Soanian cores and core-tools from Toka,Northern India: Towards a new typo-technological organization

Since the initial ‘discovery’ and explanation of the Soanian industry by H. de Terra and T.T. Paterson in the 1930s, multiple interpretations have been offered by various investigators on its chronology, geographical distribution, relationship with the Acheulian, and technological progression. In most cases, the presence of explicit tool-types and the absence of Acheulian bifaces were the distinguishing features utilized to recognize the industry as well as delineate its technological development through time and space. However, in light of recent intra-regional geoarchaeological investigations and the analyses of a large surface assemblage by the author, the existing framework for Soanian typology is in need of judicious revision. In this paper, some of the methodological and interpretative problems are briefly discussed from a historical perspective and the technological organization of cores and core-based tools from Toka, a rich factory site, is described. Essentially, the Toka assemblage comprises a dynamic range of non-biface tool-types on quartzite, which possess varying patterns of core reduction techniques, edge retouch, and associated use-wear. The study also introduces a modified typological classification of specific chopper morphologies, which may be broadly applicable in global context.     

What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa

This article reviews the recent history of the archaeology of African hunter-gatherers, focusing on debates around the origins of modern humans and the destiny of hunter-gatherers with the advent of food production. African archaeologists are developing an increasing appreciation for the diversity of African hunter-gatherer societies. Understandings of hunter-gatherers based primarily on ethnography are being successfully challenged and extended.     

The Late Upper Paleolithic occupation of the northern Tibetan Plateau margin

The pre-Neolithic history of the Tibetan Plateau is virtually unknown. Test excavations of Late Paleolithic sites, described here, provide preliminary evidence that the initial occupation of the plateau's extreme environments was by small groups of foragers probably traveling from lower elevation plateau margins. These foragers occupied very short-term camps focused on the procurement and extensive processing of small-to-medium mammals. Five separate occupations date to 13–15,000 Cal yr BP, but limited survey data suggest mid-elevation locations may have been temporarily occupied as early as 25,000 years ago. Full-time, year-round occupation of the plateau probably did not take place until the early Neolithic advent of domesticated animals.     

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.     

A Paleolithic Cache at Tolbor (Northern Mongolia)*

This study presents analyses of a unique assemblage of lithic artifacts, 57 large flakes, discovered in the Ikh Tulberiin Gol River valley of Northern Mongolia. The assemblage represents the first Paleolithic cache ever discovered in Mongolia and is an isolated find, not directly associated with a habitation or logistic activity site. Results of use-wear analysis suggest most of the flakes were unused, with only a few minimally used for processing wood. GIS analyses of the local landscape indicate that the placement of the artifacts was likely symbolic, rather than utilitarian or for storage, lying in an east-west linear viewshed of the primary mountain pass to an adjacent river basin. Based on the context of the discovery as an isolated find and technical-typological features of the artifacts, the assemblage is interpreted as a cache of tool blanks that was purposefully and symbolically positioned on the landscape relative to the primary mountain pass by Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.     

Ungulates and the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition at Grotte XVI (Dordogne, France)

Grotte XVI (Dordogne, France) contains a rich archaeological sequence that begins during the Mousterian and continues through the Magdalenian and includes Châtelperronian and early Aurignacian assemblages. Analyses of the ungulates from this site show no significant change in skeletal part representation, butchering intensity (as measured by cut mark numbers and placement), degree of bone fragmentation, and intensity of carnivore damage across the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition. Relative taxonomic abundances of ungulates change significantly from the Mousterian to the early Aurignacian, but these changes are consistent with climatic forcing and continue throughout the sequence. Only the Magdalenian ungulate assemblage is clearly distinct from all others when examined in terms of these variables, perhaps because of altered predator/prey ratios on the local landscape. Cave bear relative abundances decline precipitously across the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition; this decline may reflect increased human residence times and/or group sizes during this interval, just as Kurtén observed many years ago.     

内蒙古鄂尔多斯市乌兰木伦旧石器时代中期遗址

乌兰木伦遗址由邻近的第1、第2和第3地点组成。其中在第1地点获得了石制品2780件、动物化石3423件,并发现用火遗迹。遗址年代为距今7～3万年,属旧石器时代中期。遗址为原地埋藏,其石制品类型及工业组合与欧洲旧石器时代中期文化近似,动物化石则属于华北晚更新世的萨拉乌苏动物群。