Paleolithic (Other Keyword)
76-100 (499 Records)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The discovery during the 1990’s of an unexpected large rock art field in East Kalimantan, East Borneo, containing more than 2000 negative hand prints, has led to a different approach of the possible function(s) of this materialization of specific procedures. It has permitted researchers to look for practical interpretations of decipherment of sex gender on...
Contributions to Paleolithic Research: In the Steps of Albert I, Prince of Monaco (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology of Liguria: Recent Research and Insights" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Methodological research had been conducted from the late nineteenth century thanks to Albert I, Prince of Monaco. He is acknowledged across the world for his key role in Paleolithic issues and the history of science. Excavations and leading publications under his leadership bring the fruit of early experience and...
Core Variability in the Middle Stone Age of East Africa (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Establishing the Science of Paleolithic Archaeology: The Legacy of Harold Dibble (1951–2018) Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Harold Dibble made major contributions to the study of cores and their relation to flake morphology. Other experimental studies have shown that repeated core morphologies may be the result of a complex series of learned steps, which are culturally transmitted (e.g., K. L. Ranhorn, PhD...
A critical reappraisal of Middle Paleolithic diets (2015)
This paper examines dietary patterns amongst Middle Palaeolithic foragers in Europe and southwest Asia from ca 300 to 40 thousand years ago. In both regions, faunal studies show that a relatively narrow range of presumably high-ranked animal species—mostly medium- to large-sized ungulates—was hunted. The present review stresses the importance of considering fat procurement and the effects of transport constraints on faunal assemblages while assessing the diet composition of Middle Palaeolithic...
A Critical Review of the Meaning of Short-term Occupation in Early Prehistory (2017)
One of the main elements in prehistoric research is the study of settlement patterns. In the last five decades, stemming partially from Binford’s research on the topic, the idea of settlement is based on site typology, including the traditional residential and logistic concepts. The latter is certainly marked by the notion of short-term occupation. This concept, used freely by many archaeologists, tends to rely on two main ideas— that of an occupation lasting a short span of time, and...
Cryptotephra Studies in Africa: A Tool for Precise Dating and Continental Correlation of Archaeological Sites (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Placing archaeological sites on the same timeline across the African continent is essential for determining the initial appearance of key human behaviors and cultural features. Analytical error associated with traditional dating techniques makes these determinations difficult. Cryptotephra, which are small (<80 micron)...
Cultural Diversity in the Zagros Mountains and the Expansion of Modern Humans into the Iranian Plateau (2018)
Located in western Eurasia, at the crossroads of human migrations out of Africa during the Pleistocene, the Iranian Plateau stands at the centre of models of anatomically modern human dispersals out of Africa. This paper aims to understand the cultural diversity among the first modern human populations in the area, and the implications of this diversity to evolutionary and ecological models of human dispersal through the Iranian Plateau, by re-examining four key UP lithic assemblages from the...
Cut Mark Size Does Not Change during Butchery: Implications for Reconstructing Tool Use and Carcass Processing (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Animal carcass butchery occurs when technological factors (tool attributes) and butchery behavior (distinct actions like defleshing, disarticulation) intersect with animal anatomy (morphology of musculoskeletal tissues or regions), and potentially encodes information about these contexts via bone surface modifications. This study examines cut mark...
Cutting Edge Technology: A Comparison of the Environmental Impact on the Emergence and Dispersal of Microblades in Siberia and Northern China (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the Upper Paleolithic, microblade tools emerged in Siberia and northern China, representing a significant technological advancement in tool-making and tool use. It is hypothesized that microblades emerged early in Siberia as an adaptation to the cold high-altitude environments, and the intensification of forager mobility due to the harsh...
Data-Mining Quartz and Quartzite: Should We Have Standard Protocols for Measuring and Reporting on Lithic Assemblages? (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Debitage Analysis: Case Studies, Successes, and Cautionary Tales" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Raw materials are the lowest common denominator of any debitage analysis. And yet, the fracture mechanics of eccentric raw materials are not always fully considered when performing inter-/intra-assemblage comparisons. The fracture mechanics as one constraint to be respected by the knappers greatly influence archaeological...
Dealing with “Second-Rated” Raw Materials: The Management of Quartz and Quartzite by the Westernmost Cantabrian Upper Paleolithic Groups (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Northwest Iberia is a Paleozoic territory almost void of flint outcrops. The arrival of Cantabrian Upper Paleolithic groups, used to flintknapping, to a new lithological region implied a reorganization of their technological basis. The analysis of four lithic assemblages, ranging from the Aurignacian to the Final Magdalenian/Azilian, allows us to understand...
Debitage as Raw Material Resource: Understanding Olival Grande as a Paleolithic Place (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Debitage Analysis: Case Studies, Successes, and Cautionary Tales" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Lithic debitage attributes are critical for interpreting the open-air Upper Paleolithic archaeological site of Olival Grande in central Portugal. Fabric analysis, intrasite spatial patterning, and weathered surface features of artifacts indicate manifold site burial mechanisms and significant postdepositional processes at...
The Deconstruction of Technical Behavior: Assessing the Significance of Low-Cost Technologies in the Upper Paleolithic (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Expedient Technological Behavior: Global Perspectives and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Expedient technologies are linked to low-cost behaviors, aimed at producing stone artifacts with low technical complexity and minimal temporal requirements. Traditionally, these have been associated with assemblages characterized by simple production systems mainly geared toward obtaining flakes. In recent...
Detecting Skill Level and Mental Templates in Late Acheulean Biface Morphology: Archaeological and Experimental Insights (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite the extensive literature focusing on Acheulean bifaces, especially the sources and meaning of their morphological variability, many aspects of this topic remain elusive. Archaeologists cite many factors that contribute to the considerable variation of biface morphology, including knapper skill levels and mental templates. Here we present results...
Detecting Transitions: Cultural and Environmental Changes Preserved in Archaeological Sediments from Western Liguria (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in the Prehistory of Liguria and Neighboring Regions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The reconstruction of Pleistocene human peopling along the Tyrrhenian coastline of Liguria is of critical importance. This region has yielded among the most recent evidence of Neanderthal occupation and the most ancient traces of modern humans in southern Europe. The reconstruction of the subsistence strategies of...
Diachronic Evolution of Raw Material Management and Technological Innovations along the Gran Dolina TD10 Sequence (Burgos, Spain) (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Local and/or Exotic Interactions: Symbols, Materials, and Societies" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the second half of Middle Pleistocene in Europe significant changes occurred, including the emergence of Neanderthal anatomical features and behavioral shifts documented in the archaeological record, such as fire use, Levallois technology, and development of complex hunting strategies. These changes could reflect...
A Diachronic Perspective of Chert Provisioning and Use: The Middle and Upper Paleolithic of Southwesternmost Iberia (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Research on the Paleolithic in the Mediterranean Region" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Hunter-gatherers relied strongly on lithic raw materials, which make them a key aspect to understand mobility, land use, and other important cultural aspects. Identifying changes in raw material provisioning through time is key to understand how different groups adapted and reorganized their culture. This is especially true...
Dietary Change during the Middle and Late Pleistocene in the Northwestern Mediterranean: New Insights from the Analysis of Rabbit Assemblages (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Do Good Things Come in Small Packages? Human Behavioral Ecology and Small Game Exploitation" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Europe, medium- to large-sized herbivores are widely considered to have formed the bulk of the human diet during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. In contrast, small fast prey taxa were allegedly rarely exploited. Here, we report new data for a number of leporid assemblages from Southern...
Diffraction Peaks as Tools for Distinguishing Chert from Quartz: Applications on Experimental Materials and Paleolithic Retouchers (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Science and African Archaeology: Appreciating the Impact of David Killick" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. When conducting micro-X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) analyses of archaeological and geological materials, diffraction peaks, which are produced by crystalline materials, are typically unwanted and methods are devised to minimize their impact on the sample spectrum. Here, we explore the intentional...
Digital Imaging and Geophysical Prospection Techniques at Paleolithic Cave and Rockshelter Sites in Croatia (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Interdisciplinary Research into the Late Pleistocene of Europe" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Conducting archaeological investigations in cave and rockshelters presents researchers with multiple unique challenges as compared to typical open-air sites. Reduced space, low light, and complex stratigraphic sequences are frequently the norm. Additionally, the nature of limestone cave walls and floors is an undulating,...
Discerning Paleolithic Places Rather Than Pleistocene Palimpsests: Olival Grande and the Early Upper Paleolithic in Central Portugal (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The expansive, open-air archaeological site of Olival Grande contains the earliest, well-dated Upper Paleolithic assemblage known from the Rio Maior vicinity. Fabric analysis, sedimentology, and geochemistry studies detail manifold site burial mechanisms, very slow rates of deposition, and significant post-depositional processes at the hillslope site. This...
Discovery of a New Middle Magdalenian Site at Enval in the Massif Central of France (2018)
We present the discovery of a new Middle Magdalenian site at Enval, a rock shelter site in the Massif Central of France. Radiocarbon dates indicate a tight chronology at 17,000 years ago. The site is significant for several reasons. Faunal elements indicate the site is largely intact and not a palimpsest. Faunal studies also indicate the site was occupied during the winter. This is important because it demonstrates that late Pleistocene humans occupied the Massif Central during harsh conditions....
Distinguishing Tooth Marks from Knapping Marks and Assessing Conflicting Interpretations of Modified Bones from the Upper Paleolithic Site of Gough’s Cave (Somerset, UK) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Animal Resources in Experimental Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Experimental and fossil-based zooarchaeological research attempts to distinguish traces on bones associated with human actions (e.g., butchery marks) from the actions of other faunal agents (e.g., bone gnawing and trampling). Fewer analyses have tried to differentiate gnawing marks from the marks left by hominin activities associated with the...
Does the Emergence of Paleolithic Body Ornamentation Signal an Unprecedented Aptitude for Symbolling Behavior or just a New Application? (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Culturing the Body: Prehistoric Perspectives on Identity and Sociality" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Given the collective evidence for the Paleolithic in Eurasia, it is peculiar that the emergence of durable art in archaeological records is taken to reflect a parallel emergence for the capacity of hominins to engage in symboling behavior of any sort. The ample record of burial practices of during the Middle...
Dynamic Simulation of Large Herbivore Distribution during the Last Glacial Maximum: Implications for the Distribution of Human Populations (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Novel Statistical Techniques in Archaeology II (QUANTARCH II)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this study we propose the use of agent-based modelling (ABM) and cellular automata (CA) to test the impact of predator-prey relationships on the distribution of prehistoric human populations. Our research goal is to establish a dynamic model of the distribution of large herbivores that constituted the main food source for...