Palaeolithic Artefacts Research Articles

Les challenges liés à l’identification de dents humaines partiellement digérées : première description de vestiges néandertaliens du site moustérien de Marillac (Marillac-le-Franc, Charente) et implications pour la recherche en paléoanthropologie.

Excavations at the collapsed cave site of Marillac (Marillac-le-Franc, Charente, France)1, uncovered in the lower half of the stratigraphy, a series of Late Pleistocene sedimentological facies containing a MIS 4/3 fauna. Also discovered were Middle Paleolithic artefacts (Quina Mousterian) and numerous fragmentary Neandertal fossils corresponding to a MNI of seven individuals. Analyses of the geomorphology of the eastern locus of the site, of the artefacts and especially of the animal bones of the lower part of the stratigraphy, suggest that over the course of time the site was intermittently used by Neandertals for processing animal carcasses. Cave carnivores appear to have sometimes been involved in scavenging activities of the remains abandoned by humans. Re-examination of two teeth - that were provisionally interpreted as bovid or cervid deciduous incisors by a palaeontologist unfamiliar with Pleistocene mammal fauna - have been identified as Neandertal maxillary permanent incisors. Originally considered as faunal deciduous incisors, what made their identification particularly difficult were the significant modifications to both the crown and roots of these teeth. This contribution explores the possible causes for this unusual morphology and, in particular, their ingestion by carnivores. This is the most parsimonious explanation as these teeth possess distinctive modifications clearly indicative of the effects of carnivore gastric secretion, damage which is described here for the first time for human teeth. Finally, a number of straight forward macroscopic features are described that permit the rapid identification of these specific taphonomic modifications on human teeth without the need for microscopy or micro-CT scanning. A literature review indicates that additional hominin teeth, with similar scavenger produced changes, may already have been identified at other sites, especially those dated to the Plio-Pleistocene.

RECkoning with representational apriorism in evolutionary cognitive archaeology

In evolutionary cognitive archaeology, the school of thought associated with the traditional framework has been deeply influenced by cognitivist intuitions, which have led to the formulation of mentalistic and disembodied cognitive explanations to address the emergence of artifacts within the archaeological record of ancient hominins. Recently, some approaches in this domain have further enforced this view, by arguing that artifacts are passive means to broadcast/perpetuate meanings that are thoroughly internal to the mind. These meanings are conveyed either in the form of a Language of Thought, constituted by sub-personal, content-bearing mental representations, or in that of a natural language. In both cases, however, material culture stands as the physical derivative of computations run over representations, which include abstract concepts, semantic relationships, and meta-representations about intensional states, a conception hereby indicated as “representational apriorism”. In this paper, I will argue that such mentalistic models are plagued by the fundamental problems of content, substance, and origin, which affect the representational substrates required for the production of artifacts. At the same time, these models fail the criterion of minimalism at the crux of conditional cognitive archaeology, because they propose overly costly explanations which are insufficiently constrained by material evidence. An alternative proposal, based on the principles of radical enactive cognitive science, is hereby introduced in order to counter this mentalistic drift. It is concluded that a radical enactive cognitive archaeology is able to dissolve the deep problems confronting the mentalistic paradigm, while providing minimalistic cognitive explanations about the emergence of Paleolithic artifacts.

Form and function in the Lower Palaeolithic: history, progress, and continued relevance.

Percussively flaked stone artefacts constitute a major source of evidence relating to hominin behavioural strategies and are, essentially, a product or byproduct of a past individual's decision to create a tool with respect to some broader goal. Moreover, it has long been noted that both differences and recurrent regularities exist within and between Palaeolithic stone artefact forms. Accordingly, archaeologists have frequently drawn links between form and functionality, with functional objectives and performance often being regarded consequential to a stone tool's morphological properties. Despite these factors, extensive reviews of the related concepts of form and function with respect to the Lower Palaeolithic remain surprisingly sparse. We attempt to redress this issue. First we stress the historical place of form-function concepts, and their role in establishing basic ideas that echo to this day. We then highlight methodological and conceptual progress in determining artefactual function in more recent years. Thereafter, we evaluate four specific issues that are of direct consequence for evaluating the ongoing relevance of form-function concepts, especially with respect to their relevance for understanding human evolution more generally. Our discussion highlights specifically how recent developments have been able to build on a long historical legacy, and demonstrate that direct, indirect, experimental, and evolutionary perspectives intersect in crucial ways, with each providing specific but essential insights for ongoing questions. We conclude by emphasising that our understanding of these issues and their interaction, has been, and will be, essential to accurately interpret the Lower Palaeolithic archaeological record, tool-form related behaviours of Lower Palaeolithic hominins, and their consequences for (and relationship to) wider questions of human evolution.

ESR analyses for herbivore teeth and molluscs from Kharga, Dakhleh, and Bir Tarfawi Oases: Constraining water availability and hominin paleolithic activity in the Western Desert, Egypt

Today, Bir Tarfawi, Kharga and Dakhleh Oases all sit in Egypt's hyperarid Western Desert. A dearth of naturally occurring surface water coupled with ≤ 0.1 mm/y of precipitation, and evaporation rates > 2 m/y make Bir Tarfawi uninhabitable today, while Dakhleh and Kharga depend on borehole water to support human inhabitation. Yet in scattered locations dotting the Quaternary surfaces and deposits near each oasis, Paleolithic artefacts, fossil ungulate teeth, and snails record times when surface water did exist in wetlands, small ponds, and even large lakes. At Bir Tarfawi in Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5, 7, and 13, wetlands or small lakes supported freshwater snails, large herbivores, and hominins. Dakhleh Oasis hosted a large lake in MIS 6 that provided a deep reliable water supply for many millennia subsequently. ESR dates on fossils and tufa dates show thriving lacustrine and terrestrial ecosystems at Dakhleh during MIS 5, 7, 9, 11, and 17, and in shorter episodes in MIS 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12. At Kharga Oasis, springs discharged along the Libyan Escarpment edge, but the water was ponded in small basins dammed within tufa deposits. These dated deposits and fossils attest that water existed there in MIS 2–11, and one spot dating to ∼ 2.3 Ma. This proxy evidence suggest that, thanks to higher rainfall and/or groundwater tables, sufficient water persisted for much of the Pleistocene, supporting food resources, like large herbivores and molluscs, to thrive and enabling hominin habitation. and activity in the Western Desert.

Pleistocene Deposits in the Southern Egyptian Sahara: Lithostratigraphic Relationships of Sediments and Landscape Dynamics at Bir Tarfawi

Abstract The sedimentological and lithostratigraphic record from north-central Bir Tarfawi documents the presence of Pleistocene basin-fill deposits. Three topographic basins were created as a result of deflation during climate episodes associated with lowering of the local groundwater table. In each case, the three deflational basins or topographic depressions were subsequently filled with sediments; these basin aggradations coincided with changes from arid climate conditions to wetter conditions and a rise in the groundwater table. The oldest and highest sedimentary remnant is associated with Acheulian artifacts and may reflect spring-fed pond and marsh conditions during a Middle Pleistocene wet climate episode. Lithofacies for a lower stratigraphic sequence (the “White Lake”) documents deposition in a perennial lake that varied in extent and depth and is associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts. A third episode of deflation created a topographic low that has been filled with Late Pleistocene sediments that are associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts and fossil remains. Lateral and vertical variations in the lithofacies of this basin-fill sequence and the sediments of the “grey-green” lake phases provide a record of changing hydrologic conditions. These hydrologic conditions appear to reflect variations in water-table levels related to groundwater recharge and, at times, local rains.

Fluvial deposits as an archive of early human activity: Progress during the 20 years of the Fluvial Archives Group

Fluvial sedimentary archives are important repositories for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts throughout the ‘Old World’, especially in Europe, where the beginning of their study coincided with the realisation that early humans were of great antiquity. Now that many river terrace sequences can be reliably dated and correlated with the globally valid marine isotope record, potentially useful patterns can be recognized in the distribution of the find-spots of the artefacts that constitute the large collections that were assembled during the years of manual gravel extraction. This paper reviews the advances during the past two decades in knowledge of hominin occupation based on artefact occurrences in fluvial contexts, in Europe, Asia and Africa. As such it is an update of a comparable review in 2007, at the end of IGCP Project no. 449, which had instigated the compilation of fluvial records from around the world during 2000–2004, under the auspices of the Fluvial Archives Group. An overarching finding is the confirmation of the well-established view that in Europe there is a demarcation between handaxe making in the west and flake–core industries in the east, although on a wider scale that pattern is undermined by the increased numbers of Lower Palaeolithic bifaces now recognized in East Asia. It is also apparent that, although it seems to have appeared at different places and at different times in the later Lower Palaeolithic, the arrival of Levallois technology as a global phenomenon was similarly timed across the area occupied by Middle Pleistocene hominins, at around 0.3 Ma.

Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in surface contexts in Britain with special reference to the Northern Drift (Oxfordshire) and Warren Hill (Suffolk)

The processes of surface clast dispersal are discussed and it is shown that on flat land the spatial integrity of larger gravel clasts (which include most diagnostic artefacts) is likely to be preserved over long periods. A structured approach is described for predicting land surfaces where Lower Palaeolithic artefact scatters may have survived through the British Quaternary. The topographic map of Britain is subjected to three tests to eliminate areas unlikely to preserve these surfaces. After progressively subtracting glaciated areas, areas covered by superficial deposits, and river basins/areas with slopes steeper than about 2°, the surfaces remaining have the potential for long-term stability. Eight criteria are described to help verify true palaeosurfaces. They comprise mostly high level plateau lands. On to this map are plotted fifteen sample localities known to have yielded Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from surface contexts. Ten lie within the predictive model, the remainder belong to surface fluvial deposits or other superficial deposits. Four sites have been mapped in enough detail to show the distribution of individual artefacts; in three, traces of clustering occurs, suggesting the original scatter patterns have not entirely dispersed in time. The two sites of Warren Hill and the Northern Drift where the author has worked are examined in more detail. Comparison is made with a ‘pristine’ Early/Middle Stone Age surface site from arid terrain in Namibia. It is argued that in certain circumstances even in the volatile British climate surface scatters may not have moved far from their original location. The predictive map can only be a general guide: each site is different, but clay-with-flints has ubiquitous potential. Surface studies include both flint and quartzite artefacts, with their contrasting typologies. It is concluded that surface studies are likely to lead to a more complete understanding of early human occupation patterns.

Middle Palaeolithic find spots with Nubian cores from the Southern Negev and the Arava, Israel

This is a report of results from a cursory survey of several Middle Paleolithic find spots from the Arava, Israel, conducted as part of a broader collaboration between the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center and the Israel Antiquities Authority. A series of find spots were recorded on the eastern flanks of the Zehiha hills and on the northern terraces of Wadi Paran. These finds consist of mostly Middle Paleolithic artifacts including Levallois centripetal, bidirectional and Nubian cores. The presence of Nubian cores within this technological constellation is of interest in light of recent discussions regarding archaeological markers of modern human dispersals out of Africa and feasible routes into Eurasia and Arabia. The Nubian core technology, a specific variant of the Levallois technology is found within a defined and continuous geographic region and is perceived as penecontemporaneous. Sites with a similar technological package are found to the east at Al-Jawf, within the Arabian Peninsula, as well as to the North-West, within the central Negev highlands, at the localities of Har Oded and H2. The distinctive technological characteristics, geographical extent and chronology advocate its use as a possible marker for human dispersals and interactions between Eastern Africa, the Nile Valley, the southern Levant and Arabia.

A novel multidisciplinary bio- and geo-chronological approach for age determination of Palaeolithic bone artifacts in volcanic settings: An example from eastern Sabatini, Latium, Italy

In this study, we provide combined biochronologic and chronostratigraphic constraints to the fluvial-lacustrine succession cropping out near the village of Rignano Flaminio, 35 km north of Rome, where two bone instruments have been recovered along with several vertebrate fossil remains. The presence of bone tools is characteristic of the Latium region, whereas it is rare in the rest of Italy, but very few sites in which such artifacts occur have precise geochronological constraints. In the investigated site, the presence of Cervus elaphus eostephanoceros, among other taxa, indicates a time interval limited to Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 13 and MIS 11. The occurrence of the Tufo Rosso a Scorie Nere pyroclastic-flow deposit, dated 449 ± 2 ka, at the base of the sedimentary deposits hosting the faunal assemblage allows us at restricting the interval to MIS 11. Moreover, applying a recently validated conceptual model accounting for an aggradational mechanism linked with sea-level rise during glacial termination for the sedimentary successions of the Tiber River and its tributaries in a relatively wider area around Rome, we further constrain the age to 430–405 ka. Following this approach, we present a review of the archaeological sites of Latium yielding bone instruments, remarking that only other four sites have been recently provided with geochronological constraints, through the application of the multidisciplinary methodology applied here.

Paleohydrology and paleoenvironments at Bir Sahara: Pleistocene lithostratigraphy and sedimentology in the southern Egyptian Sahara

The Bir Sahara area contains a remarkable record of Middle and Late Pleistocene hydrologic and environmental conditions for Saharan North Africa, based on lithostratigraphic and sedimentologic evidence from basin-fill deposits. Some of the deposits contain Lower Paleolithic (Acheulean) or Middle Paleolithic artifacts that help to constrain their age, since Acheulian artifacts are assigned to the Middle Pleistocene, while Middle Paleolithic artifacts are limited to either the Middle or Late Pleistocene. Locality BS-14 is in the southern part of Bir Sahara, while localities E-88-15, E-88-2, BS-13, and BS-16 are situated in the south-central part of the deflational basin, closer to the present-day water-hole. Lowered groundwater conditions during arid intervals resulted in erosional topographic basins. These deflational basins were later filled with sediments associated with wetter hydrologic conditions. The oldest studied sedimentary sequence in the Bir Sahara depression (BS-14) contains in situ Acheulian artifacts. Acheulian handaxes are found in sands underlying carbonates that are interpreted as evidence of spring-fed pond and marsh environments during a Middle Pleistocene wet interval. At the E-88-15 locality, the stratigraphic sequence documents deposition in a possible perennial pond or small lake that varied in extent and depth and is associated with Middle Paleolithic artifacts. At E-88-12 and BS-13, lateral and vertical variations in the lithofacies of the basin-fill sediments provide additional records of changing hydrologic conditions during the Late Pleistocene. These hydrologic conditions appear to reflect variations in water-table levels related to groundwater recharge and, at times, local rains.

Woolly mammoth and Man at Krasnoyarskaya Kurya site, West Siberian Plain, Russia (excavation results of 2014)

Detailed paleobiological and taphonomic analyses were carried out on the bone accumulations discovered during the 2014 excavations at the Krasnoyarskaya Kurya site, southeastern part of western Siberia (Russia). The fossiliferous site contains three bone-bearing horizons. Mammal remains are rare in the upper level and they were not found during the 2014 excavation. The middle and lower levels yielded exclusively remains of the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius. The middle level (stratigraphic layer 5) is a result of an in situ accumulation in alluvial sediments. At least three individuals are identified: a juvenile (< 6-10 years old in AEY) of 1.8 m shoulder height and weighing 1 ton; a young adult (ca. 24 years old in AEY) and an old mammoth (> 43 years old in AEY) of 2.9 m of shoulder height and 3.8 t. Their remains were buried in conditions similar to those of a floodplain scroll/natural levee or an islet. Bones stayed on the subsurface for a long time, allowing thus carnivores to reach them easily. The lower level (stratigraphic layer 6) is composed of at least four animals: two juveniles (< 6-10 years old in AEY) and two adults (> 11-13 years old in AEY). The material only enables to determine that one juvenile is 1.5 m at shoulder height and weighs ca. 610 kg, while a young adult should have a body mass of ca. 1,600 kg. No human artefacts or any cut-marks on bones were found in either of these two levels during the 2014 excavation. However, the excavations carried out during the years 2007 to 2010 had allowed the discovery of Palaeolithic artefacts in the lower level, which was formed in alluvial-lacustrine conditions. This indicates that humans had visited this a priori in situ mammoth assemblage. It is likely that at the beginning of spring, the oxbow lake had trapped woolly mammoths. Humans and carnivores had then sorted out and taken away any useful remains. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the mammoth died at the early phase of the Last Glacial Maximum, at about 14C – 20 000 BP (~ 24 000 years cal BP). Isotopic analyses of the collagen from the mammoth remains argue that the animal was living at the time in a steppe landscape, which was dominated by grass-like vegetation.

Late Pleistocene Squamate Reptiles from the Baranica Cave near Knjazevac (Eastern Serbia)

The Late Pleistocene layers (2-4) of the Baranica Cave near Knjazevac (Eastern Serbia) contain rich and diverse vertebrate fauna, as well as several Palaeolithic artefacts. The squamate reptile fauna contains three lizard and six ophidian (snakes) taxa (Lacerta agilis, Lacertidae indet., Anguis fragilis, Zamenis cf. longissimus, Coronella austriaca, Coronella cf. austriaca, cf. Natrix sp., Vipera cf. berus, Vipera sp.). This is only the second of Late Pleistocene herpetofauna described from Serbia. It consists of the forms mainly characteristic for cold and temperate semi-open regions.

Gravel size matters: Early Middle Palaeolithic artefacts made from local Rhine and Meuse deposits in the central Netherlands

AbstractThe artefact size of the Early Middle Palaeolithic (EMP) assemblages in ice-pushed Rhine–Meuse deposits in the central Netherlands decreases northwestward. This trend correlates to the downstream fining direction of the Rhine–Meuse fluvial system, the source of the rock material, showing that locally available material was used. Furthermore, also in line with the fluvial trend, the gravel and cobble trends indicate that EMP artefacts could be present in the buried part of the ice-pushed ridges in the northern part of the central Netherlands (southwest Flevoland). Based on the gravel and cobble data, combined with the literature study, we argue that the artefacts date to marine isotope stages (MIS) 7–6. The review of published data shows that during the time of deposition of the artefact-bearing layer (early MIS 6), the Rhine–Meuse study area was part of a braidplain located in a slightly incised valley. To the north a polar desert was present.

Chronology of newly-discovered Paleolithic artifact assemblages in Lantian (Shaanxi province), central China

The Homo erectus cranium, mandible and hundreds of associated lithic artifacts found in Lantian (central China) in the 1960s demonstrate that the area was important for hominin habitation during the early to middle Pleistocene. However, the region, which was not adequately researched until the early 2000s, still poses several questions regarding hominin behavior and lithic technology development. In this study, three loess-paleosol sequences (the Jijiawan, Ganyu and Diaozhai sites), from which in situ stone artifacts were recovered, are investigated and dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), magnetostratigraphy and stratigraphic correlation. The results demonstrate that the artifacts are located within paleosol layers S4 (correlative with marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 11), S3 (MIS 9), S2 (MIS 7), and S1 (MIS 5); and within loess layer L1 (MIS 2–4). The main stone-knapping technique used was direct hard hammer percussion. In addition, the technological features of the stone tools found at these sites exhibit little variation, indicating the presence of a long-established, stable technology in the Lantian area. Our observations show that the ancient humans lived episodically on the terraces of the Bahe River from the early Pleistocene, indicating a long history of hominin occupation of the region.

Palaeoenvironment and dating of the Early Acheulean localities from the Somme River basin (Northern France): New discoveries from the High Terrace at Abbeville-Carrière Carpentier

Dating the earliest human occupations in Western Europe and reconstructing links with climatic and environmental constraints is a central issue in Quaternary studies. Amongst the discovery of Palaeolithic artefacts ascribed to the Early Pleistocene in southeast Britain and central France the Somme Basin, where the Acheulean type-site Amiens Saint-Acheul is located, is a key area for addressing this topic. Research undertaken over the past 20 years on both Quaternary fluvial and loess sequences of this area has provided a unique dataset for the study of the relations between human occupations and environmental variations. Studies based on an interdisciplinary approach combining sedimentology, palaeontology and geochronology have highlighted the impact of the 100 kyrs cycles on terrace formation during the last million years. In this terrace system, the earliest in situ Acheulean settlements known in the 1990s were dated to early MIS 12 (±450 ka), but new field discoveries, at Amiens “Rue du Manege”, dated to ± 550 ka, significantly increase the age of the oldest human occupation in the area. In this context, new fieldwork has been undertaken in Abbeville at the Carriere Carpentier site, famous for its White Marl deposit attributed to the Cromerian and in the same terrace level where the former discoveries of “Abbevillian bifaces” were made by d'Ault du Mesnil. This research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, combining sedimentology, paleontology, dating (ESR on quartz and ESR/U-series on teeth) and archaeology. According to the various bio-proxies (molluscs, large vertebrates, small mammals), the White Marl was deposited during the early part of an interglacial phase in an aquatic slow-flowing environment, as emphasized by the development of oncoliths and the presence of fish and aquatic molluscs. The landscape was composed of a mosaic of open bush and forest areas, in which wet and grassy vegetation developed on riverbanks. On the basis of terrace stratigraphy, ESR and ESR/U-series dating results, and biostratigraphic data, the fluvial deposits of the White Marl can be securely attributed to MIS 15. In addition, some Acheulean bifaces were discovered at the base of the slope deposits, directly overlying the fluvial sequence. These artefacts are most likely coeval with the end of MIS 15 or an early stage of MIS 14, between 550 and 500 ka, and represent, together with the artefacts from Amiens “Rue du Manege”, the oldest in situ evidence of Acheulean occupation in Northern France. However, no unquestionable artefacts have been discovered in the White Marl or in the underlying gravel layer. These discoveries contribute to the chronology of the earliest evidence of hominin occupations in north-western Europe which may be related to Homo heidelbergensis.

Seaward dispersals to the NE Mediterranean islands in the Pleistocene. The lithic evidence in retrospect

Abstract Paleolithic artifacts collected in the course of archaeological and geological surveys at particular islands of the NE Mediterranean have given birth to arguments for seaward Pleistocene dispersals. The consecutive implications for the seafaring abilities of archaic hominins have inevitably provoked an ongoing debate. The total lack of paleoanthropological evidence and, in most cases, the absence of a secure stratigraphic context leaves us with the only other pertinent tool of analysis, the stone tools. Preliminary reports presenting lithic collections from the islands have been published since at least the middle of the previous century, yet a coherent and critical review of the evidence has hitherto not been attempted. In the light of new paleogeographic reconstructions of the Aegean region, the already published collections are in this paper reviewed and evaluated in terms of their classifications and proposed cultural and chronological attributions and discussed in relation to the arguments for or against Pleistocene sea-crossings. Despite the scarcity of the evidence and the many problems associated with their documentation, context or interpretations, the lithic collections do provide specific information regarding the earliest sea-crossings in the region. Based on the available evidence, the majority of the artifacts collected from sites on islands that were most likely insular during parts of the Pleistocene have Middle Paleolithic technological and typological affinities, therefore an association with the Neanderthals is implied and the possible marine routes are proposed. Yet further research is needed in order to better appreciate the Greek Lower Paleolithic record, thus reevaluate the arguments for Lower Paleolithic sea-crossings in the Aegean.

Middle Pleistocene sea-crossings in the eastern Mediterranean?

Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artifacts on Greek islands separated from the mainland in the Middle and Upper Pleistocene may be proxy evidence for maritime activity in the eastern Mediterranean. Four hypotheses are connected with this topic. The first is the presence of archaic hominins on the islands in the Palaeolithic, and the second is that some of the islands were separated from the mainland when hominins reached them. A third hypothesis is that archaic hominin technological and cognitive capabilities were sufficient for the fabrication of watercraft. Finally, the required wayfinding skills for open sea-crossings were within the purview of early humans. Our review of the archaeological, experimental, ethno-historical, and theoretical evidence leads us to conclude that there is no a priori reason to reject the first two hypotheses in the absence of more targeted archaeological surveys on the islands, and thus the latter two hypotheses should be tested by future research.

Traceological analysis of “unusual” wear traces on lithic artefacts from the Middle Palaeolithic site Inden-Altdorf and the functional context of the site

Inden-Altdorf in western Germany revealed the first open-site habitation features with associated hearths and stone tools for the Middle Palaeolithic in Central Europe. Various dating methods place the site into an earlier phase of MIS 5, between ca. 120–100 ka, and the time of early Neanderthals in Europe. Use-wear and residue analysis demonstrated that various activities using different materials were undertaken at the camp, including hafting/retooling, multiple tool use and complex, multi-stage tasks. Numerous lithic artefacts were implements attached to hafts. Residues found on those implements were identified as remains of an organic adhesive, likely birch pitch, that was used for the fixation of the lithic implements. This report describes and discusses selected artefacts from the Micoquian camp site of Inden-Altdorf that underwent microwear analysis. In addition to more commonly observed use-wear traces on Middle Palaeolithic artefacts like those deriving from the working of hides, bone, wood or antler, several artefacts from Inden-Altdorf exhibited some rather ‘unusual’ traces which are rarely reported from such contexts in central Europe. Several activity zones could be identified by combining the spatial distribution data of artefacts with microwear analysis giving further evidence to the function of Inden-Altdorf as a camp. The results of the study indicate a high cognitive level and the ability for constructive planning of the hominins of Altdorf, ca. 100 ka.

Site formation and chronology of the new Paleolithic site Sima de Las Palomas de Teba, southern Spain

The newly identified Paleolithic site Sima de Las Palomas de Teba hosts an almost seven-m-thick sediment profile investigated here to elucidate the rock shelter's chronostratigraphy and formation processes. At its base, the sediment sequence contains rich archeological deposits recording intensive occupation by Neanderthals. Luminescence provides a terminus ante quem of 39.4±2.6ka or 44.9±4.1ka (OSL) and 51.4±8.4ka (TL). This occupation ended with a rockfall event followed by accumulation of archeologically sterile sediments. These were covered by sediments containing few Middle Paleolithic artifacts, which either indicate ephemeral occupation by Neanderthals or reworking as suggested by micromorphological features. Above this unit, scattered lithic artifacts of undiagnostic character may represent undefined Paleolithic occupations. Sediment burial ages between about 23.0±1.5ka (OSL) and 40.5±3.4ka (pIRIR) provide an Upper Paleolithic chronology for sediments deposited above the rockfall. Finally, a dung-bearing Holocene layer in the uppermost part of the sequence contains a fragment of a human mandible dated to 4032±3914CyrBP. Overall, the sequence represents an important new site for studying the end of Neanderthal occupation in southern Spain.

Influence of Handaxe Size and Shape on Cutting Efficiency: A Large-Scale Experiment and Morphometric Analysis

Handaxes represent one of the most temporally enduring and geographically widespread of Palaeolithic artifacts and thus comprised a key technological strategy of many hominin populations. Archaeologically observable variation in the size (i.e., mass) and shape properties of handaxes has been frequently noted. It is logical to ask whether some of this variability may have had functional implications. Here, we report the results of a large-scale (n = 500 handaxes) experiment designed to examine the influence of variation in handaxe size and shape on cutting efficiency rates during a laboratory task. We used a comprehensive dataset of morphometric (size-adjusted) shape variables and statistical methods (including multivariate methods) to address this issue. Our first set of analyses focused on handaxe mass/size variability. This analysis demonstrated that, at a broad-scale level of variation, handaxe mass may have been free to vary independently of functional (cutting) efficiency. Our analysis also, however, identified that there will be a task-specific threshold in terms of functional effectiveness at the lower end of handaxe mass variation. This implies that hominins may have targeted design forms to meet minimal (task-specific) thresholds and may also have managed handaxe reduction and discard in respect to such factors. Our second set of analyses focused on handaxe shape variability. This analysis also indicated that considerable variation in handaxe shape may occur independently of any strong effect on cutting efficiency. We discuss how these results have several implications for considerations of handaxe variation in the archaeological record. At a general level, our results demonstrate that variability within and between handaxe assemblages in terms of their size and shape properties will not necessarily have had immediate or strong impact on their effectiveness when used for cutting, and that such variability may have been related to factors other than functional issues.