The Sunghir 3 Upper Paleolithic Juvenile: Pathology versus Persistence in the Paleolithic

The Mid Upper Paleolithic Sunghir 3 late juvenile early modern human, from the most elaborate burial in the Pleistocene, had pathologically foreshortened and anteriorly bowed femora and, based on her dental enamel hypoplasias and transverse lines, sustained severe and persistent systemic stress throughout her decade of life. Her modest femoral and tibial asymmetry and her femoral bicondylar angles indicate non‐pathological patterns of posture and locomotion. The levels of rigidity for her weight‐bearing tibiae and the non‐dominant left arm reflect normal weight‐bearing and manipulation. These indicators are combined with an elevated level of right humeral strength, leading to pronounced humeral diaphyseal asymmetry, combined with elevated muscular insertion asymmetry. In combination with marked upper limb muscle markings and normal levels of bone formation, these reflections of her robustness indicate that she was fully mobile and participated actively in the tasks of her social group. There is no indication of the skeletal hypotrophy/atrophy that would be associated with less than full participation in the mobility and subsistence of her social group. As such, Sunghir 3 joins a growing list of developmentally or degeneratively pathological Late Pleistocene humans who nonetheless remained mobile and active. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

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.     

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...     

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 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.     

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 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 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.     

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.     

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     

阿勒泰山旧石器时代洞窟彩绘

“在新疆阿勒泰山中早已发现的洞窟彩绘,其主体部分,可以肯定,是旧石器时代的遗存。”这是一份晚了34年、完成得过分迟缓的研究结论。     

The Upper Paleolithic of the Russian steppe zone

The vast steppe area North of the Black Sea has been populated since the early Middle Paleolithic. The number of known sites dating to the Upper Paleolithic is increasing as research progresses, and today about 150 Upper Paleolithic sites have received some (although varied) degree of study. For a long time, the steppe zone was considered to have had a separate cultural-economic adaptation that differed drastically from that found in the periglacial province farther north. The difference was expressed in the specialization in bison hunting and in the very high mobility of the population. More recent archaeological research, described briefly in this article, presents a different picture: Subsistence was more varied, hunting was not limited to bison, and the settlement system indicates long periods of occupation of the sites. There were many local archaeological cultures, and study of the material remains indicates numerous contacts between the people of the steppe zone and those in Central Europe and the Caucasus and, by way of the Caucasus, with Western Asia.     

The Middle Paleolithic of the East Mediterranean Levant

This paper reviews recent developments in geochronology, archaeology, and behavioral interpretations of the Middle Paleolithic Period (ca. 47–250 Kyr) in the East Mediterranean Levant. Neandertals and early modern humans both occupied the Levant during this period. Both these hominids are associated with the Levantine Mousterian stone tool industry and similar sets of faunal remains. The Levant has long been seen as preserving evidence for the origin of modern humans out of Neandertal ancestors. Recent radiometric dates for Levantine Middle Paleolithic contexts challenge this hypothesis. Instead, they suggest the evolutionary relationships between these hominids were far more complicated. Proposed models for Neandertal and early modern human coevolutionary relationships are examined. Intense competition between Neandertals and early modern humans for a narrow human niche may be the context out of which the Upper Paleolithic behavioral revolution arose.     

浙江旧石器考古综述

从2002年开始,浙江进行了一系列旧石器考古调查与发掘,成果表明古人类在浙江活动频繁、从早更新世晚段开始一直延续到晚更新世的某一阶段,持续时间很长。石制品的组合大多数归属于南方主工业,但也表现出了一些小流域的特色。从目前所发现旧石器地点分析,浙江旧石器考古研究的前景广阔。     

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.     

Large Kombewa flake production in north Oman

In this paper we present the results of surveys carried out in February 2016 along a palaeo‐drainage system near the village of Bisyah. We report first on the geological prospection, which was our main goal, and then present our discovery of the only known localities in north Oman of large Kombewa flake production (>10 cm up to 20 cm). Among the scatter of artefacts, we found cores and large Kombewa flakes with two opposed bulbs of percussion, a technology that had not been known in this region until now. In spite of the local features, the typo‐technological traits of the artefacts suggest that at least part of them resemble in some way the Acheulean techno‐complex, but there are still many questions remaining on the age of these artefacts.     

Exploitation of Lithic Raw Material in The Northwestern Caucasus Upper Paleolithic

Sources of lithic raw material discovered by the authors are described with special regard to methods of transporting stone to Upper Paleolithic sites in the northwestern Caucasus. The analysis of obsidian artifacts suggests that materials were imported from remote regions such as the central and South Caucasus, evidencing mobility patterns in the Upper Paleolithic.