Hovk 1 and the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of Armenia: a preliminary framework

The territory of present day Armenia is a geographic contact zone between the Near East and the northern Caucasus. Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records are both few and patchy as a result of the historical paucity of systematic archaeological research in the country. Consequently, it is currently difficult to correlate the Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records with those from other neighboring regions. We present new archaeological and chronometric data (luminescence, U-Th, and ¹⁴C) from our ongoing research at Hovk 1 Cave in northeast Armenia. We discuss in particular two activity phases in Hovk 1 Cave for which we have outline chronometric data: (1) an early Middle Paleolithic occupational phase, dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to 104 ± 9.8 ka BP_OSL; and (2) a Paleolithic occupational phase characterized by microlithic flakes dated by AMS ¹⁴C to 39,109 ± 1,324 calibrated years BP_Hulu. The two phases are separated by a hiatus in hominin occupation corresponding to MIS 4 and an episode in early MIS 3. These chronometric data, taken together with the preliminary paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Hovk 1 Cave and environment, suggest that these activity phases represent short-lived and seasonal use of the cave presumably by small groups of hunters during episodes of mild climate. Neither tool manufacture nor butchery appears to have taken place within the cave, and consequently, the archaeological record included, for the most part, finished tools and blanks. We address the chronology and techno-typological aspects of Hovk 1 lithics in relation to: (1) the Paleolithic records of Armenia, and (2) the broader interregional context of early Middle Paleolithic hominin occupation and the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in the Caucasus.     

原料产地对中国东北和韩国旧石器时代晚期黑曜岩石器工业的影响

本文以原料产地距离衰减效应为视角,根据目前中国东北地区和韩国旧石器时代晚期黑曜岩石制品的发现情况以及黑曜岩产源地研究成果,结合狩猎采集人群社交网络模型、民族学、考古学资料,对以长白山为核心的黑曜岩源产地对中韩两地的辐射影响作出了直接供应区（天池火山口为圆心辐射半径150~200 km）和接触区（距离天池火山口200 km以上）的划分。在此基础上对比研究两地的黑曜岩石制品,发现由于距离源头产地较远,韩国黑曜岩石制品的数量以及类型丰度均低于中国东北地区。而又由于原料的长距离损耗以及对于原料更加经济的开发利用,导致韩国典型遗址中黑曜岩细石核与完整石片的体积更小,原料缩减更甚。     

Is Central Asia the eastern outpost of the Neandertal range? A reassessment of the Teshik‐Tash child

Since its discovery in southeastern Uzbekistan in 1938, the Teshik-Tash child has been considered a Neandertal. Its affinity is important to studies of Late Pleistocene hominin growth and development as well as interpretations of the Central Asian Middle Paleolithic and the geographic distribution of Neandertals. A close examination of the original Russian monograph reveals the incompleteness of key morphologies associated with the cranial base and face and problems with the reconstruction of the Teshik-Tash cranium, making its Neandertal attribution less certain than previously assumed. This study reassesses the Neandertal status of Teshik-Tash 1 by comparing it to a sample of Neandertal, Middle and Upper Paleolithic modern humans, and recent human sub-adults. Separate examinations of the cranium and mandible are conducted using multinomial logistic regression and discriminant function analysis to assess group membership. Results of the cranial analysis group Teshik-Tash with Upper Paleolithic modern humans when variables are not size-standardized, while results of the mandibular analysis place the specimen with recent modern humans for both raw and size-standardized data. Although these results are influenced by limitations related to the incomplete nature of the comparative sample, they suggest that the morphology of Teshik-Tash 1 as expressed in craniometrics is equivocal. Although, further quantitative studies as well as additional sub-adult fossil finds from this region are needed to ascertain the morphological pattern of this specimen specifically, and Central Asian Middle Paleolithic hominins in general, these results challenge current characterizations of this territory as the eastern boundary of the Neandertal range during the Late Pleistocene.     

Timescales and cultural process at 40,000 BP in the light of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption, Western Eurasia

Significant new information shows that the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption from the Phlegrean Fields, southern Italy, was much larger than hitherto supposed and in fact one of the largest late Quaternary explosive events. The eruption can be dated to 40,000 calendar years ago, within the interval of the so-called Middle to Upper Paleolithic 'transition'. Its position can be precisely correlated with a number of other environmental events, including Heinrich Event 4 (HE4), the Laschamp excursion, and a particular cosmogenic nuclide peak. In view of this unique combination of factors, we studied the CI volcanic catastrophe with particular attention to its impact on climate and human ecosystems, including potential interference with ongoing processes of cultural evolution (biological evolution is best left aside for the moment). The contribution of this research is chronological and ecological. The CI volcanic event provides an unequalled means of correlating stratigraphic sequences across Western Eurasia, either directly or indirectly, and affords a unique opportunity to establish the age and climatic context of important archaeological sequences. Ecologically, the CI eruption inevitably interacted with the beginning of HE4 in terms of atmospheric feedback systems. Their combined forcing produced a sudden and at least hemispheric climatic deterioration; a 'volcanic winter' scenario cannot be ruled out. Paleolithic occupation was severely altered throughout the direct-impact zone of the eruption and likely along fringe areas in southern and southeastern Europe. The above observations call for a reconsideration of the processes and rhythms involved in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic 'transition'. A tentative model is suggested that links the exceptional environmental stress at 40,000 BP with processes already active in Paleolithic societies, leading to a period of accelerated change in cultural configurations. These eventually evolved into an Upper Paleolithic proper at a later date. The evidence to invoke allochthonous cultural input or invasionist scenarios is not considered compelling.     

Diet of upper paleolithic modern humans: Evidence from microwear texture analysis

This article presents the results of the occlusal molar microwear texture analysis of 32 adult Upper Paleolithic modern humans from a total of 21 European sites dating to marine isotope stages 3 and 2. The occlusal molar microwear textures of these specimens were analyzed with the aim of examining the effects of the climatic, as well as the cultural, changes on the diets of the Upper Paleolithic modern humans. The results of this analysis do not reveal any environmentally driven dietary shifts for the Upper Paleolithic hominins indicating that the climatic and their associated paleoecological changes did not force these humans to significantly alter their diets in order to survive. However, the microwear texture analysis does detect culturally related changes in the Upper Paleolithic humans' diets. Specifically, significant differences in diet were found between the earlier Upper Paleolithic individuals, i.e., those belonging to the Aurignacian and Gravettian contexts, and the later Magdalenian ones, such that the diet of the latter group was more varied and included more abrasive foods compared with those of the former. Am J Phys Anthropol 153:570–581, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The fossil palynoflora,geological age,and climatostratigraphy of the earliest deposits of the Karama site (Early Paleolithic,Altai Mountains)

The results of palynological analysis of the Early Paleolithic Karama site (northeastern Altai Mountains) are presented. The Karama site is among the most unique and ancient archeological sites of Eurasia. Detailed palynological study has refined the geological age of the sediments that enclose pebble industry artifacts. The landscape and climatic conditions of Early Paleolithic man are reconstructed. A detailed characterization of the changes in the flora and vegetation that occurred during the most ancient Neo-Pleistocene interglacials and glacials is provided.     

Nouveaux sites paléolithiques de l’oasis de Djizak

The present paper is devoted to the study of Paleolithic settlements recently discovered in the territory of the Djizak Oasis. Some Paleolithic settlements such as Yangikichlak, Azimboulak, Gourdara 1, 2 and Shachmai-Doston were discovered at the roof of the Nourata mountain range in the Farich district. Their cultural layers are not conserved but the single discoveries testify to the presence of prehistoric human camps in the Upper Paleolithic period. The lithic assemblage from the sites of the Djizak Oasis has some similarities with the material coming from the Tachkent site complex and from the Samarkand drainage basin. The discovery of the settlements and their later studies fill gaps on the Paleolithic map of the region.     

The beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Iranian Zagros. A taphonomic approach and techno-economic comparison of Early Baradostian assemblages from Warwasi and Yafteh (Iran)

Southwest Asia is a key region in current debates surrounding the appearance of the first cultures attributed to anatomically modern humans, particularly the Aurignacian and preceding cultural units of the Iranian Zagros, Levant, and the Balkans (Baradostian, Ahmarien, Kozarnikien, etc.). The Zagros mountain range encompasses an immense territory that remains understudied with regard to the Upper Paleolithic as well as the first bladelet industries traditionally presumed to be the work of anatomically modern humans. Concerning the emergence of the Aurignacian, the sites of Warwasi rockshelter and Yafteh cave in the central Zagros are considered to show evidence of in situ evolution of the Upper Paleolithic from the local Mousterian. This hypothesis is tested by way of a taphonomic, techno-typological and economic approach applied to the Upper Paleolithic levels of Warwasi (spits LL–AA) and Yafteh (the series from the lower part of the sequence). A comparison of the techno-economic features of both assemblages demonstrates a conceptual bond with contemporaneous techno-complexes from Levant and Europe (Ahmarian, Protoaurignacian, etc.). The techno-typological Middle Paleolithic character of the Warwasi lithic assemblage permits a discussion of a possible in situ dependence/continuum from the Mousterian or perhaps particular activities linked to the type of the occupation of the site. However, bladelet technology cannot be considered as rooted in the Zagros Mousterian. Consequently the origin of the Aurignacian sensu stricto has to be reconsidered.     

West Siberian Latitudinal Xylomycological Scale and Its Use for Indicating Forest Conditions

A quantitative analysis of the aphyllophoroid macromycetes of Betula complex on 207 sites of the territory of the West Siberian Plain in the range from forest tundra to forest steppe allows us to determine the width of the zone and its patterns for the biota of xylotrophic fungi. It is shown that the width and structure of the zonal xylomycocomplexes is determined, first and foremost, by climatic factors, which are characterized by an expressed hydrothermal gradient. They influence fungi directly also by the formation of the forest stand corresponding to climate. The sequence of width and zone xylomycocomplex of the region is a scale for the indication of forest vegetation conditions and parameters of the forest stand of a particular timber stand. Possibilities of indication are expanded with the differentiation of the xylomycocomplex and, respectively, its width and zone scale on functional fractions of fungi (stem, peripheral, and wound types). The scale is used for assessing the condition of woods in the Numto Natural Park (northern taiga). For the characteristic of each site, coefficients of correlation of numerical structure of this mycocenos and the zone xylomycocomplex in the range from the forest tundra to the forest steppe were obtained and calculated for functional groups. The configuration of the growth spectral curves obtained in this way and their mutual position indicates the peculiarities of the hydrothermal regime of a plot; the influence of mechanical damages on tree stands; and their physiological conditions, completeness, quality, and age. It is shown that, according to the results of mycological indication, forest conditions of the Numto National Park forest plots damaged by fires and clearcuttings correspond to forest conditions of the zones to the south of the park. Regularities of the West Siberian latitude and zone xylomycological scale are characterized by a certain universality for the forest biome of Siberia, which is confirmed by similar regularities obtained during a study of elevation and zone distribution of the xylomycocomplex of Transbaikalia.     

Les industries lithiques moustériennes de la Baume Moula-Guercy (Soyons,Ardèche). Fouilles 1993–1999

The Moula-Guercy cave is located in southeastern France in the middle part and on the west bank of the Rhone valley, 80 meters above the Pleistocene Rhone River between the Ardeche Mountains and the western part of the Alps. Excavations spanning from 1993–1999 have yielded 2595 lithic artefacts out of which over 92% are coming from the four main layers (lV, VIII, XIV and XV) corresponding to the seasonal hunting site. The stratigraphic sequence is exclusively Middle Paleolithic. Paleontological and geological analysis led to the division of the sequence into 19 layers grouped into three climatic phases corresponding to isotope stages 4 to 6. The layer XV unearthed the remains of 6 cannibalized Neanderthals: children, adolescents, and adults. The study of the lithic assemblages highlights two distinct sets corresponding to layers IV–VIII and XIV–XV. This probably indicates that the same territory was travelled by two human groups with different technical traditions ten thousands years apart in very different climatic and ecological contexts. This study is also questioning whether the discoid debitage (sensu Bordes) should be part of the Levallois philosophy.     

Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave,Mount Carmel,Israel

The transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant is a crucial event in human evolution, since it may involve the arrival of a new human population. In the current study, we present thermoluminescence (TL) dates obtained from 32 burnt flints retrieved from the late Lower Paleolithic (Acheulo-Yabrudian) and Early Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) layers of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Early Middle Paleolithic industries rich in Levallois and laminar products were assigned mean ages ranging from ∼250 to ∼160 ka (thousands of years ago), suggesting a production of this industry during MIS 7 and the early part of MIS 6. The mean ages obtained for the samples associated with the Acheulo-Yabrudian (strengthened by an isochron analysis) indicate a production of this cultural complex ∼250 ka ago, at the end of MIS 8. According to the Misliya TL dates, the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the site took place at the limit MIS 8/7 or during the early part of MIS 7. The dates, together with the pronounced differences in lithic technology strongly suggest the arrival of a new population during this period.     

Multivariate analysis of phyto-climatic patterns of the Croatian part of the eastern Adriatic coast

ABSTRACT

The present study analyses the climatic patterns of that part of the eastern Adriatic coast belonging to the Republic of Croatia and the narrow zone of the inlands. This area comprises a part of the Mediterranean phytogeographic region characterised by the Mediterranean climate type, and the transitional area towards the Eurosiberian phytogeographic region influenced by the continental climate type. The analysis was performed using multivariate numerical methods, cluster analysis following by the inertia analysis, and Principal Components Analysis with partitioning, considering the principal local climatic gradients in the data set. Six main climate classes were obtained. The results are biologically more interpretable than those obtained by using either numerical indices or the Walter climate diagram system. This suggests that multivariate numerical methods could be more efficient tools for detecting biologically significant climatic patterns on a small spatial scale.     

水洞沟第12地点2007年出土石核研究

本文是对2007年发掘获得的水洞沟第12地点石核类石制品的系统分析,研究对象包括锤击石核46件、砸击石核82件、细石核95件。通过对石核的尺寸、技术特征分析发现,锤击石核是细石核的预制阶段;砸击技术的开发对象多是以燧石为代表的优质石料,尺寸小,不适于锤击及间接剥片技术的应用;细石叶技术是该遗址的核心剥片技术,其中以楔形石核的打制技术最成体系。这种以细石叶技术为主体的文化现象,在旧石器时代晚期末段的中国北方地区具有普遍性,是人类在气候波动的条件下实现适应生存的重要技术保证。     

La culture du Paléolithique dans la région de Jungwon en Corée

The Jungwon region is located in the central part of Korea and it is one of crucial regions for understanding of the Korean Paleolithic culture. Many Paleolithic sites have been discovered in this region, from the lower Paleolithic to the upper Paleolithic. It is of interest the remarkable variety of archeological remains such as human bones, stone tools, animal bones and paleoenvironmental artifacts. As a result, it permits us to reconstruct the subsistence of prehistoric men. This region has an important role for Korean prehistoric researches.     

Neandertals,competition, and the origin of modern human behavior in the Levant

The East Mediterranean Levant is a small region, but its paleoanthropological record looms large in debates about the origin of modern humans and the fate of the Neandertals. For most of the twentieth century, the Levantine paleoanthropological record supported models of continuity and evolutionary transition between Neandertals and early modern humans. Recent advances in radiometric dating have challenged these models by reversing the chronological relationship between Levantine Neandertals and early modern humans. This revised chronostratigraphy for Levantine Middle Paleolithic human fossils raises interesting questions about the evolutionary relationship between Neandertals and early modern humans. A reconsideration of this relationship moves us closer to understanding the long delay between the origin of morphologically modern‐looking humans during the Middle Paleolithic (>130 Kyr) and the adaptive radiation of modern humans into Eurasia around the time of the transition from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic (50 to 30 Kyr).     

Les nouveaux sites paléolithiques de la vallée de Ferghana

The paper aims to present recent discoveries of Paleolithic sites in the Ferghana oasis. Until now, the Upper Paleolithic sites were unknown in this part of Uzbekistan. The archaeological deposits mentioned in this paper and preliminarily attributed to the Upper Paleolithic period fill a gap in the Prehistory of this zone. The Upper Paleolithic industries from the Tachkent oasis sites (Kulbulak, Kyzylalma 2, Obirahmat) are here presented as analogies ofrecently discovered sites.     

L'industrie lithique du Paléolithique dans la région de Jungwon en Corée

Prehistoric people have been often lived in the Jungwon region during the Paleolithic. It is a reference for development of the Paleolithic cultures in Korea. During the lower Paleolithic, pebble tool culture has been developed: tools were made with local raw materials and direct percussion and anvil technique were utilized. Debitage and raw material of the middle Paleolithic did not make a great difference to the lower Paleolithic. Otherwise, tool size became small and the number of flake tools increased. The crucial changes occurred during the upper Paleolithic. Technique, acquisition of raw material and tool kits were thoroughly innovated. All of these changes would reveal that the upper Paleolithic people have carried out more various activities, that earlier periods and their social structure would be more complex than other ones'.     

The Lower Paleolithic of the Indian subcontinent

This broad overview highlights the Indian subcontinent as an important and exciting source of new discoveries regarding Lower Paleolithic hominins and their biological and behavioral evolution. Broadly situated in the center of the Old World, the region arbitrarily encompasses Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan; it represents the richest easternmost domain of classic Acheulean bifaces in the Old World. 1 The region comprises diverse ecological zones with complex geological and climatic histories, including a bi‐annual monsoon prevalent since the Miocene, all of which had major impacts on faunal and floral distributions and associated hominin adaptations.     

Neandertal versus Modern Human Dietary Responses to Climatic Fluctuations

The Neandertal lineage developed successfully throughout western Eurasia and effectively survived the harsh and severely changing environments of the alternating glacial/interglacial cycles from the middle of the Pleistocene until Marine Isotope Stage 3. Yet, towards the end of this stage, at the time of deteriorating climatic conditions that eventually led to the Last Glacial Maximum, and soon after modern humans entered western Eurasia, the Neandertals disappeared. Western Eurasia was by then exclusively occupied by modern humans. We use occlusal molar microwear texture analysis to examine aspects of diet in western Eurasian Paleolithic hominins in relation to fluctuations in food supplies that resulted from the oscillating climatic conditions of the Pleistocene. There is demonstrable evidence for differences in behavior that distinguish Upper Paleolithic humans from members of the Neandertal lineage. Specifically, whereas the Neandertals altered their diets in response to changing paleoecological conditions, the diets of Upper Paleolithic humans seem to have been less affected by slight changes in vegetation/climatic conditions but were linked to changes in their technological complexes. The results of this study also indicate differences in resource exploitation strategies between these two hominin groups. We argue that these differences in subsistence strategies, if they had already been established at the time of the first contact between these two hominin taxa, may have given modern humans an advantage over the Neandertals, and may have contributed to the persistence of our species despite habitat-related changes in food availabilities associated with climate fluctuations.     

Hearth-side socioeconomics, hunting and paleoecology during the late Lower Paleolithic at Qesem Cave, Israel

The late Lower Paleolithic archaeofaunas of Qesem Cave in the southern Levant span 400-200 ka and associate with Acheulo-Yabrudian (mainly Amudian) industries. The large mammals are exclusively Eurasian in origin and formed under relatively cool, moist conditions. The zooarchaeological findings testify to large game hunting, hearth-centered carcass processing and meat sharing during the late Lower Paleolithic, not unlike the patterns known from Middle and Upper Paleolithic caves in the region. Well-defined hearth features are rarely preserved in Qesem Cave, but the heterogeneous distributions of burned bones indicate areas of frequent hearth rebuilding throughout the occupation sequence. The hominins delayed consumption of high quality body parts until they could be moved to the cave, where hearths were hubs of processing activities and social interaction. Paradoxically, the cut marks on the Qesem bones are both more abundant and more randomly oriented than those observed in Middle and Upper Paleolithic cases in the Levant. These results suggest that several individuals were directly involved in cutting meat from the bones and that the social mechanics of meat sharing during the late Lower Paleolithic at Qesem Cave differed from those typical of both the Middle and Upper Paleolithic in the region.