Time and space in the middle paleolithic: Spatial structure and occupation dynamics of seven open‐air sites

The spatial structure of archeological sites can help reconstruct the settlement dynamics of hunter‐gatherers by providing information on the number and length of occupations. This study seeks to access this information through a comparison of seven sites. These sites are open‐air and were all excavated over large spatial areas, up to 2,000 m², and are therefore ideal for spatial analysis, which was done using two complementary methods, lithic refitting and density zones. Both methods were assessed statistically using confidence intervals. The statistically significant results from each site were then compiled to evaluate trends that occur across the seven sites. These results were used to assess the “spatial consistency” of each assemblage and, through that, the number and duration of occupations. This study demonstrates that spatial analysis can be a powerful tool in research on occupation dynamics and can help disentangle the many occupations that often make up an archeological assemblage.     

The carinated denticulates from the Paleolithic site of Isernia La Pineta (Molise,Central Italy): Tools or flaking waste? The results of the 1993 lithic experiments

During 1993 a campaing of lithic experiments was carried out near the National Paleolithic Museum and archaeological park at Isernia La Pineta, with the aim of reproducing the morphologies of the tools found at the Paleolithic site in order to try to understand the techniques used for their manufacture and the possible uses to which they were put. In this article the results of this work are presented. The flint artifacts were faithfully reproduced using the same types of raw material used by the prehistoric artisans, and using a variety of different techniques (anvil technique, direct percussion and bipolar technique), among which the bipolar technique seems to assume a particular importance. Of considerable interest is the fact that in the light of the experiments the denticulates and carinated becs, which at the site of Isernia La Pineta represent more than 90% of what are usually considered “tools” according to the conventional typological schemes, turned out in fact to be the residue of cores, that is flaking waste. Furthermore, flakes of small dimensions, derived from flint tablets or flakecores by means of the bipolar technique, were used as cutting tools in different possible activities and revealed their high degree of functionalism in contrast with the carinated “tools”. The analysis of the traces of wear have shown that the great majority of these are found on the small unretouched flakes rather than on the “tools” such as the denticulates and becs, thereby demonstrating that the latter represent blanks for obtaining real tools, that are the cutting edges of unretouched flakes. The industry from Isernia is thus shown to be very opportunistic, based on an intense exploitation of raw material and practically lacking those which, according to the conventional schemes usually adopted, can be considered as retouched “tools”.     

云南省耿马佛洞地遗址发掘简报

佛洞地遗址位于云南省临沧市耿马傣族佤族自治县勐简乡勐简村大军赛村民小组燕子洞,坐落于一处东南开口的二叠纪灰岩穿洞,南临南汀河。2016～2017年,临沧市文物管理所在公路考古调勘期间发现该遗址;为进一步认识滇西地区旧石器时代晚期文化,2017～2018年对该遗址开展考古发掘工作。发掘区域位于洞内第四台面到第五台面间,共发掘20 m²,出土了包括石制品、动植物化石等在内的大量遗物。初步地层年代学分析显示,遗址时代为距今18400～14000年,共包含3期连续文化,文化遗物以石制品为主,总数达到9735件。佛洞地遗址作为一处热带-亚热带生境下的史前遗址,为我们构建旧石器时代晚期滇西地区文化序列、探讨特定自然生态背景下史前人类的文化适应提供了重要参考。     

重庆玉米洞遗址石器的技术模式及人类的适应行为

石器技术模式的形成与演变受制于多重因素的影响。长期以来;史前考古学界更倾向于用演化考古学的视角来解释文化或石器工业的区域变异;而忽视行为生态学视角在旧石器考古学;尤其是中国南方地区石器工业研究中的作用。本文结合主客观因素分析;采用两种不同的理论对玉米洞遗址石器技术模式与人类行为的成因进行系统性的解释。从演化考古学来讲;玉米洞石器工业作为中国南方砾石石器主工业体系下的区域变体;可归属为技术模式1的范畴;从行为生态学来讲;这是三峡地区一种本土起源的独特石器技术模式;可视为一种新的石器工业或文化体系。玉米洞遗址石器工业的成因以原料环境、功能需求等被动适应的客观限制因素占主导;而技术创新、文化传承等主动选择的主观能动因素作用有限;两种因素的相互影响和共同作用形成了这种独特的石器技术和工业面貌;强化了中国远古本土文化的连续性与特殊性以及人类生存行为的区域性与多样性。     

The Phylogenesis of Language: The Grammar of Gestures and the Manipulation of Words

Current studies on the origin of language clearly show the necessity to go beyond the debate of nature vs. culture in order to pursue an interdisciplinary perspective. The convergence of researches carried out in different fields – neurobiology, palaeoanthropology and linguistics – outlines in a rather clear and convincing framework the strong link between language and motility. Various sources of evidence demonstrate how the mechanisms of culture acquisition and transmission – imitation, language and dexterity – refer back to the same cerebral structures. Moreover, both the motor and the linguistic systems show an identical multileveled basic structure that allows humans high levels of expressiveness. Actions such as the production of tools or the throwing of objects, connected to the very first human behaviours, emerge through space-time concatenations related to the linguistic logic. The hypothesis of a coevolution of language and motor patterns and of a very remote origin of verbal communication is thus debated.     

细石叶工艺起源研究的理论反思

细石叶工艺起源是中国旧石器考古学研究中的热点问题,相关发现与研究在迅速增加,但有关的基础理论问题一直缺乏探讨。本文重新梳理细石叶工艺的基本概念、细石叶工艺起源研究的立论前提,并分析其中存在的问题。本文提出,既有研究不可避免地了受到了研究范式的制约,采用传播论的解释并不足以有效回答技术起源的问题,技术元素的起源与细石叶工艺作为整体的涌现是两个不同的问题,最后,我们在研究细石叶工艺起源时不能脱离石器技术变化的一般机制。因此,未来的细石叶工艺起源研究应该注意厘清概念、明确问题、反思立论前提、拓展范式,从而更好地了解古人行为与古代社会的变迁。     

云南鹤庆天华洞旧石器遗址石制品研究

天华洞旧石器遗址是金沙江中游地区财丰河流域旧石器地点群的代表性遗址之一。本文研究的材料来源于该遗址2010、2013和2016三年度的野外调查和试掘。天华洞遗址试掘位置为洞前缓坡区域,地层堆积可划分为5层,其中2-5层为遗址文化层,属红色亚黏土沉积。遗址文化层沉积结构稳定,年代数据分布在距今9.5-5万年之间。遗址共发现石制品1122件,以玄武岩为主要原料。石制品组合的内涵丰富,剥片技术和工具类型多样,一些特殊类型的石制品标本如预制石核、长石片、似-勒瓦娄哇石片、盘状石核石片、似-基纳型刮削器等代表了天华洞遗址石工业独特的技术文化面貌,也表现出西方旧石器时代中期文化的一些技术特点和因素。     

Identifying bipolar knapping in the Mesolithic site of Font del Ros (northeast Iberia)

Despite recent advances in the identification of bipolar knapping, its role in many sites is not well known. We propose to assess the significance of this technique in the context of changes that occur in the Mesolithic. A lithic assemblage was recovered from unit SG at Font del Ros (Catalunya, Spain) in which pitted stones, cores and products arising from bipolar reduction (flakes, fragments and splintered pieces) were identified. This study indicates that the bipolar technique is fundamental in the settlement. These results are key to defining the organization of Holocene hunter-gatherer subsistence in northeast Iberia.