Understanding Lithic Recycling at the Late Lower Palaeolithic Qesem Cave, Israel


Book Description

Qesem Cave (Israel) acts here as a case study to explore two important topics from the Middle Pleistocene: the practice of recycling old discarded flakes for the production of new objects by means of recycling, and the production of flakes and tools of small dimensions—topics that have not gained sufficient attention from the scientific community.




Hunter-Gatherers’ Tool-Kit


Book Description

This volume provides the reader with a multifaceted overview of the study of stone tools used by humans in the past. Including case studies from various geographic regions and different continents, and covering a wide range of chronologies, the contributions here are centred on the study of human communities based on a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. A number of essays in this volume focus on tool production and use, and address major paleoanthropological questions related to past human economic and social behaviour. The book also includes detailed and careful studies of human technology during Prehistory.







Flint Procurement and Exploitation Strategies in the Late Lower Paleolithic Levant


Book Description

This volume examines patterns of flint procurement and exploitation at the Acheulo-Yabrudian site Qesem Cave, Israel. The results show how flint had a major impact on early human decision-making and social and cultural lifeways during the Late Lower Paleolithic of the Levant.




Quaternary of the Levant


Book Description

Quaternary of the Levant presents up-to-date research achievements from a region that displays unique interactions between the climate, the environment and human evolution. Focusing on southeast Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, it brings together over eighty contributions from leading researchers to review 2.5 million years of environmental change and human cultural evolution. Information from prehistoric sites and palaeoanthropological studies contributing to our understanding of 'out of Africa' migrations, Neanderthals, cultures of modern humans, and the origins of agriculture are assessed within the context of glacial-interglacial cycles, marine isotope cycles, plate tectonics, geochronology, geomorphology, palaeoecology and genetics. Complemented by overview summaries that draw together the findings of each chapter, the resulting coverage is wide-ranging and cohesive. The cross-disciplinary nature of the volume makes it an invaluable resource for academics and advanced students of Quaternary science and human prehistory, as well as being an important reference for archaeologists working in the region.




Flint Procurement and Exploitation Strategies in the Late Lower Paleolithic Levant


Book Description

Flint Procurement and Exploitation Strategies in the Late Lower Paleolithic Levant examines twelve lithic assemblages from Qesem Cave. Potential flint sources were located, petrographic thin sections of archaeological and geologic samples were studied, and a geochemical analysis was performed. The results show that flint from local Turonian sources was often brought to the cave, forming most of the identified flint. Flint from non-Turonian geologic origins was also used in noteworthy proportions, in specific typotechnological categories. The availability of desired flints around the cave, highly suitable for the production of the commonly-used blades, as well as for the production of other tools, probably played a role in the decision to settle there. The notable proportions of non-Turonian flint types, a pattern that repeats itself through time, demonstrate consistency in accessing sources containing non-local flint, implying the existence of knowledge transmission mechanisms concerning the distribution of sources and the suitability of specific flint types for the production of specific blanks/tools.




Crossing the Human Threshold


Book Description

When was the human threshold crossed? What is the evidence for evolving humans and their emerging humanity? This volume explores in a global overview the archaeology of the Middle Pleistocene, 800,000 to 130,000 years ago when evidence for innovative cultural behaviour appeared. The evidence shows that the threshold was crossed slowly, by a variety of human ancestors, and was not confined to one part of the Old World. Crossing the Human Threshold examines the changing evidence during this period for the use of place, landscape and technology. It focuses on the emergence of persistent places, and associated developments in tool use, hunting strategies and the control of fire, represented across the Old World by deeply stratified cave sites. These include the most important sites for the archaeology of human origins in the Levant, South Africa, Asia and Europe, presented here as evidence for innovation in landscape-thinking during the Middle Pleistocene. The volume also examines persistence at open locales through a cutting-edge review of the archaeology of Northern France and England. Crossing the Human Threshold is for the worldwide community of students and researchers studying early hominins and human evolution. It presents new archaeological data. It frames the evidence within current debates to understand the differences and similarities between ourselves and our ancient ancestors.




The Past in Prehistoric Societies


Book Description

The idea of prehistory dates from the nineteenth century, but Richard Bradley contends that it is still a vital area for research. He argues that it is only through a combination of oral tradition and the experience of encountering ancient material culture that people were able to formulate a sense of their own pasts without written records. The Past in Prehistoric Societies presents case studies which extend from the Palaeolithic to the early Middle Ages and from the Alps to Scandinavia. It examines how archaeologists might study the origin of myths and the different ways in which prehistoric people would have inherited artefacts from the past. It also investigates the ways in which ancient remains might have been invested with new meanings long after their original significance had been forgotten. Finally, the author compares the procedures of excavation and field survey in the light of these examples. The work includes a large number of detailed case studies, is fully illustrated and has been written in an extremely accessible style.




The Social Archaeology of the Levant


Book Description

The volume offers a comprehensive introduction to the archaeology of the southern Levant (modern day Israel, Palestine and Jordan) from the Paleolithic period to the Islamic era, presenting the past with chronological changes from hunter-gatherers to empires. Written by an international team of scholars in the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, and bioanthropology, the volume presents central debates around a range of archaeological issues, including gender, ritual, the creation of alphabets and early writing, biblical periods, archaeometallurgy, looting, and maritime trade. Collectively, the essays also engage diverse theoretical approaches to demonstrate the multi-vocal nature of studying the past. Significantly, The Social Archaeology of the Levant updates and contextualizes major shifts in archaeological interpretation.




The First Peoples of Oman: Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Nejd Plateau


Book Description

The archaeological evidence presented in this work encompasses the cultural remains of over a million years of successive human occupation of Nejd Plateau, Dhofar, from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Late Palaeolithic. This volumes suggests a fundamental reconsideration of the role of Southern Arabia in the origin and dispersal of our species.