The Palaeolithic of the Bosphorus Region NW Turkey

Abstract

A survey of open-air sites in NW Turkey identified 16 Palaeolithic sites. Analysis of nearly 2000 lithics identified Lower, Middle, and Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) components. The Lower Palaeolithic is represented by a core-chopper/flake assemblage at one site and an assemblage with small bifaces at another. Middle Palaeolithic assemblages similar to the typical Balkan Mousterian were found at most sites, and an EUP assemblage similar to the Balkan Aurignacian was found on the Black Sea coast. Later Upper Palaeolithic cultures, e.g., Gravettian or Epigravettian, were not found. Palaeolithic sites were also not found in Turkish Thrace west of Büyük Çekmece, and a palaeoenvironmental barrier, perhaps a channel connecting the Marmara and Black Seas, may have existed before the Bosphorus was opened in the Holocene. A difference in the distribution of Lower-Middle Palaeolithic sites and EUP sites was also noted. EUP sites are clustered on the Black Sea coast while earlier sites are found in the interior and on the shores of the Sea of Marmara. This change in settlement pattern may support a hypothesis of cultural change between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and perhaps the replacement hypothesis for the peopling of Europe by early modern humans.     

The Upper Palaeolithic Sculptured ibex of Angles-sur-l'Angkin, France

This article reviews Magdalenian depictions of ibex in a cave in central France, and examines both the natural history of this animal and its meanings for the artists.     

20世纪90年代以来中国旧石器考古学

20世纪90年代是一个旧石器时代考古学变革的年代,新的发现接连不断,新的方法逐渐应用并普及,新发现和新方法的基础之上提出了新的观点,形成了国内活跃的学术气氛,也促使学科向更深的领域扩展。不论从田野考古发掘实践到研究内容、还是从方法到理论都在不断地发生变化,中国旧石器时代考古学已开始在世界史前史的框架下重新定位。     

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.     

Editorial: Palaeolithic America

Abstract

We present the results of the Cerro Jazmín Archaeological Project, a mapping and intensive survey project of a hilltop urban center in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico. Our archaeological and geomorphological investigations reveal a long history of intermittent occupation with the time of maximum occupation, the Early Postclassic, corresponding with soil formation and landscape stability. Our population estimates are compared with agricultural production projections to assess the city's capability to feed its population and we argue that it functioned as an agricultural center. In a broader discussion of landscape and urbanism, Cerro Jazmín's managed labor was needed to build, manage, and maintain its terrace systems. Our findings show that large urban populations do not necessarily cause environmental degradation.     

长春地区(99)发现的动物化石和旧石器

本文对所发现的九处动物化石地点 (其中包括旧石器地点一处 )、37件动物化石以及石器和骨器进行分析研究。所发现的动物种类均属于东北地区晚更新世猛犸象—披毛犀动物群成员。石制工具具有细、小石器共有的特征 ,为东北地区细、小石器的深入研究提供了重要资料。依据石、骨器的性质分析 ,其年代应属于旧石器时代的晚期之末 ;又根据动物化石种属判断 ,其生存的地质时代为晚更新世的晚期。     

The Definition of Spatial Units in Middle Palaeolithic Sites: The Hearth-Related Assemblages

This paper deals with hearth-related accumulations in Middle Palaeolithic sites. Spatial behaviour is a key to understanding the cultural capabilities of ancient hominids. Ethnoarchaeological and archaeological research has shown that hearth-related assemblages are a basic feature in the spatial behaviour of modern and prehistoric hunter–gatherers. In this paper, we propose a methodology for analysing archaeological accumulations and study a series of hearth-related assemblages from the Abric Romanı́ Middle Palaeolithic site (Capellades, Spain). We also analyse the degree of contemporaneity between the different activity episodes documented at each archaeological accumulation. Our results suggest that the characteristics of domestic areas in this site are not substantially different from those observed in ethnoarchaeological contexts and Upper Palaeolithic sites.     

The Upper Palaeolithic Lithic Industry of Nazlet Khater 4 (Egypt): Implications for the Stone Age/Palaeolithic of Northeastern Africa

Between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 and 2, Northeast Africa witnessed migrations of Homo sapiens into Eurasia. Within the context of the aridification of the Sahara, the Nile Valley probably offered a very attractive corridor into Eurasia. This region and this period are therefore central for the (pre)history of the out-of-Africa peopling of modern humans. However, there are very few sites from the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic that document these migration events. In Egypt, the site of Nazlet Khater 4 (NK4), which is related to ancient H. sapiens quarrying activities, is one of them. Its lithic assemblage shows an important laminar component, and this, associated with its chronological position (ca. 33 ka), means that the site is the most ancient Upper Palaeolithic sites of this region. The detailed study of the Nazlet Khater 4 lithic material shows that blade production (volumetric reduction) is also associated with flake production (surface reduction). This technological duality addresses the issue of direct attribution of NK4 to the Upper Palaeolithic.     

Demography and the Palaeolithic Archaeological Record

Demographic change has recently re-emerged as a key explanation for socio-cultural changes documented in the prehistoric archaeological record. While the majority of studies of Pleistocene demography have been conducted by geneticists, the archaeological records of the Palaeolithic should not be ignored as a source of data on past population trends. This paper forms both a comprehensive synthesis and the first critical review of current archaeological research into Palaeolithic demography. Within prevailing archaeological frameworks of dual inheritance theory and human behavioural ecology, I review the ways in which demographic change has been used as an explanatory concept within Palaeolithic archaeology. I identify and discuss three main research areas which have benefitted from a demographic approach to socio-cultural change: (1) technological stasis in the Lower Palaeolithic, (2) the Neanderthal-Homo sapiens transition in Europe and (3) the emergence of behavioural modernity. I then address the ways in which palaeodemographic methods have been applied to Palaeolithic datasets, considering both general methodological concerns and the challenges specific to this time period. Finally, I discuss the ability of ethnographic analogy to aid research into Palaeolithic demography.     

Palaeolithic archaeology and the evolution of mind

This paper reviews recent archaeological studies concerning the evolution of mind. It is structured around four themes: language, intelligence, symbolism, and social learning. It includes reference to recent work in other disciplines that is either having, or likely to have, considerable impact on archaeological thought. The evolution of mind is a highly contentious subject, plagued by problems of definition and lacking an explicit methodology. This paper argues that the two most positive trends of recent work have been greater attempts at interdisciplinary studies and the integration of the study of cognition with that of hominid lifestyles.     

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.     

区域聚落形态研究

发现区域聚落形态是一项重要的研究,也是令人振奋、挑战智慧的工作。区域考古学看来总是会产生新的、始料未及的洞见,它具有持久的价值,并对不同规模的其他研究是基础性的,而且它也是（或者说应该是）遗产保护的根本所在。     

中国旧石器时代考古反思

近年来,在中国旧石器时代考古学界屡屡爆出重大新闻,亦真亦幻,令人扑朔迷离。谢飞指出：“目前,解决上述重大学术问题显得非常乏力的原因,不是旧石器考古队伍的问题,而是文物管理部门和学术权威单位关注不够、组织不力的问题”。…此话切中要害．非常值得深思。     

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.