Hovers / Kuhn Transitions Before the Transition

Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-0-387-24661-1
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 332 Seiten

Modern human origins and the fate of the Neanderthals are arguably the most compelling and contentious arenas in paleoanthropology. The much-discussed split between advocates of a single, early emergence of anatomically modern humans in sub-Saharan Africa and supporters of various regional continuity positions is only part of the picture. Equally if not more important are questions surrounding the origins of modern behavior, and the relationships between anatomical and behavioral changes that occurred during the past 200,000 years. Although modern humans as a species may be defined in terms of their skeletal anatomy, it is their behavior, and the social and cognitive structures that support that behavior, which most clearly distinguish Homo sapiens from earlier forms of humans. This book assembles researchers working in Eurasia and Africa to discuss the archaeological record of the Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age. This is a time period when Homo sapiens last shared the world with other species, and during which patterns of behavior characteristic of modern humans developed and coalesced. Contributions to this volume query and challenge some current notions about the tempo and mode of cultural evolution, and about the processes that underlie the emergence of modern behavior. The papers focus on several fundamental questions. Do typical elements of 'modern human behavior' appear suddenly, or are there earlier archaeological precursors of them? Are the archaeological records of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age unchanging and monotonous, or are there detectable evolutionary trends within these periods? Coming to diverse conclusions, the papers in this volume open up new avenues to thinking about this crucial interval in human evolutionary history.

Discipline codes:
SOCIAL SCIENCES, GENERAL:Anthropology/Archaeometry
SOCIAL SCIENCES, GENERAL:Archaeology   Transitions Before the Transition
Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age
Edited by
Erella Hovers Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Steven Kuhn University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA This title explores questions surrounding the origins of modern behavior, and the relationships between anatomical and behavioral changes that occurred during the past 200,000 years. It assembles researchers working in Eurasia and Africa to discuss what was happening during the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age (the 'Transition'); i.e. the era prior to or during the appearance of anatomically modern humans in their geographic areas. INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO ARCHAEOLOGY Hard cover, ISBN 0-387-24658-4
December 2005, 246 pp.
Promo Class: B
Profit Centre: P150 Krauss (430)

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hovers, Erella

Kuhn, Steven

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contributors;6
2;Foreword Challenges and Approaches in the Study of Middle Paleolithic Behavioral Change;8
3;Preface;19
4;Contents;21
5;Transitions Before the Transition;23
6;Chapter 1 General Introduction;24
7;Chapter 2 On Naming Things;35
8;Chapter 3 Observations on Systematics in Paleolithic Archaeology;51
9;Chapter 4 Testing Retouched Flake Tool Standardization During the Middle Paleolithic Patterns and Implications;79
10;Chapter 5 Diversity of Lithic Production Systems During the Middle Paleolithic in France;106
11;Chapter 6 Trajectories of Change in the Middle Paleolithic of Italy;129
12;Chapter 7 Stasis and Change During the Crimean Middle Paleolithic;141
13;Chapter 8 Monospecific or Species-Dominated Faunal Assemblages During the Middle Paleolithic in Europe;156
14;Chapter 9 Middle Paleolithic Settlement Patterns in the Levant;167
15;Chapter 10 Housekeeping, Neandertal-Style Hearth Placement and Midden Formation in Kebara Cave (Israel);188
16;Chapter 11 The Middle Paleolithic of the Levant Recursion and Convergence;206
17;Chapter 12 Middle Paleolithic Subsistence Ecology in the Mediterranean Region;229
18;Chapter 13 Projectile Technologies of the African MSA;248
19;Chapter 14 From Acheulean to Middle Stone Age in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya;271
20;Chapter 15 The Use of Space in the Late Middle Stone Age of Rose Cottage Cave, South Africa Was There a Shift to Modern Behavior?;292
21;Chapter 17 Between Observations and Models;318
22;Index;339