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.     

From early humans to farmers and herders—Recent progress on key transitions in Southwest Asia

Archaeologists conducting research on the Pleistocene and early Holocene prehistory of Southwest Asia have made a formidable series of new discoveries and fresh insights since 1987. This article examines recent progress and shortcomings on a series of diachronic research topics, including the transition to modern humans, the development of late Pleistocene regionalism and territoriality, the advent of sedentism near the end of the Pleistocene, the origins of food production, and the initial ascendance of social complexity.     

The Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia

The Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia, with comprises Denmark and Southern Sweden, has been an attractive area for research for several reasons, including the good preservation conditions at many sites. Most of the work has been concentrated on the southwestern part of Southern Scandinavia, but results from more recent investigations mean that other areas can also be analyzed. New finds in the last few years have given us a greater understanding of the Late Paleolithic settlement and of its relation of the Mesolithic. For the Early Mesolithic (10,000–8000 B.P.), interest has focused primarily on the small inland bog sites in the southern part of the area, where the coast has since been submerged. Farther north, where the land has been uplifted, evidence of coastal settlement has been documented. The Late Mesolithic (8000–6000 B.P.) is known chiefly on the basis of its large coastal settlements. In this period, there is also a larger and more varied collection of finds, which makes it possible to discern clear regional differences. There has also been considerable research on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic.     

The Upper Paleolithic of Northern Asia: Achievements,problems, and perspectives. III. Northeastern Siberia and the Russian Far East

Research into the Upper Paleolithic of northeastern Asia began in the 1940s. Recent work has led to the discovery of numbers of sites, some of them more than 30,000 years old, which are assigned to the D'uktai culture. The material recovered from these sites indicates relationships between the D'uktai culture and other cultures in Europe, Japan, Korea, China, and North America. For the most part, however, these similarities do not result from a spread of cultural traits from Europe into Asia. Instead, most of them reflect local development of the Upper Paleolithic, within both Asia and Europe, out of local Middle Paleolithic industries, which were themselves originally similar in technology and typology.     

Accelerator C dates for early upper paleolithic (basal Aurignacian) at El Castillo Cave (Spain)

Three fragments of charcoal taken from different parts of the lowermost bed containing Aurignacian artifacts at El Castillo Cave yielded AMS dates of 37·7 (± 1·8) ka bp, 38·5 (± 1·8) ka bp, and 40·0 (± 2·1) ka bp (average 38·7 ± 1·9 ka bp). These dates are almost identical to new AMS dates from l'Arbreda cave in Catalunya on the same cultural horizon (average 38·5 ± 1·0 ka bp) and are significantly older than the earliest dates for Aurignacian industries in the Aquitaine and in other parts of Central and Western Europe.     

Middle pleistocene adaptations in Central Europe

The biological evolution documented in the fossil and archaeological record of Central Europe between about 700,000 and 100,000 years ago reflects the transition fromHomo erectus to the earliestHomo sapiens. These populations created different types of industries, ranging from assemblages of small artifacts and industries with simple pebble tools to standardized units such as the Evolved Acheulean and the Early Mousterian. The industries of the Last Interglacial (Taubachian) show some regression in technological standardization and a reappearance of small artifacts. Other aspects of cultural adaptation (settlements, dwellings, hunting activity, symbolic and aesthetic expressions) are also summarized. It is suggested that the impact of climate and climatic changes on human settlement and behavior was greater in Central Europe (where two glaciations advanced from both north and south) than in the Mediterranean and Western Europe. The general trend of cultural veolution was toward greater technological and social complexity, but its course was not unilinear.     

The Upper Paleolithic of northern Asia: Achievements,problems, and perspectives. I. Western Siberia

The beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in Western Siberia is now dated to almost 35,000 B.P. The earliest sites reveal a well-developed blade technology and very sophisticated mobiliary art. The evidence suggests that the early Upper Paleolithic developed within Siberia out of the local Mousterian and that there is no need to regard it as an intrusive phenomenon out of the west, as has been traditionally done. The florescence of the Western Siberian Upper Paleolithic began at about the glacial maximum and two major cultural groups can be identified. However, they share many features in common and seem not to have existed in isolation from each other; instead, it is possible to trace numerous complex and interwoven connections between them. Together, they form a Western Siberian Upper Paleolithic technocomplex, which was essentially local but fully as sophisticated and as technologically advanced as was that of Europe.     

河南境内古人类及旧石器遗存的发现及其问题

河南省自1954年发现第一块旧石器时代人工制品以来,境内已发现众多古人类-旧石器遗址或地点,尤其是近十年来在许昌灵井发现了距今约10万年前的古人类头骨化石和数万件人工制品,在新密李家沟发现了新旧石器时代的地层及文化遗物,以及在栾川、登封和淅川等地发现了古人类化石或石叶技术,使之成为研究现代人类起源、新旧石器时代过渡等的热点地区。     

贵阳的远古人类与史前文明

贵阳地处黔中腹地,是全省政治经济文化中心,对贵阳早期历史的探寻,文献记载显然鞭长莫及,近年来通过考古学的发现,逐渐使我们对贵阳早期的人类与文明有了一个初步的了解和认识,将贵阳地区人类社会历史的上限推进到了数万年前。     

Environmental Conditions of The Late Paleolithic and Early Neolithic Sites in Southern Sakhalin

The article presents the results of a palynological study conducted at Late Paleolithic (Olympiya-5 and Ogonki-5) and Early Neolithic (Slavnaya-5) sites located in the southern part of Sakhalin Island. The reconstructed environments оf Late Paleolithic sites in southern Sakhalin included dark coniferous (fir and spruce) forests, indicative of a relatively warm phases of the last stadial coinciding with Daansgard-Oeschger oscillations. The Early Holocene conditions in southern Sakhalin were relatively warm although a virtually complete absence of pollen of deciduous trees suggests that the Boreal period was not the Holocene climatic optimum in that region.