The Upper Paleolithic Rock Art of Iberia

Nearly 200 rock art sites of Upper Paleolithic age are currently known on the Iberian Peninsula, in both caves and the open air. Over half are still concentrated in Cantabrian Spain and they span the period between c. 30–11 kya, but–tracking the course of human demography in this geographically circumscribed region–many of the images were probably painted or engraved during the Solutrean and, especially, Magdalenian. Dramatic discoveries and dating projects have significantly expanded the Iberian rock art record both geographically and temporally in recent years, in close coincidence with the growth of contemporaneous archeological evidence: cave art loci in Aragón and Levante attributable to the Solutrean and Magdalenian, many cave art sites and a few open-air ones in Andalucía and Extremadura that are mostly Solutrean (in line with evidence of a major Last Glacial Maximum human refugium in southern Spain), the spectacular Côa Valley open-air complex in northern Portugal (together with a growing number of other such loci and one cave) that was probably created during the Gravettian-Magdalenian periods, and a modest, but important increase in proven cave and open-air sites in the high, north-central interior of Spain that are probably Solutrean and/or Magdalenian. Despite regional variations in decorated surfaces, themes, techniques and styles, there are broad (and sometimes very specific) pan-Iberian similarities (as well as ones with the Upper Paleolithic art of southern France) that are indicative of widespread human contacts and shared systems of symbols and beliefs during the late Last Glacial. As this Ice Age world and the forms of social relationships and ideologies that helped human groups survive in it came to an end, so too did the decoration of caves, rockshelters and outcrops, although in some regions other styles of rock art would return under very different conditions of human existence.     

The Hidden Meaning of Forms: Methods of Recording Paleolithic Parietal Art

There are many restrictions placed on researchers studying Paleolithic Cave art due to the constraints of conservation that limit direct contact with the original works. This paper discusses how recent advances in technology have revolutionized the study and interpretation of Paleolithic cave art. The interpretation of Paleolithic symbolic systems is a complex process and hypotheses must be applied to cave art with the greatest of precision. A detailed analysis of the painted or engraved surfaces leads to a greater understanding of both the techniques employed and the actual sequence in which parietal compositions were executed. By unlocking the creative process followed by Upper Paleolithic artists we are able to glimpse the artist’s motivations and to understand a portion of the art’s hidden meaning.

Symmetry Its Significance in Science and Art

Abstract

Five types of symmetry are discussed: isometry, homoeometry, antisymmetry, colour symmetry, and symmetry of the most general kind. Examples are drawn from many different fields of science and art, including music and poetry. The inclusion of dissymmetry, or perturbed symmetry, is especially important in providing access to some of the most profound aspects of nature and art. Finally, the question of why symmetry plays such an important part in so many fields is raised.     

The Paleolithic of Central Asia

The Lower Paleolithic of Central Asia is represented by several sealed and more or less firmly dated Lower–Middle Pleistocene cave and open-air sites in the southeastern part and by more numerous surface occurrences throughout the region. The assemblages assigned to the Lower Paleolithic form two rather distinct groups, one remarkable for well-made handaxes and the other characterized by cores and flakes with no handaxes. The distribution map of pebble industries and industries with handaxes shows that while the latter originate from the western regions of Central Asia, the former are concentrated in the eastern part of the area. The Middle Paleolithic assemblages of Central Asia do not form a single technocomplex. Their variability in time is difficult to assess, but variation in space is obvious. Very few Upper Paleolithic sites in this region are known. At the same time, their stone industries are very diverse and most of them differ sharply from each other and from sites in adjacent regions.     

The Lower Paleolithic of Spain and Portugal

To most English readers the Lower Paleolithic of the Iberian peninsula is known mainly through a few sites such as Torralba and Ambrona, whose age and behavioral significance remain controversial. In fact, the archaeological data base for this period and region is much larger and more varied than is generally appreciated and includes primary-context sites such as Aridos that have provided unique combinations of evidence on hominid exploitation of elephant carcasses. This paper is both a comprehensive synthesis of our current knowledge and a first attempt to see patterns in the data. Every major occurrence is presented in its regional and geochronological framework; each is critically assessed for data quality and behavioral significance. Major issues addressed in this paper include the working out of regional sequences and intersite correlation, the age and significance of the oldest occurrences, the density and preferred areas of settlement within each region, temporal variation within the Acheulean, and the strength and weaknesses of the data and of our approaches to it.M.S. is responsible for the research and form of this paper; P.V. is responsible for translating, editing, and revising certain sections in consultation with the senior author.     

The Middle Paleolithic of the Caucasus

Journal of World Prehistory - This paper presents a short review of the data and new approaches to Middle Paleolithic chronology and variability in the Caucasus. A climatostratigraphic scheme of...     

The Upper Paleolithic period in the Levant

The classic Upper Paleolithic sequence in the Levant was based on a series of stratified assemblages with culture-specific type fossils. Research in the last two decades has revealed numerous assemblages that cannot be accommodated within the classic sequence. The recently discovered assemblages are now regarded as representing two large entities that differ in both technology and typology. The locally developed Ahmarian is dominated by blades and bladelets, while the Levantine Aurignacian (probably an intrusive from the north) is dominated by flakes and by endscrapers or burins. The nature and contents of the sites suggest that Levantine Upper Paleolithic people were organized as small bands of mobile foragers, whose important resources were ungulate meat and plant foods. This subsistence economy and the associated settlement patterns lasted till about 13,000 B.P. and was succeeded by the Natufian culture with an entirely new socioeconomic organization.     

石器分类中的多重划分原则

近几年来,在我国旧古器考古学界出现了非常喜人的新局面。随着改革开放的发展和中外学术交流的加强,西方的类型学体系和类型学思想被逐渐大量介绍进来（陈淳,１９９４;林圣龙,１９９３、１９９４、１９９６;黄慰文,１９９３）①②③④⑤,同时我国学术界就我国和我...     

旧石器时代石斧的认知考古学研究

艺术应始于人类的早期石斧,手斧的性择标识理论似乎解答了手斧的所有问题,但对该理论还有待更进一步的验证。     

The Kulbulak Bladelet Tradition in The Upper Paleolithic of Central Asia

The article describes lithic industries of the Upper Paleolithic levels of Kulbulak, Uzbekistan, a key site in southwestern Central Asia based on materials from excavations at several sites in the western and northwestern Pamir– Tien Shan region (Kulbulak, Kyzyl-Alma-2, Dodekatym-2, and Shugnou). A new cultural and technological tradition is introduced, for which the authors suggest the name Kulbulakian. Its distinctive features are the bladelet technique and a microlithic set including backed pieces and triangular microliths. Stages in the evolution of the Kulbulakian tradition are reconstructed: origins, development, peak, and disappearance of the carinated technology. Industries belonging to this tradition have shaped the general appearance of the Upper Paleolithic in the area in question.     

Analyzing Fertility and Attraction in the Paleolithic: The Venus Figurines

Countless hypotheses have focused on the enigmatic “Venuses”, but most are not testable. The current authors investigate a hypothesis suggested by R.D. Guthrie involving the waist-to-hip ratio. This measurement determines fertility, beauty, and health in modern females; a 0.7 indicates cross-cultural beauty and fertility. Guthrie argued that the statuettes share an average waist-to-hip ratio of 0.655, indicating that Paleolithic males preferred curvier women. We sought to test this and analyze regional data. Our mean was significantly different than Guthrie's and we found evidence for regional differences. While some statuettes may have served as Paleo-erotica, it seems unlikely that they all did.     

The Upper Paleolithic Assemblages of Shugnou,Tajikistan

Lithic industries from the key strati?ed Upper Paleolithic site at Shugnou, Tajikistan, are described. Results of the technological, typological, and attributive analyses suggest that the industries of all horizons represent a single cultural tradition. Its evolution was marked by a gradual transformation of the microblade technology with the use of carinate techniques. This tradition is paralleled by lithic assemblages from Kulbulak layers 2.1 and 2.2, Kyzyl-Alma-2, and Dodekatym-2, Uzbekistan     

The late Upper Paleolithic in Italy: An overview

Previous studies of the Italian late Upper Paleolithic, or Epigravettian, have been primarily chronostratigraphic and typological. Only recently has attention been paid to environmental and behavioral data. The Epigravettian covers some 10,000 years, from about 20,000 B.P. (beginning of the last Wurm stadial) to about 10,000 B.P. (end of Dryas III and beginning of the Holocene). Traditionally, it has been divided into three phases: Early (20,000–16,000 B.P.), Evolved (16,000–14,000 B.P.), and Final (14,000–10,000 B.P.). The Evolved and Final Epigravettian have five regional facies: northern Tyrrhenian, central and southern Tyrrhenian, northern and central Adriatic, southern Adriatic and Sicilian. After an extensive summary of the available environmental data and traditional artifact analyses, we illustrate the present status of more behaviorally oriented research and discusss the consistency of the subdivisions in space and time. Suggestions are made of possible directions for future research.