wurde die wissenschaftlichen Grr.rndlagen erarbeitet und die Voraussetzungen geschaffen, fur einen überegionalen Antrag zu einem interdisziplinären Schwerpunktprogramm bei der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, der ab 1988 zu dem Langzeitprogramm der DFG ,,Quartär am Mittelrhein" fihten. Darin arbeiteten außer Archäolo gen, Geologen und Vulkanologen auch Paläobotaniker und Paläontologen zusammen. Entsprechende wissenschaftliche Publikationen wurden bereits vorgelegt oder sind noch in Arbeit und haben so das Mittelrheingebiet auch fiir die ältere Menschheitsgeschichte als eine dicht besiedelte Landschaft intemational bekannt gemacht. Gestüta und geördefl wurde das Projekt besonders durch die Übemahme als ,,Forschungsbereich Ahsteinzeit" in das Römjsch-Germanische Zentralmuseum Mainz, aus dem zusätzlich Planstellen und finanzielle Impulse der Altsteinzeit zugeführt wurden. Hier gilt Herm Dr' K Weidemann unser l)ank' Durch die Einrichtung der,,Maximilian zu Wied-Stiftung" unter Beteiligung von Stadt und Kreis Neuwied, sowie d€s ,,Fördervereins Altsteinzeit e.V" in Verbindung mit der Schenkung des ,, Prinzessinnenhauses" des Schlosses Monrepos durch Friedrich Wilhelm -Fitst zu Wied wuchs ein organisatorischer Rahmen, indem sowohl unsere gemeinsame Forschung vorankam und noch dazu ein neues Museum als ,,Schaufenster" unserer archäologischen Arbeit en! stand, was sich nach zwischenzeitlicher grundlegender Neukonzipierung und -gestaltung,sowie der neuen Direktorin Frau Prof. Dr Gaudzinski als Nachfolgerin für Prol Bosinski nach wie vor eines regen Zuspruchs edreut. So gilt unser herzlicher Dant insbesondere der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, der Gerda Henkel-, der Fritz Thyssen-und der Volkswagenstiftung und r'tcht ztlelzt dem Land Rheinland-Pfalz für die namhaften Finanzierungen unserer Forschungsmaßnahmen. Außerdem sei allen Dienststellen, Firmen, Privatpersonen und Institutionen, die unsere Arbeitwo auch immer unterstützten, sehr herzlich gedankt. Besonderer Dank gilt aber dem Autor dieser Broschüre, Privatdozent Dr. Michael Baales, der es verstanden hat, die umfangreichen neuen, gerade während der letzten Jahre gewonnenen wissenschaftlichen Erkennl nisse zusammenzufassen und für einen interessierten Leserkeis wiederzugeben. So ist eben mit diesem Buch zur ,,Archäologie des Eiszeitalters" zu den entscheidenden Forschungen in dieser Region der,,große Wurf'gelungen. Darüber hinaus gilt aber allen, die in dem Projekt tätig waren, den Kollegen, Archäologen-und Grabungsteams fijr ihre in unserem Arbeitsgebiet geleisteten Forschungen, die sie in guter Zusammenarbeit und im Auftrag des Amtes Koblenz der archäologischen Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz erfolgreich durchgeführt haben, unser herzlicher Dank. Stellvertretend flt alle, die uns in dieser Form bei unserer archäologischen Arbeit halfen, sei diese Broschüre Herm Prof. Dr. Bosinski, dem langjährigen Lehrstuhlinhaber des Instituts für Urund Frühgeschichte der Universität Köln und der bis zum Eintdtt in den Ruhestand 2002 den ,,Foßchungsbereich Altsteinzeit" und das ,,Museum flir die Archäologie des Eiszeitalte$" in Neuwied-Moffepos leitete, mit Danl und Anerkennung gewidtnet. Der in dieser Broschüre geschilderte sehr weite Blick zurück in die Menschheitsgeschichte unserer Region, lässt die extrem unterschiedlichen Lebensbedingungen und Veränderungen von Klima und Landschaft der Region Mittelrhein erkennen und schildert die Überlebensstmtegien des Menschen über einen Zeitraum von vielen Jabrhunderttausenden. So soll auch dieses Buch in der allgemeinen Diskussion im Zusammenhang mit globalen Klimaveränderungen unserer Zeit mit dieser zusammenfassenden Schilderung einen aktuellen Beiüag leisten. So wünschen wir dieser Broschüre viele interessierte Leser und eine weite Verbreitung.

Focal topics for volumes in the series will include systematic paleontology of all vertebrates (from agnathans to humans), phylogeny reconstruction, functional morphology, Paleolithic archaeology, taphonomy, geochronology, historical biogeography, and biostratigraphy. Other fields (e.g., paleoclimatology, paleoecology, ancient DNA, total organismal community structure) may be considered if the volume theme emphasizes paleobiology (or archaeology). Fields such as modeling of physical processes, genetic methodology, nonvertebrates or neontology are out of our scope.

In deze rapportage worden de resultaten besproken van een inventarisatie van 24 privécollecties met in totaal 1203 (vuur)stenen artefacten waarvan het merendeel afkomstig is uit de megasuppletie (2011) van de Zandmotor voor de kust bij Ter Heijde. De artefacten zijn afkomstig uit offshore wingebied Q16F,H. Op basis van typologische en technologische kenmerken van de artefacten, deels in combinatie met de post-depositionele oppervlakteveranderingen en grondstofgebruik, kon de assemblage in een aantal perioden worden onderverdeeld. De oudste artefacten rekenen we tot de ‘Rhenen Industrie’ en behoren tot het Acheuléen, met een geschatte ouderdom tussen ca. 250.000 en 170.000 jaar (MIS 7-vroeg MIS 6), d.w.z. voor de landijsbedekking van het Saalien. De artefacten uit deze periode hebben één of meer fasen van verspoeling ondergaan. Een aanzienlijk deel van de artefacten schrijven we toe aan het latere Midden-Paleolithicum met een ruime datering in de eerste helft of het middendeel van de laatste ijstijd (MIS 5d-3: ca. 115.000-40.000 jaar geleden). Een aantal laat-middenpaleolithische werktuigen vertoont affiniteit met specifieke fasen van het Moustérien Complex, zoals het Moustérien de tradition acheuléenne (MTA) en het Moustérien type Quina. Een klein aantal artefacten hoort mogelijk thuis in het vroege Jong-Paleolithicum (MIS 3 en 2); het Laat- Aurignacien en het Vroeg-Gravettien komen in aanmerking. Slechts één artefact hoort waarschijnlijk thuis in de laatpaleolithische Federmesser-traditie. Artefacten uit het Vroeg- en/of Midden-Mesolithicum zijn op de Zandmotor (afkomstig uit wingebied Q16F,H) niet uitgesproken aanwezig, wel iets verder zuidelijk langs het Noordzeestrand, richting Hoek van Holland. De meeste en tegelijk de jongste prehistorische artefacten schrijven we toe aan het Laat-Mesolithicum (Vroeg-Atlanticum), zo rond 6400/6300 v.Chr. Opvallend zijn enkele tientallen bijlen en afslagen die met de productie hiervan samenhangen. Samen met enkele trapezia vormen de bijlen een karakteristiek element van het Noord-Nederlandse Laat-Mesolithicum (voorheen samengevat onder de noemer ‘De Leien-Wartena Complex’).

A comprehensive review of evidence of very early palaeoart covering all continents reveals significant misconceptions in the dominant models of ‘art’ origins. The traditional preoccupation with predominantly zoomorphic, figurative traditions of south-western Europe is examined, as well as the closely related concept of an endemic cave art of the Upper Palaeolithic period. The existence of much earlier non-utilitarian traditions is demonstrated, including bead making and pigment use in the Lower Palaeolithic, and the widespread uniformity of Middle Palaeolithic palaeoart traditions is noted. The review of this global Pleistocene evidence suggests that the oldest and symbolically most sophisticated palaeoart is that of Asia rather than Europe.

One of Binford's most important and influential contributions was his development of utility indices-rankings of ungulate body parts according to their meat, marrow, and grease value. Binford's immediate objective was to model the butchering and processing decisions made by Alaskan caribou-hunting Inuit. Ultimately, however, his goal was much broader-to use these models as a means for better understanding the way Eurasian Middle and Upper Paleolithic hunters dealt with reindeer, caribou's Old World cousin. The original models were excessively complex and subsequent studies have greatly simplified several of them. Important as these modified versions may be, the improvements-with a few noteworthy exceptions-mostly address technical and methodological issues, and miss a fundamental interpretive problem. Both Binford's Modified General Utility Index (MGUI) and the more streamlined Food Utility Index (FUI) place the upper fore-and hind-limbs among the highest-ranking anatomical units, in large part because of the mass of muscle tissue associated with these areas of the carcass. Not so among traditional northern foragers, including Binford's (1978:41) own Nunamiut informants; they viewed muscle meat (i.e., "steaks") as dog food or white man's food. In other words, Binford's interpretation of his utility indices was not a close reflection of Nunamiut food valuations but more than likely a projection of Western, and his own, food preferences. What traditional northern foragers most valued in the limbs was their fatty marrow content, not the lean muscle. A more realistic ranking of body parts, though far more difficult to operationalize in an archaeological context, would look more like the following: most highly ranked would be the back fat (fleece or dépouille), fat on the neck and rump, fatty tissue surrounding the internal organs (kidneys, liver, viscera, etc.), and marrow. Also highly ranked would be the fattiest meat cuts, especially the tongue, ribs, and brisket. The brain, though rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, is not easily assigned a rank because in a great many ethnohistoric accounts it was used to soften hides, not as a source of food. Hides for clothing, shelter, and equipment were often highly ranked as well, though their value fluctuated according to the hunting group's changing needs. Like hides, bone grease at times was also important, but because its extraction required considerable time and effort, it is difficult to assign an across-the-board valuation. And finally, the parts that most often occupied last place among Indigenous hunters were the lean muscle masses, their use limited by physiological constraints to the amount of protein an individual could safely consume on a daily basis. Interpretation of cutmarks is also less straightforward than commonly assumed. An abundance of such marks on meaty limb elements does not

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The collection "Art and Religion of Ancient Societies" is a continuation of the series of the scientific publications which is devoted to the problems of study of the spiritual culture in the primitive societies. The previous edition "Art and Ritual of Ice Age", that was published in 2005, covered a circle of questions directly connected with the theory and practice of study of the Paleolithic Art. In this collection we also address to the same problematic. However, taking into account that the understanding of the most ancient culture stages of the human society is connected to a wide circle of questions of the study of the traditional communities, we think it is necessity to expand the edition’s subjects. Therefore we have tried to capture not only questions directly connected with field and basic study of the ancient art, but also practical analysis of the cultural and ethnographic facts. The questions of the aesthetics and theory of development of the early forms of art are considered as separately subjects in works. The published materials enable the reader to familiarize with the questions and methods of their analysis more in details, which are submitted in works of the researchers from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Germany, Canada, USA, Australia.

The Palaeolithic record of Greece remains highly fragmented and discontinuous in both space and time. Nevertheless, new surveys and excavations, along with the revisiting of known sites or old collections, and the conduction of lithic and faunal laboratory analyses, have altogether enriched the Greek Palae-olithic dataset with important new evidence and novel interpretations. The goal of this paper is threefold: 1) to critically review the most important aspects of the Greek Pleistocene archaeological record, from the Lower to the Upper Palaeolithic; 2) to provide a synthesis of current knowledge about the Palaeolithic of Greece and in the framework of broader discussions in human evolution research; and 3) to put in prospect the Greek record by addressing a research agenda for the future. The review of the evidence shows that Palaeolithic research in Greece has expanded its focus not only geographically but also temporally: it now includes investigations at previously under-studied areas, such as the insular settings of the Aegean and Ionian Seas, as well as formerly overlooked targets, such as Lower Palaeolithic open-air sites. The synthesis and discussion which follows offers a state-of-the-art perspective on how the primary Palaeolithic data can be assessed within local or regional geomorphic, paleoenvironmental and chronological contexts; here, our focus is on spatio-temporal discontinuities, trends in subsistence strategies and lithic technology, as well as potentially emerging biogeographical patterns. Finally, we highlight the complex topography and mosaic landscapes of the Greek peninsula in order to address two major themes for a future research agenda: the potential role of Greece as a glacial refugium, and how the Greek record could contribute to our knowledge of early hominin mobility patterns.

12 original articles concerning the Paleolithic development of woven-fiber technology and its use in early civilizations. This 300+ page eBook is illustrated with over 250 photographs and pictures. More than 100 years ago Gustave Chauvet wrote that he believed basketry and simple weaving were present in the Upper Paleolithic sites he had studied. Yet it took almost that long to convince experts that this was the case. The discovery of irrefutable evidence in the form of impressions of weaving in clay provided the proof. Now it is also clear that basket-weaving and textile-weaving were not incompatible with the hunter-gatherer Paleolithic lifestyle and did not require the sedentary settled Neolithic way of life as had been assumed. This opens up the idea that basket-weaving or woven-fiber technology as I have called it, could have begun even in the Lower Paleolithic, millions of years ago. In these 8 articles, I outline how basketry could have begun perhaps two million years ago and then how it could have developed until the rise of the great civilizations of Sumer and Egypt which depended on this technology. I include ideas about how to find indirect evidence of basket-weaving in the Paleolithic era.

A century of research has led to the recognition of multiple levels of technological variability in the Levantine Middle
Paleolithic (MP) that cannot be resolved through single-cause explanatory models. Recent ecological models argue
for continual occupation of the region and competitive coexistence of Neanderthal and modern human populations.
Current paleogenetic studies underline the feasibility of the latter scenario. The Levantine MP offers a perspective
on the interface of historical circumstances and long-term evolutionary mechanisms that structured in-tandem
trajectories of technological and behavioral changes as well as insights into the dynamics of non-directional behavioral
complexities in the archaeological record.