Palaeolithic Living Sites in Upper and Middle Egypt: A Review Article

Abstract

In 2000 Leuven University Press of Leuven, Belgium published a very important volume on the prehistory of Egypt entitled Palaeolithic Living Sites in Upper and Middle Egypt. Egyptian Prehistory Monographs 2, edited by Pierre M. Vermeersch. This impressive volume presents partial results of the fieldwork of the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project of Leuven University in the Nile Valley, between Luxor and Assiut, carried out from 1976 to 1991, and in 1994. A second publication, Palaeolithic Quarrying Sites in Upper and Middle Egypt, also edited by Pierre M. Vermeersch, appeared in 2002 as the fourth volume of the series. The 2000 volume, under review here, is a collection of detailed reports on nine excavated Paleolithic living sites, ranging in time from Acheulean to Epipaleolithic, complemented by a chapter on Quaternary geomorphology and stratigraphy of the Makhadma area, near Qena, as well as a study of chronology, subsistence, and environment of the Late Paleolithic fishing sites at Makhadma. The reviewers discuss in detail most of the sites reported and address the conclusions reached by the Belgian authors in light of their own experiences with the prehistory of the Egyptian Nile. Of particular interest are differences in views concerning late use of Levallois technology in the Nile Valley and the geomorphological history of the river.     

Re–evaluating Subsistence Skills of Levantine Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Hunters: A Comparison of the Faunal Assemblages

It has long been argued that there were qualitative differences in the procurement strategies of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, with the hominids of the earlier period being less capable and efficient hunters than those of the subsequent period. This hypothesis is tested here through an examination of faunal assemblages from the two periods in the Levant by comparing measures of species diversity. It is concluded that no significant differences in hunting can be documented and that the hominids of both periods can be characterized as efficient foragers.     

The Embarrassment of Riches: Rationalising Faunal Assemblages from Large Urban Sites

Museums and other curatorial bodies face the significant challenge of storing large volumes of material recovered from decades of archaeological excavation, amongst which are very large collections of animal bones. As stores fill up, there is pressure to reconsider curation policies, to the point of refusing further deposition and disposal of existing material. Faced with this situation, York Archaeological Trust looked to develop and implement a strategy to reduce the curated research resource of animal bones, accepting that some excavated assemblages are of low research potential. Applying this strategy to animal bones from the Hungate excavation resulted in a substantial reduction in the volume of material regarded as of significant future research value. The strategy also generated a digital record, including images, that provides the justification for those retention decisions as well as a useful survey that facilitates the location of suitable material for further research. This pilot study shows that it is possible to rationalise what would otherwise be a substantial store of bone assemblages to give a smaller, better‐documented and more research‐relevant archive of material. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Middle Palaeolithic of the Nejd,Saudi Arabia

The Pleistocene archaeological record of the Arabian Peninsula is increasingly recognized as being of great importance for resolving some of the major debates in hominin evolutionary studies. Though there has been an acceleration in the rate of fieldwork and discovery of archaeological sites in recent years, little is known about hominin occupations in the Pleistocene over vast areas of Arabia. Here we report on the identification of five new Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Nejd of central Arabia and the southern margins of the Nefud Desert to the north. The importance of these sites centers on their diversity in terms of landscape positions, raw materials used for lithic manufacture, and core reduction methods. Our findings indicate multiple hominin dispersals into Arabia and complex subsequent patterns of behavior and demography.     

Experimental Heating of Moravian Cherts and its Implication for Palaeolithic Chipped Stone Assemblages

The applicability of colour, magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization measurements for the identification of heated or accidentally burned Palaeolithic cherts from Moravia (Czech Republic) is tested in this study. We conclude that all these methods are usable. Colour changes are best detectable in materials heated at between 250–350°C, while magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization change at higher temperatures, closer to 600°C. This latter temperature, however, is usually destructive for cherts and is probably evidenced by accidentally burned artefacts. With the use of the three methods, we managed to identify three probably heated chert artefacts from two early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from Moravia.     

Defining and Characterising Clusters in Palaeolithic Sites: a Review of Methods and Constraints

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Spatial analysis studies in Palaeolithic archaeology arise as indispensable research tools for understanding archaeopalaeontological sites. In general...     

Karstic Wetland Dwellers of Middle Palaeolithic Epirus,Greece

Abstract

The coastal zone of western Greece from the Ambracian Gulf to the Albanian border is the, foreland of the great Pindos range. It is a complicated, actively rising landscape of limestone mountains and closed intra-montane basins. Archaeologically, this karst landscape is distinguished by numerous Middle Palaeolithic open-air sites embedded in the red sediments of the basins. In contrast,further inland, the river valleys of the western flank of the Pindos harbor only sparse cave and rockshelter sites of Upper Palaeolithic age. A land-use strategy in the Middle Palaeolithic focused on predictable and seasonally-dependable features of karstic origin. This long-term pattern of scheduled Neanderthal residential mobility took advantage of wetlands at fixed locations which provided essential resources such as flint, animals, and plants. As the climate deteriorated in the Upper Palaeolithic the exploitation of wetlands declined and humans turned to caves and rockshelters and the pursuit of game on the upland interfluves and in river gorges.     

Late Middle Palaeolithic occupations in Ciemna Cave,southern Poland

Recent excavations in Ciemna Cave in the Pr?dnik valley near Ojców, southern Poland have brought to light new stratigraphic and techno-typological evidence concerning Late Middle Palaeolithic groups and their cultural affinities. In 2007, excavations began in the hitherto-unexplored main chamber of Ciemna Cave, with the goal of clarifying the results of previous work in other parts of the cave. During excavation the rocky floor of the cave was reached. About 1000 stone artifacts have been collected to date. Three cultural traditions have been documented: Mousterian, Taubachian, and Micoquian. Within the Micoquian tradition, three cultural levels were observed, which enriches the previous understanding of occupational phases at the site. These findings permit revision of the traditional terms “Pr?dnik industry” and “Pr?dnik technique.”     

Neanderthal Shell Tool Production: Evidence from Middle Palaeolithic Italy and Greece

The vast majority of tools recovered from Palaeolithic sites are made of stone varieties. Only rarely do non-lithic implements come to light, let alone tools produced on marine mollusc shell. Interestingly, a good number of shell implements made on Callista chione and Glycymeris sp. valves have been reported from 13 Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) sites in southern peninsular Europe. Of these, more than 300 specimens display evidence of deliberate edge retouch. They are all considered products of Neanderthals and date from ~110?ka BP to perhaps ~50?ka BP. In this paper, we review the evidence for Mousterian shell tool production in Italy and Greece??the only two countries in which such tools have been securely identified??and present experimental results obtained in the effort to understand the production process and typo-functional role(s) of the artefacts. We examine the general provisioning pattern of raw materials, as well as the typological, species-related and chronological data pertinent to the production of shell tools by Neanderthals. The data suggest that the Mousterian shell scrapers are a response to poor availability of lithic raw material in the areas of occurrence, and may be best described as an extension of chipped stone technologies to specific types of marine shell, their form defined by an existing mental template. As such, they constitute evidence for refined adaptation strategies and advanced provisioning of resources amongst Neanderthals, and may lend further support to the idea that these hominids displayed a degree of complex behaviour.     

The black layer of Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures. Interpretation and archaeostratigraphic implications

Certain aspects of the formation processes of simple, flat archaeological combustion structures such as those present in the Middle Palaeolithic record remain unexplained. Such kind of combustion structures are commonly affected by postdepositional agents and often, their only distinct, well preserved component is a thin black lens on the ground. Hence, understanding the nature of this black lens is essential towards archaeological interpretation. From an interdisciplinary microstratigraphic approach, we present a case study in which for an entire experimental series of flat combustion structures the black layer represents the fire-altered topsoil on which the fire was made. Parallel analysis of archaeological Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures from the site of El Salt (Alicante, Spain) reveal similar patterns, leading to significant implications for archaeological interpretation. In the light of these results, special attention must be paid to the formation processes of flat Middle Palaeolithic combustion features, as black layers and the material contained in them are not necessarily linked with combustion but with preceding activities or events. In such cases, black layers represent intact remnants of occupation surfaces, concealing significant behavioural and palaeoenvironmental information relevant to the reconstruction of Middle Palaeolithic societies.     

Recent work on the Middle Palaeolithic of the Eastern Sahara

Recent research at the remote depression of Bir Tarfawi, in the hyperarid Eastern Sahara, has revealed a sequence of four, or possibly five, Pleistocene lake-episodes. The first lake was probably associated with a Late Acheulean and the remaining four with a Middle Palaeolithic, specifically with a Denticulate Aterian, industry. Lithostratigraphic, macrofaunal and microfaunal analyses have permitted a quite detailed reconstruction of the local environment during the periods of the last two lakes; during the period of the fourth lake, local rainfall may have beenca 600 mm per annum but was rather less during the time of the fifth lake. Investigation of some of the many associated archaeological sites is revealing a complex pattern of specialized site-types, including living-sites, primary and secondary workshops and primary and secondary butchery-sites. Specific types of sites are closely related to the local landscape. Preliminary analyses from several experimental methods of chronometric dating suggest that almost all of the sequence falls within the Middle Pleistocene.

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Résumé Des recherches récentes dans la dépression isolée de Bir Tarfawi dans le Sahara oriental hyperaride, ont révélé une séquence de quatre, ou peut être cinq, épisodes lacustres au Pléistocène. Le premier lac est probablement associé à un Acheuléen final, et les quatre autres au Paléolithique moyen, et spécifiquement à une industrie atérienne denticulée. Des analyses de lithostratigraphie, de macrofaune et de microfaune ont permis de reconstruire d'une façon assez détaillée l'environnement local pendant les périodes des deux derniers lacs. Pendant la période du quatrième lac, la pluviosité locale était peut être deca 600 mm par an, mais elle était un peu moindre à lépoque du cinquième lac. Les recherches dans certains des nombreux gisements archéologiques associés nous révèlent un schéma complexe de sites spécialisés, y compris des sites d'habitat, des ateliers primaires et secondaires, et des lieux de dépeçage primaires et secondaires. Certains types de gisement sont étroitement liés au paysage local. Des analyses préliminaires par plusieurs méthodes expérimentales de datation chronométrique suggèrent que presque toute la séquence appartient au Pléistocène moyen.

     

Insights into early Middle Palaeolithic tool use and hafting in Western Europe. The functional analysis of level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-Saint-Vaast (France)

Results are presented from the functional analysis of a large selection of tools from level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-St-Vaast (France). Results indicate that the site represents a hunting stand with a strong focus on hunting and animal processing activities, next to a maintenance component that appears to concern retooling and repair activities in preparation of the hunting episode(s). In spite of the site's age, a large part of the tool assemblage proves to have been used while hafted. Expertise in hafting was even quite elaborate in the sense that it includes tools for which hafting is not essential. It confirms the importance of hafting studies for improving insights into assemblage variability and past human behaviour.     

The history of stones: behavioural inferences and temporal resolution of an archaeological assemblage from the Middle Palaeolithic

Behavioural issues are a main focus of current Palaeolithic research, especially where the archaeological record of archaic hominids is concerned. Often these issues are approached using archaeological assemblages that are palimpsests defined exclusively by stratigraphic criteria. The aim of this paper is to discuss whether such assemblages are adequate for solving behavioural questions. As a case study, we will present the lithic provisioning strategies documented in level L of the Abric Romaní Middle Palaeolithic site. The results of this study suggest that the number of events and/or the amount of time included in the archaeological assemblages could be relevant when explaining the interassemblage variability, given that palimpsests tend to reduce the behavioural variability. If we want to approach the behavioural domain, we need archaeological assemblages of higher temporal resolution, defined through the identification of single activity events.     

Experimental Tests of Middle Palaeolithic Spear Points Using a Calibrated Crossbow

Controlled experiments using a calibrated crossbow to thrust stone-tipped spears into animal carcasses reveal a relationship between Levallois point morphology and their performance as spear points. A comparative study of morphometric variation of Levallois points from Levantine Mousterian contexts supports the hypothesis that the demand for stone spear points was an important factor in Levallois point production.     

The Neronian and the historical structure of cultural shifts from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic in Mediterranean France

The end of the Middle Palaeolithic period can be considered a key moment in the history of humanity, characterized by profound changes in traditional Palaeolithic societies. Whatever the reasons for this historical change, it seems well established that it took place within a particularly dynamic phase of these societies, when Upper Palaeolithic technical processes were already emerging. The analysis of recent Mousterian industries in Mediterranean France highlights certain points of inflection, which presage new ways of life. The analysis of key sites demonstrates important transformations within the last Neanderthal societies, with a gradual rearticulation of Mousterian technical systems around the production of blades and points and with profound changes in the relationship of the craftsman with his tools. Even if they are typical of the late Mousterian more generally, these technically distinctive industries have such distinct chronological, territorial and cultural characteristics that they can be referred to by a specific name, the “Néronien” (Neronian). Stratigraphically speaking, this group of assemblages – at the crossroads of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic – appears in some important regional sequences just before the appearance of the first “true” Upper Palaeolithic industries (the Protoaurignacian). However, this Neronian doesn't represent the end of the Middle Palaeolithic period in the Rhône valley. The final Moustérien of this region is actually marked by deep breakdowns of the traditional balances in the human groups. This second point of inflection could characterize a true destabilization of Mousterian societies. There is an interesting parallelism between the historical paths of the Castelperronian in the arch of the Massif Central and the Neronian in the Rhône valley. It also highlights the mosaic nature of the profound cultural changes that occurred at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic.