Economical strategies in the Upper Palaeolithic in the Cantabrian region

The aim of this paper is to survey the economic approach in relation to animal use during Upper Palaeolithic times in Northern Spain. The animals present in the archaeological record can be separated into main groups, like those present by natural reasons and those introduced by human groups. Also in the anthropic aported animals, some of them are related to food procurements and others to economic reasons. Animals like deer, bovids, equids and so on, were mainly related to nutrition, while some others like mustelids, canids or felines were more related to the obtention of furs or other non-alimentary uses. The analysis of the “main-six” (red deer, roe deer, big bovids, horse, ibex and wild boar) showed that all of them were used throughout the Upper Palaeolithic without many changes in time.     

The Lower Palaeolithic assemblage of Layers 15–18 (Unit G) at Hummal. An exemplary case addressing the problems placing undated,archaic-looking stone tool assemblages in the Early and Lower Palaeolithic record by techno-typological classification

The site of Hummal is situated in the region of El Kowm in central Syria. The site comprises an archaeological sequence covering the entire Pleistocene epoch, and encompasses all major Palaeolithic complexes currently known in the Middle East. At the base of the site, 14 m below today's ground level, several layers with a lithic assemblage attributed to the Lower Palaeolithic have been excavated over the past years. At present, the collection recovered from this lowest succession at Hummal contains more than 700 stone artefacts and more than 3000 bone fragments. The lithic assemblage is characterized by a simple flaking technique and the presence of different pebble tools, such as choppers, hammerstones and sphaeroids. Additionally four handaxes were recovered, which have a symmetric shape, are clearly bifacial and rather flat. The lithic assemblage from the lowermost layers of the Hummal excavation largely resembles an Archaic, Lower Palaeolithic assemblage, belonging to the so-called Oldowan or Mode 1 stage. However, the presence of well-shaped and symmetric handaxes sheds doubt on the validity of this attribution to a Mode 1, Oldowan or the Early Acheulean Stage. It can, therefore, be debated, whether the common classifications of lithic industries are adequate for describing the archaeological record from the period in question in the Middle East.     

Humanizing European Paleolithic art: A new visual evidence of human/bird interactions at L’Hort de la Boquera site (Margalef de Montsant,Tarragona, Spain)

This paper reports the discovery of a new example of portable art in North-eastern Iberia dating to the Late Upper Palaeolithic (12.250 ± 60 BP). The piece is analysed in relation to the European Palaeolithic art assemblage to determine its significance and how it contributes to our understandings of Palaeolithic artistic practices. Both the motifs depicted (birds and humans) and the patterns of composition (a narrative scene) are unusual in Palaeolithic assemblages. In addition, this new find contributes to filling a geographic gap in the artistic record as evidence of Palaeolithic art is rare in Catalonia. The anatomical features of one of the birds suggest that it is a crane, a species that has been depicted in a limited number of sites, as summarized in this paper. Moreover, there are only three known example of birds and humans interacting in a narrative scene in Palaeolithic art. Exhibiting innovations in media, subject matter and compositional norms, this new find has the potential to change the classic definition of European Upper Palaeolithic art and integrate the region in the artistic trends circulating along Mediterranean Iberia during the Upper Magdalenian.     

Garden of Eden or Desert Exile: The Mousterian of Hummal in context

Our view of MP cultural variability is blurred by site-specific problems as well as inadequate research concepts. The former are inherent in current fieldwork methodology and in the archaeological record itself. Excavation of Palaeolithic sites generally catches only parts of the entire archaeological record and thus leaves us with the sample size problem. Moreover, resolution of the archaeological record is often limited by the palimpsest problem which is especially given in spatially restricted sites (e.g. caves) coupled with a low sedimentation rate. Many research concepts not only neglect the resolution problem but also lack the consideration of scale when it comes to archaeological interpretation. Our aim is not to reinterpret the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic in the light of these challenges as this is outside the scope of this paper. Archaeological resolution and scale are nevertheless taken as guidelines for the integration of the Hummal Mousterian in a broader context. In doing so, we give a short review of current knowledge and show how a scale-sensitive approach can inform us about various aspects of the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic.     

Origine des différentes traditions culturelles au Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe Centrale

In the early phase of the Upper Palaeolithic the cultural traditions that were expressed in lithic technology, way of life, also in various elements of symbolic culture had a complex nature. They can be divided in terms of derivation, occupied territory, chronology, and – partially – the anthropological type of a given population. The traditions whose origins were local were in all likelihood related to the Neanderthals, whereas those whose origins were exogeneous were connected with Anatomically Modern Humans. In terms of technologal-stylistics in the initial phase of the Upper Palaeolithic, we can distinguish autochthonous traditions rooted in a local Levallois or Moustero-Levallois substratum, traditions developped from a local Micoquian substratum with bifacial technology, and traditions rooted in the industries with blade and bifacial technologies of the Middle Palaeolithic. These are opposed to allochtonous traditions that can be related to the migrations of Anatomically Modern Humans from the Near East.     

The global evidence of early human symboling behaviour

A model of art origins based on the author’s first-hand studies is presented, which differs significantly from the dominant paradigm of these developments. The earliest known evidence for art, art-like or presumably non-utilitarian activities collectively provide the principal information about human symboling behaviour. These corpora are systematically considered from each continent, including rock art and various surviving forms of portable art. The immense age of some of this evidence is illuminated, and the record’s poor resolution with increasing age is presented as an essentially taphonomic phenomenon. It is shown, nevertheless, that the available record provides a considerably broader basis for hypotheses about symbolism, language and cognitive evolution than is often assumed, and that the evidence favours a model of comparatively early origins of the human capacity of concept-mediated thought and culture. These beginnings may be found in the endeavours of Lower Palaeolithic hominids to create taxonomic systems of physical reality. The available record renders it likely that such capacities existed several hundred thousand years ago.     

Fat Residue and Use-Wear Found on Acheulian Biface and Scraper Associated with Butchered Elephant Remains at the Site of Revadim,Israel

The archaeological record indicates that elephants must have played a significant role in early human diet and culture during Palaeolithic times in the Old World. However, the nature of interactions between early humans and elephants is still under discussion. Elephant remains are found in Palaeolithic sites, both open-air and cave sites, in Europe, Asia, the Levant, and Africa. In some cases elephant and mammoth remains indicate evidence for butchering and marrow extraction performed by humans. Revadim Quarry (Israel) is a Late Acheulian site where elephant remains were found in association with characteristic Lower Palaeolithic flint tools. In this paper we present results regarding the use of Palaeolithic tools in processing animal carcasses and rare identification of fat residue preserved on Lower Palaeolithic tools. Our results shed new light on the use of Palaeolithic stone tools and provide, for the first time, direct evidence (residue) of animal exploitation through the use of an Acheulian biface and a scraper. The association of an elephant rib bearing cut marks with these tools may reinforce the view suggesting the use of Palaeolithic stone tools in the consumption of large game.     

Un débitage lamellaire au Proche-Orient vers 40 000 ans cal BP. Le site d’Umm el Tlel,Syrie centrale

Across the Near-East and particularly in Syria, a number of archaeological sites have delivered new industries which can be linked to the intermediate Palaeolithic, more commonly qualified as “Transition industry” Due to the apparition of several facies with new technical orientations, the term of intermediate Palaeolithic seems most appropriate. The bladelets production is one of those innovations. Among the four facies identified in the Palmyra and the El Kowm basins (central Syria), facies 3 and 4 are the most frequent and the best documented in terms of chrono-stratigraphical sequence. Here we present the facies 3 discovered in stratigraphy on the site of Umm el Tlel. This facies has been dated and the industries have been submitted to a micro use-wear analysis. The levels III2a’ and II base’, selected for analysis and dated around 36,000 ± 2500 years (T.L.), are characterized by different modes of production and by various predetermined removals. Among these productions, the bladelets represent more than a third of the predetermined removals. These bladelets have various morphologies and dimensions and result from two modes of production. The first mode consists in alternating Levallois products and bladelets and the second mode utilizes specifics cores. The presence, on all types of bladelets, of micro use-wear corroborates the intentionality of these productions. The use-wear show that the bladelets have been used for various actions in and on different materials worked and that they were maintained according to different modes of prehension. Across the Levant, a technical continuity clearly appears between the facies of the intermediate Palaeolithic and the industries of the upper Palaeolithic: the Ahmarian and the Aurignacian. Nevertheless this technical innovation is integrated in a distinct way according to the considered period. During the intermediate Palaeolithic the lithics productions are different according to the facies and the use of the bladelets is varied. While during the upper Palaeolithic there is a technical normalization of the blanks but also functions of bladelets.     

La religiosité au Paléolithique

During the oldest periods of the Palaeolithic, evidence of distinct behaviours related to technicity, hunting and settlement patterns is difficult to clearly interpret. Yet such evidence increases from the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic, with the appearance of the first incontestable burials and symbolic representations, in the form of collected shells and colorants. With the Upper Palaeolithic, the archaeological record is more abundant. It is then possible to address spiritual aspects, the component of non-technological human behaviour beyond subsistence, lithic reduction or hafting techniques. Figurative art appears, in both mobile and parietal form, the iconography and organisation of which are structured. Painted caves seem to have been places for ritual practices in addition to having been selected for art alone. Evidence of visits and archaeological deposits reflect a space for possible exchanges between the human and spirit worlds in the framework of an animist world view. In the religious domain, such data allow the reconstruction of some elements of mythical thought, analogous to that described by ethnologists and historians of religions in other contexts. Their study does not allow precise recovery of the myths themselves, but rather consideration of their existence and structuring function within these prehistoric societies.     

Regional behaviour among late Neanderthal groups in Western Europe: A comparative assessment of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tool variability

Population dynamics between and within Pleistocene groups are vital to understanding wider behavioural processes like social transmission and cultural variation. The late Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5d-3, ca. 115,000–35,000 BP [years before present]) permits a novel, data-driven assessment of these concepts through a unique record: bifacial tools made by classic Neanderthals. Previously, studies of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools were hampered by a convoluted plethora of competing terms, types and regional entities. This paper presents a large-scale intercomparison of this tool type, and bridges typo-technological and spatio-temporal data from across Western Europe (Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany).     

India at the cross-roads of human evolution

The Indian palaeoanthropological record, although patchy at the moment, is improving rapidly with every new find. This broad review attempts to provide an account of (a) the Late Miocene fossil apes and their gradual disappearance due to ecological shift from forest dominated to grassland dominated ecosystem around 9-8 Ma ago, (b) the Pliocene immigration/evolution of possible hominids and associated fauna, (c) the Pleistocene record of fossil hominins, associated fauna and artifacts, and (d) the Holocene time of permanent settlements and the genetic data from various human cultural groups within India. Around 13 Ma ago (late Middle Miocene) Siwalik forests saw the emergence of an orangutan-like primate Sivapithecus. By 8 Ma, this genus disappeared from the Siwalik region as its habitat started shrinking due to increased aridity influenced by global cooling and monsoon intensification. A contemporary and a close relative of Sivapithecus, Gigantopithecus (Indopithecus), the largest ape that ever-lived, made its first appearance at around 9 Ma. Other smaller primates that were pene-contemporaneous with these apes were Pliopithecus (Dendropithecus), Indraloris, Sivaladapis and Palaeotupia. The Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene witnessed northern hemisphere glaciations, followed by the spread of arid conditions on a global scale, setting the stage for hominids to explore “Savanahastan”. With the prominent expansion of grassland environments from East Africa to China and Indonesia in the Pliocene, monkeys and baboons dispersed into the Indian subcontinent from Africa along with other mammals. Though debated, there are several claims of the presence of early hominins in this part of the world during the Late Pliocene, based primarily on the recovery of Palaeolithic tools. Fossils of our own ancestor and one of the first globe-trotters, early Homo erectus, has been documented from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa, Western Asia and Southeast Asia, thus indirectly pointing towards Indian subcontinent as a possible migration corridor between these regions. The only definite pre-Homo sapiens fossil hominin remains come from the Central Narmada Valley and are thought to be of Middle to late Pleistocene age, and the cranium has been shown to be closely linked to archaic Homo sapiens/H. heidelbergensis of Europe. Around ∼74,000 yrs ago, a super volcanic eruption in Sumatra caused the deposition of Youngest Toba Tephra, that covered large parts of the Indian peninsula. Just around this time anatomically-and-behaviorally modern humans or Homo sapiens possibly arrived into India as evidenced by the so called Middle and Upper Palaeolithic assemblages and associated symbolic evidence. The available genetic data reveals that the gene pool to which modern Indians races belong was extremely diverse and had variable mixed links with both European and Asian populations.     

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.     

L’art Paléolithique est-il un « art » ?: Réflexions autour d’une question d’actualité

During the last years, an international debate about the concept of “Palaeolithic art” has taken place. On one hand, several specialists have critiqued the use of the concept of “art” in naming the images created by Homo sapiens during the Palaeolithic era. They claim that the use of this term implies the projection of a modern category to a world - that of prehistoric humans - which is completely different from our own. On the other hand, some archaeologists consider that the term “Palaeolithic art” does not imply an anachronistic interpretation of prehistoric representations. In presenting the historical context, which has made such a discussion possible, we consider the causes and effects of this controversy. Firstly, we analyze the traditional interpretation, which considered Palaeolithic images as “works of art”. Secondly, we examine the connections, which can be found between the debate about “Palaeolithic art” and certain polemics, which have arisen from the history of art and anthropological frameworks. Thirdly, we consider the arguments utilized by those who are for and those who are against the term “Palaeolithic art”. Finally, we emphasize the importance of this debate to better understand the categories and the concepts, which determine the scientific practice.     

La séquence anthracologique de la grotte du Parco (Alòs de Balaguer,Espagne) : paysages et gestion du combustible chez les derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs

The objective of this paper is to present the anthracological data of the Parco cave sequence. This cave, excavated since the last 25 years, shows a stratigraphic sequence from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Bronze age. The anthracological data that we are presenting correspond to the sequence corresponding to the Magdalenian and Epipaleolithic layers. The anthracological data show a dominance of Scots pine at the bottom and of junipers at the top of the deposit, suggesting a landscape transformation though time. From these results we discuss aspects related to the vegetal formations during this period. Moreover, this study has the intention of integration the anthracological record with the archaeological data already published concerning subsistence, technology and paleoecology to a better understanding to human behaviour during this period.     

Relative Mortality among Criminals in Norway and the Relation to Drug and Alcohol Related Offenses

Background

Registered offenders are known to have a higher mortality rate, but given the high proportion of offenders with drug-addiction, particularly among offenders with a custodial sentence, higher mortality is expected. While the level of overall mortality compared to the non-criminal population is of interest in itself, we also estimate the risk of death by criminal records related to substance abuse and other types of criminal acts, and separate between those who receive a prison sentence or not.

Methods

Age-adjusted relative risks of death for 2000–2008 were studied in a population based dataset. Our dataset comprise the total Norwegian population of 2.9 million individuals aged 15–69 years old in 1999, of whom 10% had a criminal record in the 1992–1999 period.

Results

Individuals with a criminal record have twice the relative risk (RR) of death of the control group (non-offenders). Males with a record of use/possession of drugs and a prison record have an 11.9 RR (females, 15.6); males with a drug record but no prison record have a 6.9 RR (females 10.5). Males imprisoned for driving under the influence of substances have a 4.4 RR (females 5.6); males with a record of driving under the influence but no prison sentence have a 3.2 RR (females 6.5). Other male offenders with a prison record have a 2.8 RR (females 3.7); other male offenders with no prison record have a 1.7 RR (females 2.3).

Conclusion

Significantly higher mortality was found for people with a criminal record, also for those without any record of drug use. Mortality is much higher for those convicted of substance-related crimes: more so for drug- than for alcohol-related crimes and for women.     

The Exploitation of Ungulate Bones in Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens

Analysis of ungulate bones recovered from a number of Upper and Middle Palaeolithic sites in southern Italy revealed differences in the presence of anatomical elements. There is a lack of clear evidence of carnivore activities, and differences can be attributed to human activity. Indeed, these differences were probably due to different patterns of skeletal exploitation between Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Small limb bones (carpals, tarsals, sesamoids, long bone epiphyses and especially phalanges) are rarely found in Middle Palaeolithic deposits, but are abundant in the Upper Palaeolithic. The observation of unidentified bone fragments at these sites indicates that during the middle Palaeolithic, marrow extraction regarded essentially the treatment of long bones. First and second phalanges were not frequently used for this practice, but they were often fragmented by H. sapiens. Lack of these bones among the remains of meals of Neanderthal suggests that these bones were probably destroyed by their utilisation as fuel.     

Attitudes to Animal use in Children

ABSTRACT

Six hundred and fifty children, aged between 11 and 15 years, from an urban and a rural area, completed a questionnaire in which they provided information regarding their attitudes towards 13 issues involving the use of animals. Information regarding the pets the children owned was also obtained. The child's sex (male, female), age (11–15 years), and residence area (urban, rural) were related to pet ownership, and, including pet ownership, to attitudes towards the use of animals. Over 90% of the sample owned a pet, with the dog being the most common. More pets were owned by children from rural than urban areas. With regards to the animal-use issues, all the children discriminated between animal uses that lead to death of or injury to the animal and those regarded as exploitation. Children disagreed more with uses leading to the animal's death or injury. Females expressed more disagreement than males, and children from urban areas expressed more disagreement than children from rural settings. The study revealed pet ownership to be high among school children. This was matched by a high concern over activities leading to the animal's death or injury, indicating that strong attitudes to animal use are formed early during development. Early education may be important in shaping these attitudes.     

Age and Date for Early Arrival of the Acheulian in Europe (Barranc de la Boella,la Canonja,Spain)

The first arrivals of hominin populations into Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene are currently considered to have occurred as short and poorly dated biological dispersions. Questions as to the tempo and mode of these early prehistoric settlements have given rise to debates concerning the taxonomic significance of the lithic assemblages, as trace fossils, and the geographical distribution of the technological traditions found in the Lower Palaeolithic record. Here, we report on the Barranc de la Boella site which has yielded a lithic assemblage dating to ∼1 million years ago that includes large cutting tools (LCT). We argue that distinct technological traditions coexisted in the Iberian archaeological repertoires of the late Early Pleistocene age in a similar way to the earliest sub-Saharan African artefact assemblages. These differences between stone tool assemblages may be attributed to the different chronologies of hominin dispersal events. The archaeological record of Barranc de la Boella completes the geographical distribution of LCT assemblages across southern Eurasia during the EMPT (Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, circa 942 to 641 kyr). Up to now, chronology of the earliest European LCT assemblages is based on the abundant Palaeolithic record found in terrace river sequences which have been dated to the end of the EMPT and later. However, the findings at Barranc de la Boella suggest that early LCT lithic assemblages appeared in the SW of Europe during earlier hominin dispersal episodes before the definitive colonization of temperate Eurasia took place.     

New perspectives on the “Proto-cromagnons” from Israel

The present paper deals with the two identifiedHomo sapiens groups in the Middle Palaeolithic from the Near East, the Neandertals and the Modern Humans. Their main morphological characteristics are discussed, comparing also both populations, one with another, as well as with the European Neandertals or Predmost III. The data confirm the presence in the Levant of Near Eastern Neandertal and Modern Human lineages from at least 150 Ky., relating the most ancient documents, respectively, to Tabun I and Zuttiyeh individuals. The coexistence of both human groups, having the same cultural background, along the whole Middle Palaeolithic is demonstrated, while the possibility of interbreeding is not excluded.