Behavioral and Cultural Origins of Neanderthals: A Levantine Perspective

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The proceedings of the conference “150 years of Neanderthal discoveries – early Europeans: continuity and discontinuity” reflect the current state of the art as regards Neanderthals and their material culture in the Old World. The present contribution will focus on selected aspects of the world that predated the Neanderthals and their contemporaries. It draws mainly on data deriving from the meeting point of Africa and Eurasia (the Levantine Corridor) and focuses on the aspects that are most relevant for broadening our knowledge of the cultural background and evolution of the Neanderthals and early modern humans. In order to better understand Neanderthal material culture and associated behavior, the archaeological remains should be viewed in conjunction and perspective with insights from an earlier period, namely the Lower Paleolithic. The issues addressed here include the first appearances of particular technological inventions pertaining to Mousterian/Middle Paleolithic technologies, the abilities of humans to learn, accumulate and share knowledge of their environment and its exploitation modes, as well as mobility patterns, migrations and colonization events. Discoveries pertaining to Neanderthal populations in Europe have always been received with excitement and much scientific and lay interest. Over the years, many scholars have viewed these hominins as archaic and primitive creatures of limited abilities (and see discussion in Berman 1999; Speth 2004). Although recent opinion is subtler in its expression of this view of Neanderthal capabilities, the consensus on those of earlier hominins remains resolutely dismissive. Regrettably, this stance has resulted in the disregard of abundant data that suggest a strong correlation between ancient and modern behavioral patterns. The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition (with emphasis on the European record) and the disappearance and ­replacement by modern humans of the Neanderthals have been topics of extensive research. In contrast, although the transition from the Lower Paleolithic to the Middle Paleolithic occurred at ca. 250–300 ka across the whole of the Old World (e.g., Clark 1982a, b, 1988; Mercier et al. 2007; Tryon and McBrearty 2002, 2006; Tryon et al. 2005; Jaubert 2000–2001:157; Moncel 1995, 2005; but see Beaumont and Vogel 2006), it has been rather succinctly addressed and far less thoroughly investigated. This analytical bias towards the earlier period is no doubt partly due to its less direct involvement with our own species, but also a reflection of the absence of long uninterrupted sequences, taphonomic disturbances at the sites, lack of suitable dating methods, and meager publication in respect of the later period discussed here. Yet despite all of the above, the available data indicate a continuity of hominin behavioral traits from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in diverse behavioral domains. Hominins of both periods share fundamental traits such as the ability to identify and occupy specific (favorable) landforms, the preference for specific ecological niches and habitats (e.g., Tuffreau et al. 1997; Roberts and Parfitt 1999; Pope 2002), successful exploitation of diverse resources and continuous survival in a given territory for a long period. Furthermore, hominin behavioral patterns that emerged during pre-Neanderthal times were later adopted, elaborated upon and widely distributed. These phenomena are evident in both the domains of planning and implementation. It will suffice to mention here the “domestication” and exploitation of fire (at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY), Alperson-Afil and Goren-Inbar 2006; Alperson-Afil et al. 2007; the complex modes of raw material acquisition and its transportation (e.g., at ‘Ubeidiya, Bar-Yosef and Goren-Inbar 1993; at GBY, Madsen and Goren-Inbar 2004; at Tabun Cave, Verri et al. 2004, 2005); the emergence of species-specific targeting as a mode of game exploitation, indicating elaboration of hunting modes, weapons and efficient game processing (at Qesem Cave: Gopher et al. 2005; Lemorini et al. 2006 and at GBY: Rabinovich et al. 2008) and the presence, albeit rare, of non-utilitarian objects (a bead made of crinoid, GBY Goren-Inbar et al. 1991 and a figurine found at Berekhat Ram: Goren-Inbar 1986). Of great interest, due to its high archaeological visibility, is the realm of stone tool production. It is in this domain that particular aspects of the technologies characterizing the Neanderthal era are first observed in the Lower Paleolithic. Among these technologies are the Levallois flaking system, the soft hammer technique and the systematic production of blades. While all are widely represented in the Middle Paleolithic (MP) assemblages (and those of the Middle Stone Age [MSA]), and considered to some extent to be the hallmark of the MP, their origins are deeply rooted within the Lower Paleolithic and the Early Stone Age (ESA) material culture and technological sphere of knowledge.