Anatomy,behavior, and modern human origins

The fossil record suggests that modern human morphology evolved in Africa between 150,000 and 50,000 years ago, when the sole inhabitants of Eurasia were the Neanderthals and other equally nonmodern people. However, the earliest modern or near-modern Africans were behaviorally (archaeologically) indistinguishable from their nonmodern, Eurasian contemporaries, and it was only around 50,000-40,000 years ago that a major behavioral difference developed. Archaeological indications of this difference include the oldest indisputable ornaments (or art broadly understood); the oldest evidence for routine use of bone, ivory, and shell to produce formal (standardized) artifacts; greatly accelerated variation in stone artifact assemblages through time and space; and hunting-gathering innovations that promoted significantly larger populations. As a complex, the novel traits imply fully modern cognitive and communicative abilities, or more succinctly, the fully modern capacity for Culture. The competitive advantage of this capacity is obvious, and preliminary dates suggest that it appeared in Africa about 50,000 years ago and then successively in western Asia, eastern Europe, and western Europe, in keeping with an African origin. Arguably, the development of modern behavior depended on a neural change broadly like those that accompanied yet earlier archaeologically detectable behavioral advances. This explanation is problematic, however, because the putative change was in brain organization, not size, and fossil skulls provide little or no secure evidence for brain structure. Other potential objections to a neural advance in Africa 50,000-40,000 years ago or to the wider Out-of-Africa hypothesis, include archaeological evidence (1) that some Neanderthals were actually capable of fully modern behavior and (2) that some Africans were behaviorally modern more than 90,000 years ago.     

Chronology and palaeoenvironment of levantine prehistoric sites as seen from sediment studies

Analysis of sediments from the sites of et-Tabun, Jebel Qafza, and Sefunim in Israel, of Ksar 'Aqil in Lebanon, and of Yabrud Rockshelter I and Jerf 'Ajla in Syria leads to a reconstruction of the environments of deposition, periods of weathering and erosion, and relations to changing sea level during the times of occupation of these sites by prehistoric man. The overlapping sequences span the interval from part or all of the last interglaciation through the time of the last glaciation into historic time. Aeolians and from the last interglacial littoral zone and aeolian silt from more distant deserts dominate the site sediments until the early part of the last glaciation (especially at Tabun), whereas colluvial slope deposits, alluvium (Ksar 'Aqil), and angular rockfall debris are characteristic of the mid-last glaciation sediments in most sites, commonly with an admixture of reworked terra rossa soil sediment. These latter sediments seem to reflect a period or periods of greater available moisture or surface run-off. Prominent unconformities mark many sites at times coincident with the final middle palaeolithic (mousterian) occupations or in the interval between middle palaeolithic and upper palaeolithic occupations. It is not clear, in the absence of firm radiometric dates, whether these hiatuses should be correlated from site-to-site or whether they are site-specific. Freeze/thaw phenomena appear not to have played a significant role, if any at all, in the origin of sediments in coastal Levantine sites, although the middle palaeolithic of the Syrian Desert (Yabrud, Jerf 'Ajla) is contained in typical cryoclastic rubble. Finally, the reconstructed sedimentary environments are compared with the still-too-sparse palynological record for the Near East. Parallels of more humid and less humid climatic intervals throughout the past 60,000 to 70,000 years in both of these records reinforce the growing impression of a regionally fluctuating climate in the eastern Mediterranean region during the time of the last glaciation.     

The holotype of Pseudisograptus manubriatus manubriatus (Hall, 1914)—implications for the identification of Pseudisograptus manubriatus subspecies

VandenBerg, A.H.M. & Maletz, J., April 2016. The holotype of Pseudisograptus manubriatus manubriatus (Hall, 1914)—implications for the identification of Pseudisograptus manubriatus subspecies. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

The holotype of Pseudisograptus manubriatus manubriatus (Hall, 1914) has been rediscovered in the collections of Museum Victoria and is recognized to belong to Pseudisograptus manubriatus harrisi as described by Cooper & Ni (1986). This taxon becomes a junior synonym of P. m. manubriatus. The selected neotype of Pseudisograptus manubriatus manubriatus (Hall, 1914) can be referred to Pseudisograptus manubriatus texanus Cooper & Ni, 1986. The proximal development in all known relief specimens of Pseudisograptus and their descendants indicates that a symmetrical development of the manubrium must be regarded as the rule, and the interpretation of a strong asymmetry in Pseudisograptus manubriatus texanus is rejected.

Alfons H.M. VandenBerg [avandenberg@museum.vic.gov.au, lanceolatus@hotmail.com], Geology, Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Vic 3001, Australia; Jörg Maletz [yorge@zedat.fu-berlin.de], Department of Earth Sciences, FU Berlin, Malteserstrasse 74-100, D-12249 Berlin, Germany.     

翁牛特旗大营子冶炼遗址研究

大营子冶炼遗址位于赤峰市翁牛特旗五分地镇大营子村南侧的大山的北坡上,包含东西两区冶炼遗存。东区冶炼遗存年代较早,至迟在公元前1 400年已开始冶炼活动。铅同位素、微量元素示踪研究显示大营子冶炼遗址东西两区均使用了来自林西县大井古铜矿的多金属共生矿石,直接冶炼铜砷锡三元青铜合金。大营子冶炼遗址东区冶炼遗存的年代测定,获得了迄今为止最早的夏家店上层文化年代测定结果,为探讨辽西地区青铜时代考古学文化的演变提供了新的科学证据。     

Local amber in a Palaeolithic context in Cantabrian Spain: the case of La Garma A

It is important to determine the geological sources of Palaeolithic ambers in the south of Europe in order to understand the mobility and interchanges of prehistoric societies. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis carried out on Upper Palaeolithic ambers from La Garma A cave (Cantabria, Northern Spain) allowed us to identify their source area. Their diagnostic features were found to be similar to the amber obtained in the Lower Cretaceous outcrops close to this archaeological site, and to differ clearly from Baltic amber, which has been generally suggested as the amber found in European prehistoric sites. These results show that the origin of the Gravettian amber found in La Garma A is local and, consequently, a hypothetical contact route is not required to be able to account for the presence of this material in the Iberian Palaeolithic context studied here. For the first time it has been demonstrated that the provenance of an archaeological amber in the Iberian Peninsula is local, with both geographical and spectroscopical evidences. Our study also concludes that the archaeological amber of La Garma A possibly belongs to an araucariacean resin that originated from the coniferous forests which grew in the northeast portion of the Iberian Plate c.110-million years ago.     

Conodonts and tabulate corals from the Upper Ordovician Angullong Formation of central New South Wales,Australia

Zhen, Y.Y., Wang, G.X. &; Percival, I.G., August 2016. Conodonts and tabulate corals from the Upper Ordovician Angullong Formation of central New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Angullong Formation is the youngest Ordovician unit exposed in the Cliefden Caves area of central New South Wales. Its maximum age is constrained by a Styracograptus uncinatus graptolite Biozone fauna at the very top of the underlying Malongulli Formation, but the few fossils previously reported from higher in the Angullong Formation are either long-ranging or poorly known. From allochthonous limestone clasts in the middle part of the formation, we document a conodont fauna comprising Aphelognathus grandis, A. solidum, Aphelognathus sp., Aphelognathus? sp., Belodina confluens, Drepanoistodus suberectus, Panderodus gracilis, Panderodus sp., Phragmodus undatus, Pseudobelodina inclinata and Pseudobelodina? sp. aff. P. obtusa, which supports correlation with the Aphelognathus grandis Biozone (late Katian) of the North American Midcontinent succession. The species concepts of Aphelognathus and Pseudobelodina are reviewed in detail. Associated corals are exclusively tabulates, dominated by agetolitids, including Agetolites angullongensis sp. nov., Heliolites orientalis, Hemiagetolites breviseptatus, Hemiagetolites sp. cf. H. spinimarginatus, Navoites sp. cf. N. circumflexa, Plasmoporella bacilliforma, P. marginata, Quepora sp. cf. Q. calamus and Sarcinula sp. Affinities of the coral fauna from the Angullong Formation are closer to faunas from northern NSW and northern Queensland than to the locally recognized Fauna III of late Eastonian age in central NSW. We propose a subdivision of Fauna III to account for this difference, with the late Katian Fauna IIIB characterized by the incoming of agetolitid corals. The currently known distribution of representatives of this group with adequate age constraints suggests that agetolitids possibly originated in North China, subsequently migrating to Tarim, South China and adjacent peri-Gondwanan terranes while also spreading eastward to northern Gondwana, where they progressively moved through eastern Australia to reach the central NSW region by the early Bolindian.

Yong Yi Zhen* (yong-yi.zhen@industry.nsw.gov.au) and Ian G. Percival (ian.percival@industry.nsw.gov.au), Geological Survey of New South Wales, W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry, NSW 2753, Australia; Guangxu Wang (gxwang@nigpas.ac.cn), State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road Nanjing 210008 PR China.     

The Late Upper Palaeolithic Occupation of the Moroccan Northwest Maghreb During the Last Glacial Maximum

New work at Kehf el Hammar Cave provides the first well-dated palaeoenvironmental sequence for the Late Upper Palaeolithic in this region of the northwest Maghreb. The archaeological layers are dated via a combination of AMS radiocarbon and luminescence dating methods. The sequence contains charcoal-rich occupation layers with faunal, human and lithic finds. Local vegetational patterns are reconstructed on the basis of preliminary analysis of the charcoal evidence. Using standard calibration curves the AMS radiocarbon dates are compared with proxy evidence for climatic change from sea core records in the Alborán Sea. These appear to show that the Late Upper Palaeolithic occupation of the region coincides closely with Heinrich Event 1, a period marked by intense aridification and dating to ca. 16,700–17,250 calendar years ago.Les nouvelles recherches dans la grotte de Kehf el Hammar ont permis d’obtenir la première séquence paléoenevironnementale bien datée du Paléolithique supérieur tardif au Nord Ouest du Maghreb. En effet, les niveaux archéologiques ont été datés par le radiocarbone par accélérateur (AMS) et des méthodes radiométriques basées sur la luminescence. En revanche, les paléoenvironnements végétaux ont été partiellement reconstitués à base des premières analyses des charbons de bois. Les dates AMS calibrées ont été comparées aux données climatiques issues des carottes marines dans la mer Alborán. Ainsi, les occupations humaines du Paléolithique supérieur tardif dans la région ont sensiblement coïncidé avec l’événement climatique Heinrich 1. Celui-ci correspond à une période qui a été marquée par une aridification intense entre 16.700 et 17.250 ans (cal.).     

Two sides of the same coin—rocks, bones and site function of Picareiro Cave, central Portugal

The issue of site function rarely has been a main focus in the study of Portuguese Upper Paleolithic. This fact may be related to a lack of interest in this research area. More likely, however, it is due to the fact that there are relatively few Paleolithic sites with data that allow a serious study of site function. At Picareiro Cave, central Portugal, there are various data sets from level F/G dated to the latter Magdalenian that are adequate for this type of research. These are habitat structures, lithic artifacts, macro- and mesofauna, as well as 3D location of all artifacts and fauna larger than 1 cm. Based on the interpretation of the analytical results of each data set, it is possible to reconstruct site function of this particular level of Picareiro Cave. The morphology of one of the hearths, being very large in size, with the base prepared and a pavement surrounding it, as well as the condition and diversity of fauna, indicates that it was used for processing the meat of rabbits, red deer, and wild boar, probably through smoking and grilling. All of the evidence from the different types of data (lithic artifacts, habitat structures, use of space, and fauna) indicate that Layers F/G of Picareiro Cave are the result of a specific task, that of processing animal carcasses of rabbits, red deer, and wild boar.     

The origins of lithic projectile point technology: evidence from Africa,the Levant,and Europe

Projectile weaponry is a human cultural universal, but its origins and antiquity remain poorly understood. Stone- and bone-tipped projectile weapons have long been treated as emergent features of the "Upper Paleolithic" behavioral revolution. Recently it has been proposed that projectile technology was in widespread use among Homo sapiens populations in Africa during Middle Stone Age (MSA) times. One obstacle to researching the origins of projectile point technology is that the criteria archaeologists employ for recognizing plausible and implausible stone projectile points are largely subjective (overall tool shape, microwear traces). Tip cross-sectional area (TCSA) is a ballistically significant dimension that works well at discriminating North American stone projectile points (spearthrower dart tips and arrowheads) from spear points. This paper compares the TCSA values of ethnographic North American stone projectile points to hypothetical Middle and Upper Paleolithic stone projectile points from Africa, the Levant, and Europe. The results of this comparison do not support the hypothesis of widespread use of stone-tipped projectiles in Africa, the Levant, or Europe prior to 40 Ka. In the New World and in Australia, where we have the richest ethnographic record of stone projectile point use, these implements are largely employed in big-game hunting and in warfare. One or both of these factors may have played a role in the widespread adoption of stone projectile point technology after 40 Ka.     

论马家浜文化之前太湖地区的地理埋藏环境

近年来,地处东部沿海的浙江和山东地区陆续发现了距今11000～7000年间新石器时代中期和早期遗址,因此探讨江苏地区马家浜文化之前的地理埋藏问题也是必要的。本文重点探讨了长江下游太湖地区更新世晚期和早全新世时期的地理埋藏环境,并认为本区也应该存在新石器时代早中期的遗址。