Le Paléolithique supérieur dans l’ouest de l’île principale du Japon

The Kinki, Chugoku and Shikoku regions are located in the western part of the Japanese mainland. This area lacks the Pleistocene volcanic soil except a part of Chugoku Mountains. For this reason, the chronology of the late Paleolithic stone industries has been mainly studied by technology and typology of the fields excavated. However, after the late 1980s, the analysis of volcanic ash that contained the Paleolithic sediments had remarkable development. As a result, the cultural layer between the distant Paleolithic sites is compared by several widespread volcanic ashes such as Aira-Tanzawa (in short AT) as key bed. In this paper, we offered chronological order of the late Paleolithic culture in these regions by comparing cultural layers on the basis of the widespread volcanic ashes, referring to typological analysis of industries. The Sétoüchi technique and Ku industry characterize the late Paleolithic culture in these regions. The Sétoüchi technique is the unique one to produce the Ku type backed knife blunting on only one side, using the particular side-blow flaking technology based on physical characteristics of sanukite stone which is a kind of andesite. However, a hypothesis named the “Sétoüchi concept” was proposed in 2001, and it has been used as a substitute of the “Sétoüchi technique” by a few Japanese researchers. So we point out the mistake of the Sétoüchi concept relying on the fact which yielded stratigraphically two different industries in the Suncheon site.     

Le Paléolithique supérieur de la région centre de l’île de Honshû

Tokai area is situated in the middle of Japan and has various configurations of ground. The eastern area has thick natural layers with volcanic ash which has been supplied from Mt. Fuji. About five chronological stages of Paleolithic culture from trapeze and edge-ground axe culture to microlith culture through backed blade culture have been found in the layers. These stages of Paleolithic culture are indicators of chronological studies in Tokai area. On the other hand, it is difficult to advance chronological studies in the middle east, middle, and west areas, because they have little thickness of layers with volcanic ash. However, different Paleolithic artifacts are found in top and bottom layers which put the AT layer between at Tsubakibora Site in Gifu Prefecture, and they have helped very much chronological studies of Paleolithic culture in the west area. Here is the first result of Paleolithic studies in Tokai area with artifacts which have been found on the forth layer of scoriae at Idemaruyama Site are dated about 35,000 years, one of the oldest Paleolithic culture in Japan. In addition, some lines of pits which were dated 30,000 years were found at Hatsunegahara Site, and they provided valuable data to study Paleolithic hunting. Finally, a holed pendant which had 10 notches on one side was unearthed from Fujiishi Site, and it was dated 19,000 years ago. At Terada and Hino Site, a flat big stone which had carvings was found, though the shape and use were seemed to be different from the pendant at Fujiishi Site.     

Le Paléolithique supérieur au Japon

The Japanese archipelago has been colonized by humans in different ways and at different times: it has therefore undergone a succession of varied continental influences. However, the origin of these populations would be mainly northern and located at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, in the European conception. Subsequently, at least two other continental migratory waves were observed, through the center and then through the south of the archipelago. This latter influence brought the “Mesolithic” population still active today in the northern islands of Hokkaido.     

Chronologie du Paléolithique supérieur dans le Nord-Est de la principale île du Japon

Palaeolithic archaeology in Tohoku region has long been discussed on constructing chronology, however it is difficult to build reliable chronological order because of poor stratigraphic excavations. In recent radiocarbon dating has advanced. In this paper I discuss the relation between chronology and radiocarbon dating in Tohoku region. At first, I categorize the Palaeolithic industries and establish the chronology by analyzing tool typology, lithic technology, and stratigraphic data. I correlate it with radiocarbon data from sites in Tohoku region. The result of analysis shows that Upper Palaeolithic industries are divided into 18 categories and 8 periods on chronology. The calibration curve IntCal 13 indicated that oldest Early Upper Palaeolithic site appeared around 37,000 cal BP, and late Upper Palaeolithic started about 27,000 cal BP. The pottery first appeared as far back as around 16,000 cal BP. Now we do not have enough radiocarbon data, so we have to gather and examine more ¹⁴C data.     

L’utilisation de l’obsidienne au Paléolithique supérieur dans le nord-ouest de la Roumanie

Obsidian artefacts are numerous in the Upper Paleolithic sites of Northwest Romania. The use of obsidian begins during the Aurignacian and continues during the Gravettian, All the stages of the lithic reduction sequence are present. The obsidian tools are numerous in some sites. Non-destructive chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was performed on 232 obsidian artefacts from five sites: Buşag, Remetea Şomoş I, Călineşti I, Boineşti and Turulung. The results show that Early/Middle Upper Paleolithic people in northwest Romania acquired their obsidian, directly or indirectly, from sources on the western flank of the Carpathians, up to 170 km away.     

Le Paléolithique supérieur dans la péninsule coréenne et l’archipel du Japon

There is one decisive gate between the Asian continent and the archipelago of Japan which is the strait of Tsushima that exists between the Korean peninsula and the archipelago. The strait is very narrow; however, the depth is relatively deep. If the sea level did not fall down to at least 130 meters below the present level, the terrestrial bridge would not be formed there. We know the former case concerning the first human population of which crossed this maritime gate of human groups 50,000 years ago. One supposes that the men did not have any means to cross there without the terrestrial bridge previous to 50,000 years. According to the studies of the abyssal drills of the Sea of Japan that one noted several lowering of the sea level according to the marine isotopic stages (MIS): 2, 6, 10, 12, 16, 18 and 20. With regard to the marine isotopic stage 2 that correspond to the Maximum-coldness of the last glacial when the sea dropped in below 125 meters in relation to the present level. According to study of the seismic stratigraphy and according to the obtained ages of seabed sediments by the method of carbon 14 that one concluded the concerned strait remained always like a marine channel and narrow during the last glacial (Park et al., 2000). We notice the typological common points between the lithic industry of the Korean peninsula and the one of the Kyushu island during the marine isotopic stage 2 (MIS-2) which are the tanged point (flake point), the bifacial point to triangular section (point to three retouched faces), etc. However, there are some differences in the composition of tools and the fabrication technique. Regarding the cultural origin and the big human migration, we cannot prove them for now. Such situation showed that some obstacles existed between such two regions. There are no common features on the flaking technique and the typology before 50,000 years in these two regions since we do not have any affirmative overdraft.     

Le Paléolithique de l’île de Kyûshû

The Upper Paleolithic of this region divides in five chronological stages. The first stage is an oldest period on the archipelago of Japan. The lithic industry of the stage is composed by the denticulate, the pointed scraper, the pick and the bifacial tool. The second half of the first stage is characterized the emergence of Kiridashi type backed knife and trapezoidal backed knife. The debitage (flaking) of the first half and the second half is non-blade technique. The second stage is characterized newly by the apparition of willow leaf type backed knife and partial retouching backed knife. The knife-to-back of the type of Kiridashi and the trapezoidal knife-to-back exist again while constantly joining the willow leaf type backed knife and the partial retouching baked knife. The blade debitage was present, principally the one of various flakes. As for the second half of the second stage, the willow leaf type backed knife and the partial retouching backed knife are represented mainly, besides the Kiridashi type baked knife and the trapezoidal backed knife mingled with this typological composition. The debitage was founded on the blade technique. The point on flake (tanged flake point) and the trihedral faced point appeared at the third stage that is a big instrument of hunt. It is likely that the behavior for hunting the big game would have been brought while passing by the land-bridge toward the Kyushu Island during the Maximum-Coldness of the last glaciation. Regarding the fourth stage, the point on flake disappeared, and the industry is essentially composed of trihedral faced point and the spear type point. The flat trihedral faced point and spear type point appeared, and the trihedral faced point appeared on the western part of South-Kyûshû and the part of northern Kyûshû. The culture of the trihedral faced point tips at the third stage on the Kyûshû Island that prolongs until the concerned stage. The fifth stage is the end of the Upper Paleolithic that is characterized by the Microlithic Culture. It is characterized by the miniaturize of the backed knife. At the end, the microlithisation resuscitates at the end of the Upper Paleolithic.     

La technique de débitage au Paléolithique supérieur de l’archipel du Japon

The representative debitage technique is the one of the culture of knife-to-back in the name of the superior Paleolithic of Japan. She/it can be he divided in two, the one of the first half and the one of the second half. The first corresponds at the time of apparition, either to the stage of launching of the technique of debitage laminaire whose debitage didn’t provide elaborate blades being little successive. As for the stage of fortifying of the debitage laminaire, the industries lithic to knife-to-back of the Sugikubo type developed themselves in the oriental Honshû. With regard to the region of Kantô to the second half of the first where the knife-to-back of Moro type mingled equally with those while shaping on the blade. To the recent stage of development, one can note the industry lithic to knife-to-back of Moro type is based on the technical very blady in the western Japan. Succeeding in the second half of the superior Paleolithic that the technique of debitage of Sétoüchi developed itself in this part whose debitage is characterized by the strut oblong in wing, are the transverse blades These gotten supports used especially for making the knife-to-back of Koü type while spilling country-wide. To the second recent half, the technical blade of Sunagawa type took place in all regions of Japan except the inshore regions of the Interior Sea of Séto and the region of Kinki (Kyoto-Osaka).     

Nouveau site Paléolithique supérieur ancien au nord de l’Asie Centrale

In this paper we present the results of two years (2016 and 2017) excavations at new stratified Upper Paleolithic site of Ushbulak, situated in Shiliktinskaia Valley, Eastern Kazakhstan. There are eight lithological layers, which contain the archaeological material from Holocene to Initial Upper Paleolithic. The most significant number of artifacts was discovered in the layers 6 and 7. The debitage assemblages from these layers represent primary knapping oriented towards blade production by parallel uni- and bidirectional methods of volumetric core reduction. The tool assemblage includes several types, such as end-scrappers, burins on blades, truncated-faceted pieces, and points with basal trimming, bitruncated blades and burin-cores. These features together with a date 45.249–44.012 cal.BP from layer 6 allow us to attribute these two layers 6 and 7 to the Initial Upper Paleolithic and to consider Eastern Kazakhstan as a region between synchronous sites of the Initial Upper Paleolithic in Altai Mountains, Dzungaria and Mongolia.     

Hommes et climats au Paléolithique supérieur dans le bassin de la Somme (France)

Nearly 40 years of intensive research conducted in the Somme basin has demonstrated the discontinuity in the human occupation of the area during the Upper Palaeolithic. The northern position of the Somme basin within the loessic region appears to be an explanatory factor in this discontinuity, the nature of which increasingly appears related to climate and environmental factors. Archaeological occupations have been systematically attributed to phases of warming or climate improvement. On the other hand, an absence of human occupation has been consistently observed during the coldest periods. The extreme poverty of the biomass contemporary to the loessic deposits of the Upper Pleniglacial could partly explain this discontinuity specific to the far northwest of Europe (southern England, northern Belgium, Netherlands, and northern Germany). Although only 150 or 200 km away, the southern Paris Basin, which is located on the fringes of the loessic region of northern France and Normandy, presents a more continuous human occupation, which appears to have benefitted from more favourable conditions.     

Le mammouth dans l’art paléolithique

The mammoth, an emblematic animal of the Prehistory, possesses an important place in the depictions made by prehistoric artists, both in parietal art (cave art) and in mobile art. Its image is known from the Aurignacian, at the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic, until the end of the Last Ice Age, the Magdalenian. However, its geographical and chronological distribution is dissimilar. Mammoth depictions are generally more frequent during the Aurignacian where this animal is found engraved and painted in the Chauvet cave for example and carved from ivory in several cave sites of the Swabian Jura. The Magdalenian cave of Rouffignac and its 160 representations constitute a notable exception. From a formal point of view, the representations of mammoth are elaborated in a rather constant way, like the characteristic cephalic contour and the typical back of the animal, at least as it could be seen in nature. The representations are often even limited to a cursive line with a double curvature that expresses the pachyderm. On the other hand some drawings show intimate details. Sometimes the tusks of the mammoths are not indicated, but certain stylistic features, such as the ventral arch, are relatively reliable chronological markers. Finally, one cannot ignore the ethological or seasonal expressions that sometimes link the mammoths to each other, in a row or in confrontation. This animal obviously inspired the artists of the prehistory who created various portraits of the mammoth.     

Nouveaux assemblages du Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Hongrie du nord dans le contexte de l’hypothèse du Couloir danubien

Linking southeastern Europe and central Europe, the Danube Valley plays a key role in the models of the first colonization of Europe by anatomically modern humans about 40 thousand years ago (Danube Corridor hypothesis). The middle course of the river, the Carpathian Basin occupies a fundamental place in the search for archaeological evidences of the expansion of modern humans. Surveys carried out in northern Hungary in the last two decades have discovered numerous open-air sites whose lithic material can be attributed to the period concerned. Our excavations carried out in the region of Eger demonstrated the presence of the Aurignacian but also allowed the recognition of a macrolaminar industry of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic. The lithic material collected on the surface of the Andornaktálya 2 site provided rich assemblages of these two industries. The macrolaminar industry has techno-morphological connections with the leptolithic tools of Sokyrnytsia and Korolevo in Transcarpathian Ukraine. The Aurignacian industry has several characteristics in common with those of Košice-Barca and Seňa in southeastern Slovakia. Unfortunately, the chronological position of the macrolaminar and Aurignacian industries cannot be specified at the sites of the Eger region, although their age of Interpleniglacial seems evident from the stratigraphic considerations and the dating of the sediments. Despite these chronological inaccuracies, our results support the model, published by J.K. Kozłowski in 2010, of two waves of the immigration of modern humans across the Danube Corridor.     

L’impact de l’environnement sur l’évolution biologique et culturelle dans les périodes de transition en Préhistoire : Paléolithique ancien/moyen et Paléolithique moyen/supérieur

This paper deals with the environmental changes during two important transitional periods, namely Lower/Middle Paleolithic and Middle/Upper Paleolithic transitions, and with their impact on biological and cultural evolutions, in the context of central, eastern and northwestern Europe, where ice-sheet transgressions induced particular paleogeographical and paleoecological conditions. Another country was studied too, the Balkans, a privileged area for bilateral contacts between Europe and the Near East.     

Le Paléolithique des îles du Sud-Ouest du Japon

There are two lithic industries in the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic including the vestiges that have been discovered in the islands of Oshumi, close to the island of Kyushû. This lithic industry is characterized by the presence of axes with partially polish cutting, denticulate, hammers and millestones that are common in western Japan. It is characterized by numerous lithic instruments for the treatment of the plant food. The discovered vestiges of which one found the pebbles cluster inside pitfalls that are the oldest on the archipelago of Japan. According to these particularities of the lithic industry and vestiges, it is likely that this human group is semi-settled. And this human group of the beginning Upper Paleolithic was identical typologically and technically to the human group of the island of Kyushû. Therefore, it is possible that they came down from the southbound Kyushû Island, to the concerned islands. As for the islands of Amami, we investigated sites, nevertheless all that have been unearthed, in small extents provided a small quantity of the archaeological material. Indeed, one could not seize very well retails until now. There is a mixture of various, non-resolute opinions. The islands of Okinawa and those of Sakishima in southern extremity of the Japanese territory provided humans rests of the Upper Paleolithic, nevertheless no lithic industry of the same time have been found. Thereafter of the situation, the origins of the culture and the technique concerned the human rests remain unclear.     

Le Néronien et la structure historique du basculement du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur en France méditerranéenne

The analysis of key sites in Mediterranean France allows us to perceive important transformations within the last Neanderthalian societies, with a gradual rearticulation of the Mousterian technical systems around the production of blades and points, and with the upcoming of deep changes in the relationship of the craftsman with his tools. These industries have a chronological, territorial and cultural characterization that can be distinguished by an own appellation, the ‘Neronian’. Stratigraphically speaking, this MP/UP transitional group closes some main regional sequences. However, this ‘Neronian’ does not represent the end of the Middle Palaeolithic period in the Rhone valley. These very last Mousterian periods are marked by deep breakdowns of the traditional balances in the human groups, before the arrival of the first groups of Protoaurignacians such as we know them. This frame enlightens the parallelism between two historical paths, the Castelperronian in western and northern France and the Neronian in the Rhone valley. It also allows us to conceive the cultural and historical mosaic of human groups distinctive of the profound change at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic.     

Le Paléolithique supérieur du plateau de Musashino et les hauteurs de Tama aux alentours de Tokyo

The Upper Paleolithic at the region of Tokyo that itself called also the Japanese Preceramic age that possesses a large number of excavations and those studies during the dawn of Paleolithic study in this country. The Preceramic age or the Upper Paleolithic has been raised the curtain by the discovery of a piece in obsidian, in 1949, in the loam of Kantô, at Iwajyuku site. We explain above, on the stratigraphy, the chronology and the situation and the evolution of site around Tokyo. It is a region to the highest density of the Upper Paleolithic sites in the archipelago of Japan and the systematic excavation according to the stratigraphy of loam formation has been done for the first time in the country. The authentic chronology has been proposed to the years 60s that based on the discovered lithic industries on the plateau of Sagamino and Musashino. This chronology was used for a long time that it made a role like a norm for the whole country. Not only, after again an accumulation of the research until the present, we understand the different periodic activities between the Tama hills, the plateau of Musashino, the plateau of Sagamino, the North of Kantô district and the plateau of Simôssa. Of course, there is a complex circumstance that the apparition and the disappearance of various types of lithic instruments are different, and every type tools are not universal around Tokyo area, in the district of Kantô. The final of Upper Paleolithic on the archipelago of Japan divides extensively in two parts East-west that the East of Japan is characterized by the well-organized aspect microlithic tendency and the west is characterized by the trend of microlite, trapeze and tool on transverse blade. In such general tendency, the region of Kantô is located therefore in the center on the archipelago of Japan that it showed sets of every different time.     

Parure,pigment et art mobilier du Paléolithique supérieur au Japon

In the Japanese Archipelago, Upper Palaeolithic Accessories, Pigment and Portable Art are discovered, but very few. We introduce the Palaeolithic Art in Japan including new discoveries. The majority of accessories is discovered in Hokkaido, for example the sites of Yunosato 4, Pirika 1, Kashiwadai1 and Obarubetsu 2, but very few in Honshu, the largest island of Japan: Togeyamabokujo 1 in Iwate and Fujiishi in Shizuoka. A lot of pigments are discovered in Hokkaido like Kawanishi C, Kashiwadai 1, Marukoyama and Kiusu 5, without those of Deguchi-Kanezuka in Chiba in Honshu. Kashiwadai 1 in Hokkaido and Kamihikikiri in Chiba are the sites with portable art. In Ehime in Shikoku, one of four large islands of Japan, engraved pebbles called “Kamikuroiwa Venus”, of the Incipient Jomon followed after the Upper Palaeolithic period, before about 14,500 years, are researched again recently. The Palaeolithic art in Japan has a strong relation with Northeast Asia's art, because the lithic materials of Palaeolithic accessories in Hokkaido came from the Continent, and the engraved pebbles have some characters common with Siberian figurines, but also there are accessories and pigment of which the stones are native of the region from the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic period.     

Les sépultures italiennes du Paléolithique supérieur. Inventaire et observations anthropologiques

The Upper Paleolithic burials currently known in Italy represent a rich and important group which constitutes the major part of the European sample. Among these burials, those attributed to the Gravettian are concentrated in two regions, Liguria and Puglia. Epigravettian burials were found in most parts of the peninsula and in Sicily. Grave goods are often very rich, especially in Gravettian burials. With regard to the anthropological characteristics of the buried, research has focused mainly on postcranial skeleton and on the information it can give us about weight, stature and somatic proportions. Among the Gravettians, Ligurian males reach the highest stature. The average height decreases from Gravettian to Epigravettian, as already observed in the European sample.     

Baïraki – un site du Paléolithique inférieur sur le territoire de la Plaine d’Europe orientale

The paper presents the preliminary results of five years’ multidisciplinary researches (2010–2014 years) of the new Lower Palaeolithic Bayraki site, situated in the vicinity of Dubossary town in Moldavia, on the high terrace (VII) of the Dniester River. In the Lower and Middle Pleistocene deposits are discovered six layers including lithic artefacts of Lower Palaeolithic character. Two layers (I and II) relate to deposits dated by the Brunhes period and four layers (III, IV, V and VI) are attributed to the Matuyama period. The highest number of artefacts (884 objects) is issue from the layer V (the Jaramillo period), whose lithic industry has an Oldowan character. In other layers are found few flint archaeological objects and sporadic fragments of indeterminable bones. In the layer III is found a fossil horse mandibular (Equus sussenbornensis). At present, this site presents the oldest Low Pleistocene across all East European Plain.     

Variabilité de l’industrie lithique entre les structures de l’habitation no 1 de Mezhyrich,site du Paléolithique supérieur d’Ukraine

The investigation of the lithic assemblages from three archaeological structures of the Upper Palaeolithic Mezhyrich site, mammoth bone dwelling no. 1, nearby located pit no. 7 and workshop with a portion of cultural layer situated on the border of the pit, exhibits a sufficient diversity of the main indexes of flint assemblages. According to the latter, the main flint resources, cores and large pieces of flint, as well as blades and several tools (scrapers), were kept just in the dwelling. At the same time, the remains of “debitage” and the modification products of several tools (burin spalls) are more numerous in the pit and the workshop. The higher percentages of backed microliths, included the forms with diagnostic projectile impact fracture, and burins with several working edges are also observed in the assemblages of the last two archaeological structures.