Why is there a lack of Mode 3 Levallois technologies in East Asia? A phylogenetic test of the Movius–Schick hypothesis

The ‘Movius–Schick hypothesis’ claims that an absence of Levallois (Mode 3) technologies in East Asia is due to the lack of a strong ancestral Acheulean (Mode 2) tradition in that region. Hence, this hypothesis is based on the assumption that similarities between Acheulean handaxes and Levallois cores can be interpreted as being phylogenetically homologous (i.e. due to common technological ancestry) as opposed to being homoplasic (i.e. due to convergent technological evolution). Here, the phylogenetic basis of this hypothesis is tested using a formal cladistic procedure. Under the framework of an ‘iterative’ approach to phylogenetic analysis, a series of post-hoc tests and re-evaluations of results follow the initial cladistic analysis. Results of these combined analyses indicate that morphological similarities between Mode 2 Acheulean handaxes and Mode 3 Levallois cores can, most parsimoniously, be seen as phylogenetically homologous. Hence, these results support the tenets of the ‘Movius–Schick’ hypothesis in suggesting that a lack of Levallois industries in East Asia may be due to the paucity of an ancestral Acheulean tradition in that region. The implications of these phylogenetic analyses for the concept of Palaeolithic ‘Modes’ are discussed. It is further suggested that low demographic levels (i.e. small effective population sizes) in East Asia may have constrained the technological phylogenetic trajectory of East Asia compared with that seen in other regions of the Old World during the Lower Palaeolithic. In addition, it is hoped that several methodological issues discussed here will contribute to the growing field of cultural phylogenetic analysis.     

Paleolithic occupations of the Göllü Dağ, Central Anatolia,Turkey

Abstract

Systematic archaeological surface reconnaissance of the Göllü Da? volcanic complex from 2007 to 2012 documented more than 230 findspots with Paleolithic artifacts, ranging from isolated finds to extensive and dense scatters of artifacts. Most of the activities represented relate to exploitation of the rich obsidian resources in the region. Paleolithic artifacts are attributed mainly to the Middle Paleolithic based on the presence of Levallois technology but there is a substantial Lower Paleolithic component represented by handaxes and other large bifacial tools. Upper and Epipaleolithic sites and artifacts are scarce or absent in the survey sample. The distributions of handaxes and Levallois elements differ substantially, reflecting differences in site preservation and exposure as well as organization of prehistoric activities. Multiple variants of Levallois are represented but centripetal preferential and unipolar flake production dominate. The frequent co-occurrence of different Levallois forms suggests flexible reduction strategies. Distributions of different classes of artifact across the survey area indicate that the Middle Paleolithic occupations of Göllü Da? were not entirely oriented toward workshop activities.     

Is the Soanian techno-complex a Mode 1 or Mode 3 phenomenon? A morphometric assessment

The Soanian is traditionally seen as one of the major (non-Acheulean) Palaeolithic techno-complexes of the Indian subcontinent. Over several decades comparisons of Soanian assemblages have been made with the non-bifacial industries of East Asia and north-west Europe. The chronological status and typo-technological relationship(s) of the Soanian to other Palaeolithic industries have been the subject of much debate. When first named and described the Soanian was considered to contain evidence of Mode 3 Levallois-style core reduction. However, in recent years, the potential Mode 3 component of the Soanian has largely been ignored, and the techno-complex is described under various guises as a core/flake or ‘Mode 1’ techno-complex. Here, a comparative morphometric assessment of selected Soanian cores and other Palaeolithic nuclei is undertaken, to test the hypothesis that this industry contains a definite Mode 3 Levallois element. Discriminant Function Analyses (DFA) of morphometric variables provide robust evidence that at least part of the Soanian techno-complex contains Mode 3 Levallois cores. The implications of these analyses for the relationship between the Soanian and the Acheulean, and the relevance of the Soanian in considerations of the Movius Line are also discussed.     

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.     

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.     

Why are some handaxes symmetrical? Testing the influence of handaxe morphology on butchery effectiveness

The morphology of Acheulean handaxes continues to be a subject of debate amongst Lower Palaeolithic archaeologists, with some arguing that many handaxes are over-engineered for a subsistence function alone. This study aims to provide an empirical foundation for these debates by testing the relationship between a range of morphological variables, including symmetry, and the effectiveness of handaxes for butchery. Sixty handaxes were used to butcher 30 fallow deer by both a professional and a non-professional butcher. Regression analysis on the resultant data set indicates that while frontal symmetry may explain a small amount of variance in the effectiveness of handaxes for butchery, a large percentage of variance remains unexplained by symmetry or any of the other morphological variables under consideration.     

Reassessment of the Lower Paleolithic (Acheulean) presence in the western Tien Shan

Kulbulak (Uzbekistan) is among the most important Paleolithic sites in Central Asia. Based on excavations from the 1960s to the 1980s, a stratigraphic sequence yielding 46 archeological horizons of the Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic has been described. The lowermost 22 layers were at that time defined as Acheulean, both in cultural and chronological aspects. Based on these previous works, Kulbulak has thus often been cited as one of the rarest occurrences of Lower Paleolithic and Acheulean in the region. However, this attribution was debatable. New excavations at Kulbulak in 2007–2010 provided new material and the first reliable dates that permitted us to tackle this issue. Moreover, a reappraisal of the lithic collections and documents from previous excavations was also conducted. These new data clearly indicate the absence of Acheulean or even Lower Paleolithic at Kulbulak. On the contrary, the lithic assemblages from this site only correspond to Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods. The lowermost layers are particularly interesting due to the presence of an early industry with blade and bladelet technology.     

Molecular evidence of bitumen in the Mousterian lithic assemblage of Hummal (Central Syria)

Evidence for bitumen use in Middle Palaeolithic sites is an exception in Pleistocene archaeology. This paper presents the discovery of three tar-bearing Levallois artefacts found in the Mousterian sequence in Hummal (Central Syria). The organic residues were submitted to geochemical study. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons and isotopic data show the presence of bitumen. The most likely location of natural asphalt provisioning is the Shaaf outcrop in the Bichri desert. The bitumen-bearing stone tools add further important data to the growing knowledge about bitumen processing in the Middle Palaeolithic spring sites of El Kowm. Identification of the provisioning place for natural asphalt enables a more precise assumption about the site's catchment area. From a technological point of view, the tar-bearing specimens provide information on the range of tool forms selected for hafting. Ballistic features arguably indicate that the pointed Levallois blanks seem to be spear points that were fitted to a wooden handle. In at least one case, this technical procedure was seemingly executed during a brief episode of occupation and replacement of worn out implements. This small, bracketed window of detailed insight into Mousterian technology is linked with the more general relationship between Levallois technology and stone tool hafting.     

The oldest handaxes in Europe: fact or artefact?

Hominin presence is well documented in a number of Early Pleistocene and early Middle Pleistocene European localities. However, the evidence currently available indicates that Acheulean handaxes spread in the fluvial basins of Western Europe during MIS 11, ～400 kyr ago, associated with Homo heidelbergensis, although a number of early Middle Pleistocene Acheulean assemblages have been dated from MIS 16 onwards. For this reason, the magnetostratigraphic dating in Southeast Spain of two archaeological localities, the open-air site of Solana del Zamborino (SZ) and the rock-shelter site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Quípar (EQ), that put back the appearance of handaxes to the Early-Middle Pleistocene limit (Scott and Gibert, 2009) is of particular interest, as the new ages suggest that H. heidelbergensis was a contemporary of H. antecessor that had the ability to produce Levallois debitage and to control fire during the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition. However, we have detected a number of errors in the interpretation of the archaeological assemblage from the first site as well as striking discrepancies with the original faunal lists published for both localities, with several large mammal species that are omitted or arbitrarily changed to make the assemblages consistent with the new ages deduced from magnetostratigraphy. For this reason, we suggest that: (1) the finding of reverse polarity in the sediments sampled for paleomagnetism in SZ may simply record one of the polarity reversals that took place during the Brunhes Chron, although the use by Scott and Gibert (2009) of a composite stratigraphic column precludes correlating these levels with a specific reversal; and (2) the fauna and tools of EQ correspond to the late Middle Pleistocene sedimentary infillings of this karst site, while the samples taken for paleomagnetism belong to a previous sedimentary cycle during the Matuyama Chron. Such interpretations would be in better agreement with the age estimates provided by biostratigraphy and also with the currently accepted chronology for the appearance of Acheulean industries in Western Europe.     

A 3D morphometric analysis of surface geometry in Levallois cores: patterns of stability and variability across regions and their implications

Levallois cores and products were manufactured by hominin populations distributed across wide regions of Africa and Eurasia. Levallois technology remains an important focus for research in Palaeolithic archaeology, yet quantitative morphological comparisons of Levallois core morphology from different regions remain rare. Here, utilizing Levallois cores from Africa, the Near East, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent, patterns of morphological variability in the shape of the Levallois flaking surface and core outline (margin) shape were examined for patterns of variability and stability across regions using 3D geometric morphometrics. The multivariate statistical shape analyses undertaken revealed a clear pattern: that is, the greatest levels of shape variability in Levallois cores is evident in the form of their outline (planform) shape. Conversely, the geometrical relationship between the margin of the Levallois cores and their topological surface morphology was relatively uniform. This pattern of variability was evident in terms of variation both across regions and between cores from the same locality. These results indicate that the outline form of such cores was a less important variable than the geometric/topological properties of the surface morphology and, in particular, the relationship between the margin of the core and those variables. These results have implications for why it has been reported that replicating such cores in modern experiments is a particularly difficult task. The specific interrelationship between the geometric properties of the core and the core margin provide further evidence that Levallois core technology would be unlikely to emerge from the context of opportunistic migrating platform reduction strategies (such as those seen in many Mode 1 industries). If, as is widely suggested, Levallois cores were deliberate products in Pleistocene contexts, these results also hint that relatively sophisticated means of social transmission (i.e. teaching) may have been required to sustain their production over time and space.     

A crossbeam co-ordinate caliper for the morphometric analysis of lithic nuclei: a description,test and empirical examples of application

Over the last four decades, there has been surprisingly little advance in the quantitative morphometric analysis of Palaeolithic stone tools, especially compared to that which has taken place in biological morphometrics over a comparable time frame. In Palaeolithic archaeology's sister discipline of palaeoanthropology, detailed quantitative morphometric, geometric morphometric, and even 3D geometric morphometric analyses are now seen almost as routine. This period of relative methodological stasis may have been influenced by the lack of homologous landmarks on many lithic tools (essential for any comparative analysis), especially core-based technologies of the Lower Palaeolithic. Archaeological field conditions may also prohibit the use of expensive and delicate precision instruments in certain cases. Here we present a crossbeam co-ordinate caliper that – crucially – both geometrically locates and measures distances between morphologically homologous landmarks upon lithic nuclei via a single protocol. Intra- and inter-observer error tests provide evidence that error levels associated with the instrument fall within acceptable ranges. In addition, we present empirical examples of application in the form of a multivariate analysis of 55 discrete morphometric variables, and a 3D geometric morphometric analysis of co-ordinate landmark configurations derived from Pleistocene lithic nuclei (i.e. ‘cores’ sensu lato). We also introduce to lithic studies some techniques for the study of shape variation that have previously been used with success in biological morphometric analyses. We conclude that use of an instrument such as the crossbeam co-ordinate caliper may provide a useful adjunct to traditional techniques of lithic analysis, particularly in developing a quantitative morphometric approach.     

Thermoluminescence dates for the Middle Palaeolithic site of Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (France)

Thermoluminescence dating of heated flint artefacts from the Middle Palaeolithic sequence of Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (France) places an assemblage of Quina type Mousterian into MIS 4, while the overlying assemblage of Denticulate Mousterian which is followed by two layers with Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition are all assigned to MIS 3. TL dating is used to verify the mixed nature of deposits from which diagnostic Middle as well as Upper Palaeolithic tools were recovered. The TL ages are significantly different for samples from this layer and broadly agree with the archaeological attributions. While the study is generally limited by the low number of heated samples available, a correlation with a generalized chronostratigraphic sequence is possible by including proxy data from the faunal remains associated with the lithic assemblages in question. The Quina Mousterian in southwestern France, therefore, can be placed by chronometric dating methods in MIS 4 to MIS 3.     

Bladelet cores as weapon tips? Hafting residue identification and micro-wear analysis of three carinated burins from the late Aurignacian of Les Vachons,France

The interpretation of Upper Palaeolithic carinated lithic forms as discarded cores from the production of bladelets is now well established and the weight of evidence to support this indisputable. However, it is also clear that the relationships between lithic typology, technology and function are complex. Presented here are micro-wear analyses of three carinated burins from the late Aurignacian level of Les Vachons, France. The remains of birch pitch adhering to the artefacts are clear evidence that they were hafted; the first time this material has been identified on Aurignacian artefacts. Thus, while the techno-morphology of the artefacts is consistent with their role as bladelet cores our results indicate that they functioned as hafted tools. Unlike other Middle and Upper Palaeolithic industries the Aurignacian is not thought to include (non-bladelet) lithic weapon tips. However, due to patterns of use-wear present on two of the artefacts we suggest that this was their most plausible hafted function.     

Multiple origins of Bondi Cave and Ortvale Klde (NW Georgia) obsidians and human mobility in Transcaucasia during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic

Using PIXE four types of elemental compositions were found among obsidian artefacts from the Bondi Cave and Ortvale Klde, Middle to Upper Palaeolithic sites in NW Georgia. One of those types corresponds to obsidians from the Chikiani source, whose compositions were determined with a very good agreement by PIXE and ICP-AES/MS. The composition of Chikiani obsidians is remarkably constant despite K–Ar and ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar extrusion ages from ca 2.4 and 2.8 Ma. The compositions of two other groups of obsidian artefacts are similar to source materials from eastern Anatolia and Armenia, in particular Ikisdere, Sarikamis, Gutansar, and Hatis. Obsidian is only a minority component in the lithic assemblages at the Bondi Cave and Ortvale Klde. Both Neanderthal and Modern Human populations used obsidian in particular from Chikiani. Considering that the shortest walking distance to this nearest source is at minimum of about 180 km, and to other potential sources of more than 350 km it is suggested that this material reached these two sites mostly, if not exclusively, by a series of ‘down the line’ exchanges.     

New evidence for Upper Palaeolithic small domestic dogs in South-Western Europe

Osteoarchaeology and genetics agree that the earliest dog domestications took place during the Upper Palaeolithic. However, they partially disagree about the process of domestication. The former indicated multiple origins, when some of the results of the latter suggested that dogs mainly came from a Chinese centre of domestication. In this study, we describe and discuss new evidence for Late Glacial small dogs in the South-West (Pont d’Ambon and Montespan) and North of France (Le Closeau). Special attention was paid to the possibility of miss-identification between small early dogs and dholes (Cuon alpinus), a middle-sized Canidae, the size of which can be similar to early small dogs. Detailed analyses of the archaeological contexts alongside that of taphonomy, morphoscopy, morphometry and pathology, identified 49 small canid remains from the three sites. They allowed us to exclude the presence of dholes and to conclude that they were all small Upper Paleolithic dogs. These, together with other more sparse discoveries, confirmed the presence of Western European Upper Paleolithic Small (WEUPS) dogs from, at least, the Middle Magdalenian to the end of the Epipaleolithic (i.e. 15,000–11,500 cal BP). As they are contemporaneous with the much larger Russian Upper Paleolithic dogs, they plea for several Euro-Asian origins for Late Palaeolithic dogs.     

The Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in Southeastern Central Europe (Czechoslovakia and Hungary)

Southeastern Central Europe is quite rich in finds of progressive Neandertals from Middle Paleolithic contexts and early modern humans associated with evolved Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian and Pavlovian). There are no human fossils that can be related to the transitional Middle-Upper Paleolithic units (the Bohunician and the Szeletian); thus, from anthropology we know only that the transitional period began with Neandertals and ended with modern humans. The archaeological record is more complex. The Jankovichian industries of Hungary differ from the mostly non-Levallois Middle Paleolithic of Central Europe in the presence of some Levallois; they seem to be technologically related to the Levallois-Leptolithic Bohunician industries of Moravia, dated to 43,000–38,000 B.P., which are the first transitional Upper Paleolithic unit. The appearance of the Szeletian before 42,000 B.P. in Hungary and at about 39,000 in Moravia represents a technological variation of the transition, although retaining marked local Middle Paleolithic elements. The date of the appearance of the typical Aurignacian, the first culture clearly related to modern humans, is unclear, but it certainly developed after 36,000 B.P. and has several dates between 35,000 and 30,000 B.P.     

Excavations at the Bairaki Lower Paleolithic Site,Trans-Dniesteria,in 2011

Early Paleolithic deposits of the left-bank high seventh fluvial terrace of the Dniester were excavated at Bairaki, Trans-Dniestria. The assemblage is comprised of 28 artifacts including distinct flakes, cores, and Lower Paleolithic tools. Based on the 2011 geological and archaeological study, tools from the riverbed alluvium, paralleled by those of the Middle Oldowan, date to the earliest Lower Pleistocene. Bairaki, then, should be classified among the most ancient Paleolithic sites in Eastern Europe.     

The Muddle in the Middle Pleistocene: The Lower–Middle Paleolithic Transition from the Levantine Perspective

The terms Lower Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic represent research constructs within which cultural evolution and prehistoric hominin behaviours can be studied, with the transition usually understood as marking a watershed in our evolution: an adaptation with a million-year record of success that gives way to something new. The interpretation of the Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian technocomplex is usually understood as a period of cultural stasis that extends over much of Africa and Eurasia, principally associated with Homo erectus. Those innovations that can be observed occur widely separated from one another in space and time. Yet a closer and more detailed examination of the Middle Pleistocene records from East Africa, southern Africa, Europe and the Levant reveals significant variation in cultural repertoires. A kind of paradox emerges, in which an Old World Lower Palaeolithic, apparently lacking an overall dynamic of distinctive and directed change in terms of cumulative variation over time, nevertheless culminates in a transition which sees the universal appearance of the Middle Palaeolithic. The two main hypotheses that have been advanced to explain the global transition, which happens essentially synchronously, appear mutually exclusive and contradictory. One view is that altered climatic-environmental constraints enabled and encouraged an ‘Out-of-Africa’ dispersal (or dispersals) of a new type of genus Homo. This cultural replacement model has been challenged more recently by the alternative hypothesis of accumulating but unrelated and temporally non-linked regional, and in fact potentially autochthonous, processes. The Levant, by virtue of its position bridging Africa and Eurasia (thus being the region into which any out-of-Africa groups would have had first to disperse into), must be seen as a critical region for assessing the relative merits of these competing hypotheses. This paper deals with the Lower–Middle Paleolithic boundary in the Levant within a long temporal perspective. The Middle Pleistocene record in the Levant enables us to examine the amplitude of variation within each techno-complex, as well as to question whether there are diachronic changes in the amplitude of techno-typological variations as well as changes in the manner by which they appear in the record. The results carry significant implications for understandings of demographic and societal processes during the Lower–Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant.     

Extensive Paleolithic Flint Extraction and Reduction Complexes in the Nahal Dishon Central Basin,Upper Galilee,Israel

Recently found open-air flint extraction and workshop sites in the Eastern Galilee, Israel, are the focus of this paper. Lithic assemblages from among a few of the thousands of tailing piles documented in a field survey, indicate mostly late Lower Palaeolithic/Middle Palaeolithic and rarely Neolithic/Chalcolithic affinities. These discoveries substantially increase our knowledge of the scope of lithic extraction and reduction in northern Israel in these periods. The new sites are located on a 25 km² outcrop of flint-bearing Eocene limestone indicating intensive extraction of large amounts of flint, possibly beyond immediate local consumption requirements. After describing the new sites, we discuss their relation to nearby Middle and Lower Palaeolithic sites; possible resource management scenarios; chronology and duration of the extraction and reduction activity; and the sites as possible landmarks. A key question is the extent of the flint distribution area, or, more precisely, whether this region was a dominant mega-quarry for northern Israel and/or Southern Lebanon in the periods discussed.     

Research on the Palaeolithic and Neolithic of Hadramaut and Mahra

This paper presents some of the results of exploration and excavation by the Soviet-Yemeni expedition carried out between 1983 and 1990 in Hadramaut and Mahra. Oldowan, Acheulean, Middle Palaeolithic, Upper Palaeolithic, and'Neolithic'stone tool industries are attested, providing what is probably the most detailed sequence covering these periods in the entire Arabian peninsula.