The Enisei River of Central Siberia in the Late Pleistocene

Recent Paleolithic work along the middle Enisei River of central Siberia has revealed a long history of occupation that almost certainly begins in the Middle Pleistocene. Although the evidence for the Lower Paleolithic is somewhat tentative, there is good reason to believe that hunter-gatherers had periodically occupied the middle Enisei before the last interglacial. The steppe environment of the region during the Upper Pleistocene was relatively bountiful; more than 200 Upper Paleolithic sites, both before and after the Last Glacial Maximum, have been located. The region appears to have been abandoned during the Last Glacial Maximum. Most of Soviet and Russian archaeological work has been guided by a cultural–historical orientation, but recently there has been increased interest in developing adaptationist and ecological research strategies. The middle Enisei and the wider central Siberian region are key to understanding early adaptations to the north and the dimensions of Paleolithic population movements.     

The MSA sequence of Diepkloof and the history of southern African Late Pleistocene populations

This paper presents the first multidisciplinary synthesis of the Middle Stone Age sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa). We explore the main cultural changes that characterized southern African hunter–gatherer societies from OIS 5 to the beginning of OIS 3. We discuss the tempo of these changes, test the current interpretative hypotheses and explore an empirical model to explain the early appearance of symbolic marking within the Pleistocene hunter–gather societies of southern Africa.     

Mobility patterns and core technologies in the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant

Mobility is thought to be a significant source of Middle Paleolithic archaeological variability in the East Mediterranean Levant. However, models of Levantine Middle Paleolithic land-use have historically been based on rare and taphonomically sensitive evidence from a limited number of sites. Because lithic artifacts are the most ubiquitous archaeological remains available to the prehistorian, relationships between stone tool technology and mobility patterns can improve tests of hypotheses about prehistoric land-use strategies. This paper examines variation in Middle Paleolithic mobility strategies in the Levant from the perspective of core technology. A model linking expedient core reduction techniques and decreased mobility is adapted from one developed for late prehistoric contexts in the New World. Incorporating core data from numerous Levantine Middle Paleolithic assemblages, this study tests hypotheses about diachronic change, synchronic geographic variation, and possible hominin behavioral differences in mobility strategies.     

Stable isotope reconstructions of shellfish harvesting seasonality in an estuarine environment: implications for Late Holocene San Francisco Bay settlement patterns

Seasonality estimates based on stable isotope analyses of shellfish remains has been an important thrust of settlement pattern reconstruction, allowing researchers to place people on the landscape at points in space at different times of the year. In exposed coastal settings seasonality reconstructions are typically dependent on annual changes in water temperature. This paper has two goals. First, we continue development of a method for determining shellfish harvest seasonality in estuarine environments where annual salinity changes, not temperature, drive isotopic variation. Second, we contribute to settlement pattern studies by showing how small and large sites can be linked into a single system by examining different site types and shellfish species. Our case study focuses on the Late Prehistoric period of the San Francisco Peninsula, includes a large shellmound (CA-SMA-6) and an ephemeral camp (CA-SFR-171), and examines clam (Macoma spp.) and mussel (Mytilus spp.) harvesting. In this case, data support a fission-fusion settlement pattern, with periods of dispersal during late winter through early summer and aggregation in late summer through early winter.     

Nature and significance of the Howiesons Poort to post-Howiesons Poort transition at Klein Kliphuis rockshelter,South Africa

This paper considers the transition from Howiesons Poort to post-Howiesons Poort technologies at the rock shelter site of Klein Kliphuis, South Africa. The transition at this site is shown to be gradual, with incremental changes in material selection and in the size and shapes of flakes and cores. Implements which appear to blend characteristics of those distinctive of the earlier and later industries appear briefly at the mid-point of the transition. The results suggest that there is unlikely to have been an occupational hiatus between the Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort. Explanations for the Howiesons Poort phrased in terms of population expansion and contraction are also difficult to support. Technological changes at this time may relate to environmental variation, though the limited nature of terrestrial archives documenting changes in resource productivity necessitate that any such suggestion be made with caution.     

A tale of two sites: Functional site differentiation and lithic technology during the Late Pithouse period in the Mimbres area of Southwestern New Mexico

The raw materials from which stone tools are made can provide considerable information relevant to behavioral variation within a prehistoric population. By examining the stone used for tools from two different types of Late Pithouse period (A.D. 550-1000) residential sites from the Mimbres Mogollon area of Southwestern New Mexico, this paper illustrates how understanding the lithic landscape of a region provides a means to assess behavioral variation in stone procurement practices. The analysis indicates that the differences in mobility and economic pursuits between longer-term residential sites containing pit structures and a shorter-term seasonal residential site with ephemeral architecture structured the raw material procurement practices of site’s occupants. Pit structure sites were focused on agricultural pursuits and used a technology that centered on the production of informal tools fashioned from locally available raw materials. The seasonal residential site focused on wild resources and evidenced greater reliance on formal tool production using raw materials acquired from beyond the immediate vicinity of the site. Despite increasing sedentism and agricultural dependence of the region’s population, some portion of the population exercised seasonal mobility strategies and associated technological and behavioral practices more typical of hunting and gathering populations, suggesting a diverse socio-economic system within the region.     

The Organization of Later Stone Age Lithic Technology in the Caledon Valley, Southern Africa

Paleoclimatic data indicate that the Pleistocene/Holocene transition was a period of considerable ecological change in the Caledon Valley of the southern African interior. Stone artefact assemblages from sites in one part of this region, the Phutiatsana ea Thaba Bosiu (PTB) Basin of western Lesotho, were analyzed in order to investigate whether changes in settlement and subsistence strategies during this period are also reflected in the organization of lithic technologies. It appears that although technological solutions to the problems of subsistence risk may have been emphasized during the late Pleistocene, social means, such as exchange, dominated at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. Subsequent innovation or adoption of new formal tool types suggests that both strategies were important from the middle Holocene onwards.Dans la vallée de Caledon à l'intérieur sud-africain les données paléoclimatiques indiquent que la transition du pléistocène à l'holocène était une période de changement écologique considérable. Les résultats des analyses des outils lithiques découverts aux gisements dans une partie de cette région, le Bassin de la Phuthiatsana ea Thaba Bosiu (PTB) du Lesotho occidentale, sont présentées pour examiner si des changements aux stratégies de subsistance et de l'occupation des sites se réfletent à l'organisation des technologies lithiques. Il semble que on a employé les solutions technologiques pour éviter les risques de subsistance pendant le pléistocène tardif, mais que des solutions sociales, comme l'échange, prédominaient à la frontière pléistocène-holocène. L'innovation ou l'adoption plus tard des nouvelles outils lithiques suggère que tous les deux stratégies étaient importantes depuis le début du moyen Holocène.     

Hunting behavior and Neanderthal adaptability in the Late Pleistocene site of Pech-de-l'Azé I

The late Mousterian of Acheulian tradition (MTA) site of Pech-de-l'Azé 1 shows a very particular stratigraphic sequence characterized by numerous elements not usually found in Mousterian contexts such as avifauna exploitation and the use of hundreds of mineral pigments. Recent zooarchaeological and skeletochronological analyses provide new insights into the evolution of subsistence behaviors and settlement patterns of the Neanderthals that inhabited the shelter. Due to changes in hunting season, Neanderthals adapted their hunting strategies, exploiting various red deer populations which presented very different behavior. The evolution in the seasonal occupation of the shelter may have been the results of major modifications of its (series of roof collapsed) which induced a shrank in inhabitable space., which forced the Mousterians to adjust the way they used the cavity to its characteristics in order to optimize its exploitation. The conclusions underline the excellent adaptability of the Neanderthals to their physical environment.     

Monumentalization and ritual landscapes at Fort Center in the Lake Okeechobee basin of South Florida

Why do some places seem to emerge out of a void and then continue to be occupied for millennia? How do historical factors contribute to this process? Examples of sites with grand and lengthy occupational histories can be found in the Lake Okeechobee basin of South Florida. Our research at one such site, Fort Center, contributes to the broader theoretical understanding of these issues by examining and evaluating some of the architectural constructions at this famous site. In order to conceptualize such sites, we introduce the concept of persistent monumental places. We use this notion to structure our discussion of geophysical and archaeological data on the earthworks of Fort Center in an attempt to historicize its development as an enduring place as well as microcosm of the surrounding landscape. We suggest that such a perspective aids in the investigation of larger social, economic, ritual, and environmental dimensions related to monument construction and use in the region.     

Hunter–gatherer responses to environmental change during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the southern North Sea basin: Final Palaeolithic–Final Mesolithic land use in northwest Belgium

Situated along the southern fringe of the North Sea basin, northwest Belgium holds great potential for understanding hunter–gatherer responses to environmental change at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Recent intensive fieldwork has yielded valuable data on the palaeoenvironment, chronology, and hunter–gatherer mobility and land use in this region. At the Late Glacial/Early Holocene transition this region was comprised of a landscape of coversand ridges and lakes that flanked the northern part of the Scheldt river basin. This landscape was highly productive for hunter–gatherer populations. As the landscape developed in response to the increasing water table caused by the inundation of the North Sea populations responded by changing their forms of mobility and land use. These changes are indicated by the reduction in the number and density of sites, as well as their geographical settings, from the Late Glacial (Federmesser) and Early Mesolithic to the Middle-Final Mesolithic. Late Glacial/Early Mesolithic sites indicate much higher mobility comprised of rapid displacements of camps and re-occupation of the same coversand ridges over long time-spans. Middle/Late Mesolithic sites indicate a reduction in mobility, increasing focus on prolonged riverside settlement, and a more rigid organization of residential sites.     

Human ecological niches and ranges during the LGM in Europe derived from an application of eco-cultural niche modeling

We apply eco-cultural niche modeling (ECNM), an heuristic approach adapted from the biodiversity sciences, to identify habitable portions of the European territory for Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), circumscribe potential geographic extents of the Solutrean and Epigravettian technocomplexes, evaluate environmental and adaptive factors that influenced their distributions, and discuss this method's potential to illuminate past human–environment interaction. Our ECNM approach employed the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Prediction (GARP) and used as input a combination of archaeological and geographic data, in conjunction with high-resolution paleoclimatic simulations for this time frame. The archaeological data consist of geographic coordinates of sites dated by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry to the LGM and attributed to the Solutrean and Epigravettian technocomplexes. The areas predicted by ECNM consistently outline the northern boundary of human presence at 22,000–20,000 cal BP. This boundary is mainly determined by climatic constraints and corresponds well to known southern limits of periglacial environments and permafrost conditions during the LGM. Differences between predicted ecological niches and known ranges of the Solutrean and Epigravettian technocomplexes are interpreted as Solutrean populations being adapted to colder and more humid environments and as reflecting influences of ecological risk on geographic distributions of cultures.     

Late Mesolithic burials at Casa Corona (Villena,Spain): direct radiocarbon and palaeodietary evidence of the last forager populations in Eastern Iberia

Current knowledge about the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Central and Western Mediterranean European regions is deeply limited by the paucity of Late Mesolithic human osteological data and the presence of chronological gaps covering several centuries between the last foragers and the first archaeological evidence of farming peoples. In this work, we present new data to fill these gaps. We provide direct AMS radiocarbon dating and carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotope analysis were carried out on bone collagen samples of two single burials from the recently discovered open-air Late Mesolithic site of Casa Corona (Villena, Spain). The results shed new light on the chronology and subsistence patterns of the last Mesolithic communities in the Central Mediterranean region of the Iberian Peninsula. Radiocarbon results date the human remains and funerary activity of the site to 6059–5849 cal BC, statistically different from other Late Mesolithic sites and the earliest Neolithic contexts, and bridging the 500 yrs chronological gap of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition from the area. Isotopic evidence shows that diet was based on terrestrial resources despite the proximity to the site of lagoon and marine ecosystems. This and previous isotope studies from the region suggest a lower reliance upon marine resources than for Atlantic and Cantabrian sites, although intra-regional patterns of neighbouring Mesolithic populations exhibit both fully terrestrial diets and diets with significant amounts of aquatic resources in them. We hypothesize that in the Central Mediterranean region of Spain the Late Mesolithic dietary adaptations imposed structural limits on demographic growth of the last foragers and favoured rapid assimilation by the earliest Neolithic populations.     

Interpreting pachyderm single carcass sites in the African Lower and Early Middle Pleistocene record: A multidisciplinary approach to the site of Nadung’a 4 (Kenya)

Nadung’a 4 is one of the single carcass pachyderm sites recorded in East Africa during the Lower and Early Middle Pleistocene. The site has yielded an abundant lithic assemblage in close association with the partial carcass of an elephant. Conjoined pedological, geoarchaeological, spatial, technological, and taphonomical analyses have been carried out to address the relationship between hominids and elephant. The resulting data are consistent with a non-fortuitous association between both categories of remains. The lithic artefacts do not match a classical Acheulean tool-kit, as would be expected for the time period ascribed to the site, and the functional patterns inferred from their analysis make this site radically different from other purported butchery sites. The implications of these original features are discussed.     

The Palaeolithic of the Middle Son valley, north-central India: Changes in hominin lithic technology and behaviour during the Upper Pleistocene

The Middle Son valley in north-central India preserves extensive Quaternary alluvial deposits. A long history of archaeological and geological research in the valley has resulted in the discovery of lithic assemblages ranging from Lower Palaeolithic to microlithic, a rich corpus of fossilised faunal remains, and ash deposits from the 74,000 year-old Toba supereruption. This paper reviews the chronology and stratigraphy of the valley’s Quaternary sediments, and presents a model that hypothesizes the temporal sequence of important lithic assemblages from excavated and surface contexts. Artefacts in these assemblages are analysed and changes in lithic technology through time are described; this evidence is used to propose shifts in hominin behaviour and demographic structure in this region during the Upper Pleistocene. Recognising gaps in our understanding of the Middle Son record, future avenues of research are recommended that will build upon previous research and address questions of palaeoanthropological significance. The Middle Son valley preserves a long and rich record of hominin occupation from all periods of the Palaeolithic that is rarely paralleled by other sites in India.     

The technology of Stone Age colonization: an empirical,regional-scale examination of Clovis unifacial stone tool reduction,allometry, and edge angle from the North American Lower Great Lakes region

There is now broad consensus that the appearance of Clovis in Northeastern North America (Great Lakes, New England) represents a colonization pulse into recently deglaciated landscapes. Due to the increased resource uncertainty that comes with colonizing unfamiliar landscapes, it was hypothesized that the majority tool component of Clovis assemblages, unifacial stone tools, should have been knapped on tool blanks possessing the design properties of longevity and functional flexibility to facilitate exploration mobility and guard against the absence of toolstone sources in the new landscape. These properties are optimized by large, flat flakes, possessing large surface area relative to flake thickness. Since discarded and, at times, exhausted unifacial stone tools do not preserve the original dimensions of the blank upon which they were created – necessary items for a true test of blank morphology selection – this study presents a set of predictions for inferring whether Clovis unifacial stone tool blanks were selected for the properties of longevity and functional flexibility based on evidence that Clovis people actually capitalized on those properties. Due to the nature of Clovis unifacial stone tools, tool size was of necessity used as a proxy for tool reduction, on the grounds that smaller tools are more likely to have been resharpened than larger tools, at least in the case of unifacial flake tools. The results showed that less resharpened tools possessed flatter, less spherical shapes than the more resharpened tools, which possessed more globular, spherical shapes, suggesting Clovis foragers exploited the retouch potential afforded by the larger, flatter blanks. Edge angles showed no relationship with tool reduction, suggesting that Clovis foragers exploited the functional flexibility afforded by flatter blanks by adjusting the edge angle to be either higher or lower as needed. These results are consistent with the notion that human colonizers, who did not know the abundance or location of stone outcrops prior to settling an unfamiliar territory, not only “geared up” before leaving a stone source, but geared up as efficiently as possible by carefully selecting the blanks they chose to carry. Broader implications for such careful unifacial stone tool blank selection are discussed.     

Of stones and bones: Interpreting site function in the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic of Western Europe

Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic excavations have usually yielded both artifacts and faunal remains in a variety of environmental settings across a latitudinal range from Belgium to Portugal. In some cases there seem to be functional relationships within levels between ungulate species and skeletal elements on the one hand and associated lithic and osseous artifacts on the other. In other cases—perhaps because of their nature as occupational and depositional palimpsests—the relationships are murkier. Examples examined here include La Riera and El Mirón caves (coastal and montane Cantabrian Spain, respectively), Dufaure rockshelter (Pyrenean lowland France), Magrite cave, Pape rockshelter, and Bois Laiterie cave and the Huccorgne open-air site (Ardennes upland, transitional zone, and central plateau of Belgium, respectively), and the Vidigal shell midden (coastal southern Portugal). The interpretation of site function (e.g., multi-purpose residential site, specialized logistical camp, or transit bivouac) is a matter of pragmatic, interdisciplinary, situation-specific analyses, and parsimony.     

Eco-cultural niches of the Badegoulian: Unraveling links between cultural adaptation and ecology during the Last Glacial Maximum in France

This study details an application of eco-cultural niche modeling (ECNM) using two modeling architectures—a genetic algorithm (GARP) and maximum entropy (Maxent)—aimed at examining the ecological context of sites with archaeological remains attributed to the culture termed the Badegoulian (ca. 22–20 k cal BP), which dates to the middle part of the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 23–19 k cal BP). We reconstructed the ecological niche of the Badegoulian and assessed whether eco-cultural niche variability existed within this technocomplex. We identified two broad but distinct spatial entities in the distribution of Badegoulian sites based on lithic raw material sources and circulation, and found that these spatial units share a similar ecological niche. We discuss the implications of territorial differentiation within this niche in light of research on land use by culturally affiliated groups within a broad cultural entity. We propose that Badegoulian circulation networks reflect distinct social territories associated with particular conditions within a single ecological niche. This study illustrates the utility of combining ecological niche reconstructions with archaeological data to identify and evaluate diachronic trends in cultural continuity for situations where such patterns may be missed when the focus of study is restricted solely to lithic technology and typology.     

Hunter–gatherer foraging ranges, migrations, and travel in the middle Holocene Baikal region of Siberia: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures

Foraging ranges, migrations, and travel among Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers in the Baikal region of Siberia are examined based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures obtained from 350 human and 203 faunal bone samples. The human materials represent Early Neolithic (8000–6800 cal BP), Late Neolithic (6000–5000 cal BP), and Early Bronze Age periods (∼5000–4000 cal BP) and come from the following four smaller areas of the broader region: the Angara and upper Lena valleys, Little Sea of Baikal’s northwest coast, and southwest Baikal. Forager diets from each area occupy their own distinct position within the stable isotope spectrum. This suggests that foraging ranges were not as large as expected given the distances involved and the lack of geographic obstacles between the micro-regions. All examined individuals followed a similar subsistence strategy: harvesting game and local fishes, and on Lake Baikal also the seal, and to a more limited extent, plant foods. Although well established in their home areas, exchange networks with the other micro-regions appear asymmetrical both in time and direction: more travel and contacts between some micro-regions and less between others. The Angara valley seems to be the only area with the possibility of a temporal change in the foraging strategy from more fishing during the Early Neolithic to more ungulate hunting during the Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age. However, the shift in stable isotope values suggesting this change can be viewed also as evidence of climate change affecting primary productivity of the Baikal–Angara freshwater system.     

First molecular identification of a hafting adhesive in the Late Howiesons Poort at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape,South Africa)

The hafting of tools using adhesive is one of the innovative features that characterizes the southern African Middle Stone Age. This technology has mainstream implications but remains insufficiently documented, largely due to unequal organic preservation and non-adapted analytical procedures. A notable exception is provided by the recent results from the site of Sibudu (Lombard, 2006; Wadley et al., 2009).