Spatial Patterning of Middle Paleolithic Sites

Abstract

Spatial analysis of ancient paleolithic sites usually involves analyzing the distribution of artifacts or bones on a hypothetical "living floor." From these distributions archaeologists look for "structures." They typically find at least two different types of structure. Concrete or visually obvious examples, such as fireplaces or huts, and more abstract (nonobvious) structures, those that are created through analysis. Once these structures have been identified and described, archaeologists possess a great deal of data that allow them to speak about lifeways, behavior, human group organization in small domestic units, etc. Often, papers are concluded at this point, and several hypotheses about site functions are proposed. Analysis of the spatial patterns of artifacts, for example, often leads to anthropological and ethnographic styles of interpretation. In this article we show that most properly analyzed Middle Paleolithic sites are reconstructible as palimpsests, strongly suggesting that small groups commonly returned to the same locations through many generations, perhaps over more than a hundred years. In the case of these sites, examining spatial patterning is a way to study behavior diachronically rather than the organization and use of space synchronically.